2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

He didn't reach that level until he was clearly and visibly on steroids. Albert Pujols was a better hitter through his 20s than Bonds through his 20s, and I don't think it's particularly close. Frank Thomas was better in the mid-1990s than Bonds.

 

Why would we normalize a guy's stats so that he faces an equal number of righties and lefties?

 

There's no such thing as clearly and visibly on steroids. Otherwise, great point.

 

Well, I'm not saying he wasn't on them before. But I think the point where his head grew wider than his shoulders had been was a telling turn.

 

The key word in your question is equal. You do it to adjust for things that hitters cannot control. That includes the stadium, the era and, yes, whether most pitchers they face or right-handed or left-handed.

 

Front row seats at a Royals game: intently reading or a more civilized way to cover your face than a paper sack?




http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/reading-royals-fan-displays-just-one-way-cope-223407810.html

 

Only about 5 people on here will get this, but I'll say it anyway ... When did Cecil Hurt start covering the Royals?

 

In the sense we are using the term, the hitter does control it. Or rather, the abilities of the hitter influence it.

But even aside from that, the main thing I was questioning wasn't the existence of an adjustment, but why you would scale it to 50/50. Lefties only throw about 28% of major league plate appearances, so if you are going to make an adjustment like this, it should be adjusted to something like 72/28.

 

Count me as one of the five.

Well done.

 

Yankees pitcher Miguel Pineda out for the year -- and perhaps beyond -- with a "severely torn" labrum.

Ouch.

 

Holy crap! Why did it take so long to figure this out?

Makes the potential Andy Pettitte comeback more important.

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2004/05/labrum_it_nearly_killed_him.html

The piece is from 2004, but I can't imagine the technology has advanced that much. Ripped collagen is ripped collagen.