Reds 8 - Mets 6
Joey Votto: He prefers his drinks shaken, not stirred. I've said it before. This guy is the new Todd Helton. And the glove work is impressive as well.
Willy Taveras: On base twice. Two runs scored. Dropped a sexy bunt that left Perez, Snyder and Wright paralyzed.
Paul Janish: A bases loaded single. Fans will now want to see him play over Gonzo, which I am okay with.
Arthur Rhodes: Old man got it goin' on.
Francisco Cordero: Consistent 95-mph heater. Sheff and Reyes didn't know what to do, so they just stood there and went back to the dugout, but not without a little bitchin'. Murphy tried his best and swung, but not on this day sir.
Bronson Arroyo: 6 IP, 5 ER, and he gets the W. I'll say it once more. Wins and losses are pointless.
Brandon Phillips: Now that he has a Gold Glove, will he ever make a spectacular play again? One error today and a risky intentional drop on an infield pop fly. And why does he trot around like an old man wherever he goes? Old Man Phillips from now on.
Thank God we avoided the sweep. Thank God.
4.09.2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Congrats on the sweep-avoidance maneuver. I disagree about the win stat, though. Agreed, there is better data to measure pitching talent, and on a daily basis, a win means almost nothing, but as an aggregate, over a season, or better over several seasons, it's a meaningful stat. Poor pitching doesn't win consistently. There's the odd-duck, like Jake Peavey pitching awesome and losing last year... but you can't ignore the stat. It matters in context with other stats. Some pitchers inspire confidence in their offense... Do we need an Offensive Inspiration Index? Some pitchers can hit (e.g. Santana) and help their team W that way. HOWEVER, the other more reliable columns of course also reflect the quality of pitching in aggregate, so... what was I saying? Oh yeah, Votto is awesome.
ReplyDeleteDear Mrak,
ReplyDeleteYou spelled your name wrong and Peavy's name also, but that is okay, because I think I understood the names even with the misspells. I agree--good pitchers compile more wins than bad pitchers, but the stat leaves too much at the disposal of things out of the pitchers control, i.e. their offense and bullpen. Yes, the best pitchers will win more (Santana, Webb, Halladay) and the bad pitchers will lose (Josh Fogg, Matt Belisle, a girl) but for the majority of pitchers in between who post a 4-5 ERA, it's really tough to judge performance by W-L. I think RBIs are similar in offense. So much depends on the team around you. I could drive in 100 with Reyes and Murphy in front of me. But I won't because I decided not to play in the majors. Sure, if you want an aggregate idea of what a player is like, look at W-L over a span of years. Day to day, it is one of the most arbitrary stats. Dan Haren pitched a 7 inning, 1 run game and lost. I guess what I'm trying to say is, Joey Votto is awesome.
Si, si. On all things I agree. Except Mrak is not spelled wrong. Wasn't there a near-no hitter last year that ended in a loss? Or a no-hitter through 9 that ended in an extra-inning loss? I want to say White Sox? Peavey is a common and crappy musical equipment company, so I do apologize for that.
ReplyDeleteHere's the game I was thinking about. Couple years ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore;_ylt=AnmwJdxI0yF30OpeGTFgwN0RvLYF?gid=260622104