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Post by Allen Wiener on Apr 27, 2010 8:37:09 GMT -5
What a slugfest! No, I don't think Papi wil stil be here at year's end; he really was non-productive last year too. I'm not sure how much longer they'll go along with Beckett either; they are probably more reluctant to give up on him and I think he may yet turn things around, but clearly some of these guys are aging. The pitching staff has been "iffy" for a while and was the main problem last year.
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Apr 27, 2010 22:42:20 GMT -5
Well, I'm New England born and bred and, even though I'm now in Texas, I'm still a dyed and true Red Sox fan. The game last night was nuts for sure.
Big Papi has certainly lost his "pop". Although still dangerous, he's not as formidable as he once was. I believe his contribution to the '94 campaign will long be remembered, but I do believe his time is short in a Red Sox uniform.
Beckett will probably remain on board for a while, even though he's not as consistent as he once was. Good, Lord, if they can keep the likes of Dice-K and Wakefield around, Beckett is bound to remain with the team for a while. But you are right: Good pitching will most times beat good hitting. Boston has not had pitching consistency for some time, and it has hurt them for the past couple of years. Even Papelbon has become extremely hittable. Why? He's essentially a one-pitch hurler, and batters know to sit on his fastball. He becomes more effective when he mixes things up with a splitter/sinker, but he seems to rely too much on the fastball. End result? He is getting tagged much more this year than in the past.
Paul
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Post by Allen Wiener on Apr 28, 2010 8:45:36 GMT -5
They tried to work on that with Paplebon last year, but he didn't seem to get the message. He got clobbered in that last playoff game precisely for that reason.
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nybob
Full Member
Posts: 26
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Post by nybob on May 8, 2010 19:39:01 GMT -5
Only the mets could win games back to back games with walkoff homeruns against the giants. To top it off they were both hit by their two new catchers. LETS GO METS! Bob
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Post by Hiram on May 9, 2010 19:43:33 GMT -5
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Post by Hiram on May 9, 2010 19:54:18 GMT -5
There are so many things about baseball which in my (biased of course) opinion make it the greatest sport of all.
Here's one...is there another sport, team or individual, which has anything resembling a perfect game? My only thought is perhaps bowling, with a 300 score or perhaps a 900 series. Bowling is great, but is it truly a sport, or is it at the professional level, a highly skilled activity? Not to disparage any bowlers out there, amateur or professional, but are bowlers athletes?
I suppose that's open to interpretation, but again, a perfect game in baseball requires the involvement of an entire team in the field, not just the pitcher.
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Post by Paul Sylvain on May 9, 2010 22:45:12 GMT -5
Baseball is such a great sport. I saw that about the perfect game today as well. Incredible.
Although it wasn't a perfect game, I still remember watching this lanky, goofy-looking kid named Clay Bucholtz take the mound in his first game in the major leagues, and pitch a no-hitter. He's had more downs than ups since then, perhaps, but something magic happened that night.
Paul
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Post by Hiram on Aug 24, 2010 19:15:45 GMT -5
Bob Gibson hit .206 career. 516 batters had 5 or more PA against him. 264 batters (51% of all) hit .206 or less.
Gibson had as much success in the batter's box as just over half the batters he faced.
Did I mention that Gibson was my favorite pitcher of all-time?
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Aug 25, 2010 5:51:44 GMT -5
Bob Gibson hit .206 career. 516 batters had 5 or more PA against him. 264 batters (51% of all) hit .206 or less.
Gibson had as much success in the batter's box as just over half the batters he faced.
Did I mention that Gibson was my favorite pitcher of all-time? lol .... not exactly but it sure was implied. I still wish the American League would ditch the DH rule and go back to the having the pitcher bat. Of course, it will never happen, but I can still dream. There have been some excellent hitting pitchers from the NL. I seem to recall folks like Tom Seaver were a bit of a threat with a bat, in fact. Besides the strategy aspect of batting the pitcher in the lineup, I think it makes the pitchers more accountable for their actions on the mound. I mean, if a pitcher really wants to throw at a batter to deliberately hit him, he might think twice about it if he knows he'll have to stand in the batter's box himself in an inning or so. It's all part of the game, of course, but there is no such accountability in the AL where the pitcher does not bat. Paul
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Post by Allen Wiener on Aug 25, 2010 8:01:21 GMT -5
Hiram - you could do a lot worse than Gibby, for sure. He's one of a handful of truly great pitchers from my era, along with Seaver, Carlton, Palmer, Koufax and others who I'm surely forgetting.
I agree on the DH, but they probably won't abolish it because it would bring a sudden end to a lot of AL careers. It was started, as I recall, to put more punch and offense into the AL at a time when it was considered weak or dull. That isn't the case anymore and it creates awkward arrangements whenever AL and NL teams meet. It even gets goofy. In the World Series, the AL can use the DH at home, but not on the road. How does that make sense? Not that it seems to matter. The Red Sox swept the '04 and '07 series with those rules. The AL's been dominating the All Star Games and attendance seems roughly equal between the two leagues.
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Post by Hiram on Sept 5, 2010 13:10:06 GMT -5
This is an interesting story on Gehrig. It sheds some light perhaps into the premature demise of the Iron Horse; and also gives a little "snapshot" of how baseball was played back in the early days.goo.gl/U5q1
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