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Rob Neyer: most influential baseball writer of the last 10 years

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by yourbuddy, Jun 13, 2006.

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  1. suburbanite

    suburbanite Active Member

    Only when his book gets ripped on amazon.com.
     
    suburbanite, Jun 13, 2006
    #13
  2. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    If it was Rob, I think his handle would be "Ike Farrell".   ;D
     
    poindexter, Jun 13, 2006
    #14
  3. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    RC27
     
    spnited, Jun 13, 2006
    #15
  4. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    You need to take some Gas-X for that.
     
    dooley_womack1, Jun 13, 2006
    #16
  5. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    A flannel-wearing jackoff from ESPN Insider *may* not be the most influential (although I think I argued the former the last time).
     
    poindexter, Jun 13, 2006
    #17
  6. suburbanite

    suburbanite Active Member

    Accept Neyer and live.
    Reject Neyer and die.

    The choice is yours.
     
    suburbanite, Jun 13, 2006
    #18
  7. PopeDirkBenedict

    PopeDirkBenedict Active Member

    I believe the phrase a former boss and I agreed on was that Neyer looked like "a gay lumberjack." Sounds better than "flannel-wearing jackoff."
     
    PopeDirkBenedict, Jun 13, 2006
    #19
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    OK... I will try turn this into something semi-constructive... Bear with me, it isn't easy.

    I am NOT a sabremeathead... If it were me, I'd go all Billy Martin and just throw nine guys out there and let them throw and run until their arms and legs fall off...

    But if Neyer really is behind the pitch count BS that plagues baseball, I say hooey. I remembered seeing something interesting a while ago and just googled to find something similar...

    Over the last 15 years or so, the pitcher in baseball with the most pitches thrown has been between 3900 and 4200 pitches for the season because of the standard 100-pitch limit.

    Here are the numbers for the top pitcher in that regard between 1970 and 1989:

    Year Pitcher Est. Pitches IP
    1989 Roger Clemens 4074 253
    1988 Dave Stewart 4414 276
    1987 Charlie Hough 4627 285
    1986 Mike Moore 4290 266
    1985 Fernando Valenzuela 4260 272
    1984 Charlie Hough 4254 266
    1983 Steve Carlton 4597 284
    1982 Steve Carlton 4664 296
    1980 Steve Carlton 4736 304
    1979 Phil Niekro 5346 342
    1978 Phil Niekro 5216 334
    1977 Phil Niekro 5605 330
    1976 Nolan Ryan 4949 284
    1975 Andy Messersmith 4837 322
    1974 Nolan Ryan 5684 333
    1973 Wilbur Wood 5614 359
    1972 Wilbur Wood 5498 377
    1971 Mickey Lolich 5799 376
    1970 Gaylord Perry 5000 329

    Out of those guys, only Messersmith and Valenzuela ever suffered arm problems. Forget the knuckleballers, like Hough and Neikro, because they don't count. But the rest of those workhorses were guys like Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, Mickey Lolich, etc., guys who threw hard and were injury-free year after year.

    Pitch counts are ridiculous in many cases.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 13, 2006
    #20
  9. Orange Hat Bobcat

    Orange Hat Bobcat Active Member

    Re: Rob Neyer: most influential baseball writer of the last 10 yearsZ

    Though yourbuddy's original post might well have been written in jest, I feel compelled to say this:

    Go back and research the history of statistical analysis and, yes, Rotisserie baseball. Rob Neyer popularized his craft but he was hardly a revolutionary. There were many before him who toiled in basements and garages, slumped over typewriters and computers, pounding out charts and mailing out homemade booklets that looked at baseball's numbers from a different angle. Bill James, Ron Shandler, and even the guys over at Baseball Prospectus have long done the same things — Neyer has just enjoyed the larger platform and, consequently, the larger audience.

    I enjoy Neyer, but is he the most influential baseball writer since 1996? I don't think so.
     
    Orange Hat Bobcat, Jun 13, 2006
    #21
  10. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    So you're saying Clemens is to blame, right? ;D




    Oh, and Nolan Ryan threw 235 pitches in one game. It's a scientific fact. <a href="http://www.cincypost.com/2004/06/15/base06-15-2004.html">Look it up.</a>
     
    buckweaver, Jun 13, 2006
    #22
  11. PopeDirkBenedict

    PopeDirkBenedict Active Member

    That doesn't prove anything. There are guys out there, like Livan Hernandez, whose arms are seemingly made of rubber. I suspect your Ryans, Carltons, etc. fall in that category. But as Tom Verducci has pointed out, if you put a young pitcher out there for too many innings too early in their careers, there is a strong likelihood their performance will drop off or they will get injured. (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/tom_verducci/news/2003/03/04/insider/) Pitch counts do matter.
     
    PopeDirkBenedict, Jun 13, 2006
    #23
  12. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    Not sure what you mean, Ragu, about Neyer being "behind the pitch BS that plagues baseball." Are you implying his mathmatical masturbation is the reason managers and organizations are pitch-count crazy? Uh, NO!

    He has nothing to do with it, other than jerking off over some numbers, as he always does.

    I believe the pitch-count insanity is one more evil we can trace back to the Genius in St. Louis and his co-genius pitching coach.

    Truth is, outside of statistical analysis, Neyer knows very little about the actual game of  baseball.
     
    spnited, Jun 13, 2006
    #24
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