Running 2011 Baseball Thread, Vol. I: Dedicated to spnited

I think I saw this morning that their starters had a 7.08 ERA in September. I guess what I'm getting at: Is that something that was foreseeable? Their lineup is so good. But was the team flawed in some major way? Should he have realized the pitching could collapse to this degree? Or was it simply a perfect storm?

 

Was like many of you last night in that I was flipping back and forth between the channels. The second Phillies-Braves "analyst" -- was it Garciaparra? -- had some gems. Seems the Braves in the dugout weren't demonstrative enough, which was contributing to their lack of offensive output. Oh, and early in the game, he pointed out that the Braves, leading 3-1, were "on a pace to win this game."

Where do they find these guys?

 

1. Sox knew the starting pitching was a mite thin going into the season. Epstein said so.
2. When injuries began in the late spring, it got really thin.
3. Lackey sucked all year.
4. Lester and Beckett choked completely down the stretch.

I don't think sabermetrics or anything else can forecast the total implosion of two pretty decent pitchers. However, the Sox ARE built on the idea that the percentages rule. They usually do, but percentages are ratios, not guarantees, and sometimes the smaller side of the ratio bites you in the ass.
In fairness to numerical analysis, the two biggest failures of 2011 Lackey and Crawford, had nothing to do with statistical decision making on the team's strengths and weaknesses, and everything to do with ownership's wintertime frenzy to make a splash every time the team doesn't win the World Series or the Yankees sign a big name. Free agents you sign on the rebound from other free agents seldom work out.

 

I've been looking for an opportunity to drop that on you for a couple of days now.

Maybe there would have been a better time, but I couldn't hold it in any longer.

 

Half joking (but half not, knowing the warped mind of Joe Maddon): Does Matt Moore start Game 1 against the Rangers? The other choices are Wade Davis, Jeff Niemann or James Shields on 3 days rest.

 

Not quite as good as that, but Aaron Boone visited the Red Sox' clubhouse before the game, writes Mr. Shaughnessy.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2011/09/29/sox_make_unwanted_history_with_historic_collapse/


It's now the Curse of Carl. Remember the Yanks drove up the price as a bluff last winter.

 

I will give credit to Braves fans for two things last night:

1.) When Pence came up with runners on the corners in the 9th and two outs, at least four people within hearing distance of me said they needed to walk Pence, who was hitting like .316, to get to the .197-hitting Michael Martinez. They didn't understand how that wasn't even on Fredi's radar.

2.) In the bottom of the 12th, with Heyward on third, the right-field fans started a "Let's go, Prado" chant that actually caught on. It's the first time in six games I've gone to there in which the crowd did ANY cheering without the scoreboard saying "make some noise" or that ridiculous tomahawk chop song coming on. There's so little organic cheering at Braves game. Feels like a scripted play more than a game.

But keep in mind, the Braves played 10 consecutive shutout innings while they were "fighting" for their playoff lives. Against guys I didn't even know, and I'm a faux-Phillies fan.

 

One more side note: Admittedly, I don't watch much baseball, but do most home plate umpires do three-step drops and take three seconds to make the strike call? By the third inning, I wanted Dale Scott to take one off the face mask and have to move to first or something. People around me started mocking him.

 

They all seem to have their own little schtick. Scott's one of the worst for a delayed call.

 

IJAG, did you see Punto knocked in the Cards' fifth run in the first inning last night? Didja, didja, didja?