Kerry Wood interview WGN TV9 Sports

[Chocolate Milk]

the funny part

 

Thank you sir.

[mg420]

 

look at the inning & complete game totals from the 60's & 70's. 300 innings with 25+ complete games was not uncommon.

 

Do you have stats for number of pitches thrown per season during that era? Pitches per plate appearance have increased pretty dramatically since then.

 

it sure doesnt sound like that is the case according to this quote from Ferguson Jenkins:

 

"I hear in the clubhouse all the time about a pitcher having a twinge, and they go on the disabled list. I would have never won any ballgames if I would have missed a start with a twinge.

 

"Pitchers are definitely protected," added Jenkins. "I used to warm up and throw 100 pitches in the bullpen and then throw 150 pitches in the game. I would throw nine innings, which they usually won't let these young men do right now."

 

 

link:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060709&content_id=1549169&vkey=allstar2006&fext=.jsp

 

He also walked barefoot in the snow, 5 miles, and uphill both ways to school every morning. When he got home, he shoveled coal into the family furnace for 3 hours just so the ice was thin enough the break though for his evening bath. After he was washed up, he cut the family firewood for the next day with the edge of his hand because his family couldn't afford an axe. He didn't complain one bit! Whippersnappers these days and their pitch counts.

 

Back when old people were young, everything and everybody was better in every way.

 

i'm sure you are trying to be funny but have you ever looked at the career stats jenkins had? perhaps you should do so and compare them to modern day pitchers and maybe you'll see he has a point.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/jenkife01.shtml

 

I didn't see anything there that talks about pitches per plate appearance. Jenkins's career stats are indeed mind-boggling, but could they have been influenced by a lower level of pitches per plate appearance? Neither the Jenkins quote nor the funny part address the question raised.

 

throwing 150 pitches per game doesnt address the question of how many pitches a season they used to throw?

[mg420]

 

look at the inning & complete game totals from the 60's & 70's. 300 innings with 25+ complete games was not uncommon.

 

Do you have stats for number of pitches thrown per season during that era? Pitches per plate appearance have increased pretty dramatically since then.

 

it sure doesnt sound like that is the case according to this quote from Ferguson Jenkins:

 

"I hear in the clubhouse all the time about a pitcher having a twinge, and they go on the disabled list. I would have never won any ballgames if I would have missed a start with a twinge.

 

"Pitchers are definitely protected," added Jenkins. "I used to warm up and throw 100 pitches in the bullpen and then throw 150 pitches in the game. I would throw nine innings, which they usually won't let these young men do right now."

 

 

link:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060709&content_id=1549169&vkey=allstar2006&fext=.jsp

 

He also walked barefoot in the snow, 5 miles, and uphill both ways to school every morning. When he got home, he shoveled coal into the family furnace for 3 hours just so the ice was thin enough the break though for his evening bath. After he was washed up, he cut the family firewood for the next day with the edge of his hand because his family couldn't afford an axe. He didn't complain one bit! Whippersnappers these days and their pitch counts.

 

Back when old people were young, everything and everybody was better in every way.

 

i'm sure you are trying to be funny but have you ever looked at the career stats jenkins had? perhaps you should do so and compare them to modern day pitchers and maybe you'll see he has a point.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/jenkife01.shtml

 

His stats are irrelevant.

 

What is his point? Everyone now a days is a wussy? If everyone was an ironman like back in the day people wouldn't get injured? Injuries are due to people not toughing it out? Managers are babying these guys?

 

Circumstances have changed. Pichers are a valuable commodity and are treated as such. We know more about arm injuries and how to prevent them now. Pitchers are throwing lots of breaking pitches and are throwing harder. There is a litanty of possibly reasons for pitchers not pitching as many innings. Jenkins quote isn't one of them, imo.

 

somehow i think the opinion of a guy with 4500 ip and 267 cg & 49 shutouts in 664 games has a little more basis than a few fans opinions.

[Rob]

 

look at the inning & complete game totals from the 60's & 70's. 300 innings with 25+ complete games was not uncommon.

 

Do you have stats for number of pitches thrown per season during that era? Pitches per plate appearance have increased pretty dramatically since then.

 

it sure doesnt sound like that is the case according to this quote from Ferguson Jenkins:

 

"I hear in the clubhouse all the time about a pitcher having a twinge, and they go on the disabled list. I would have never won any ballgames if I would have missed a start with a twinge.

 

"Pitchers are definitely protected," added Jenkins. "I used to warm up and throw 100 pitches in the bullpen and then throw 150 pitches in the game. I would throw nine innings, which they usually won't let these young men do right now."

 

 

link:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060709&content_id=1549169&vkey=allstar2006&fext=.jsp

 

What was the average velocity that pitchers threw back in the day?

 

According to MVP Baseball 2005, Walter Johnson threw between 100-102 on most pitches.

[Sweet Swinging Billy]

For those of you that saw the interview, I don't know what y'all thought...but I was a little disappointed, due to the fact that Roan didn't ask him to comment on how he felt when the Cubs signed Soriano, or any of the other ball players that have been added to the team. Kerry did say however how much he likes "Sweet Lou" and how he can't wait for Spring Training to start. Hopefully, Kerry will grant an interview with Comcast Sports or some other media outlet in Chicago.

[cheapseats]

 

look at the inning & complete game totals from the 60's & 70's. 300 innings with 25+ complete games was not uncommon.

 

Do you have stats for number of pitches thrown per season during that era? Pitches per plate appearance have increased pretty dramatically since then.

 

it sure doesnt sound like that is the case according to this quote from Ferguson Jenkins:

 

"I hear in the clubhouse all the time about a pitcher having a twinge, and they go on the disabled list. I would have never won any ballgames if I would have missed a start with a twinge.

 

"Pitchers are definitely protected," added Jenkins. "I used to warm up and throw 100 pitches in the bullpen and then throw 150 pitches in the game. I would throw nine innings, which they usually won't let these young men do right now."

 

 

link:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060709&content_id=1549169&vkey=allstar2006&fext=.jsp

 

He also walked barefoot in the snow, 5 miles, and uphill both ways to school every morning. When he got home, he shoveled coal into the family furnace for 3 hours just so the ice was thin enough the break though for his evening bath. After he was washed up, he cut the family firewood for the next day with the edge of his hand because his family couldn't afford an axe. He didn't complain one bit! Whippersnappers these days and their pitch counts.

 

Back when old people were young, everything and everybody was better in every way.

 

i'm sure you are trying to be funny but have you ever looked at the career stats jenkins had? perhaps you should do so and compare them to modern day pitchers and maybe you'll see he has a point.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/jenkife01.shtml

 

His stats are irrelevant.

 

What is his point? Everyone now a days is a wussy? If everyone was an ironman like back in the day people wouldn't get injured? Injuries are due to people not toughing it out? Managers are babying these guys?

 

Circumstances have changed. Pichers are a valuable commodity and are treated as such. We know more about arm injuries and how to prevent them now. Pitchers are throwing lots of breaking pitches and are throwing harder. There is a litanty of possibly reasons for pitchers not pitching as many innings. Jenkins quote isn't one of them, imo.

 

somehow i think the opinion of a guy with 4500 ip and 267 cg & 49 shutouts in 664 games has a little more basis than a few fans opinions.

 

In 1971, the year Fergie threw 325 innings, he gave up 304 hits and 37 walks. He hit 5 batters. He should have faced about 1321 batters. That number doesn't account for runners on base due to error, but it also doesn't account for runners thrown out stealing and double plays. If anything, I'd guess he faced fewer than 1321 batters, and a spot check of play by play at retrosheet makes me pretty confident in that statement.

 

Pitch data only goes back to 1988. No qualified pitcher that year comes close to Fergie's incredible BB/9 ratio, but the best comp I can find is Bryn Smith. Bryn averaged 3.39 P/PA. Fergie probably threw fewer pitches per plate appearance in 1971 because he had better control and because the pitch data that we do have suggests that pitches per plate appearance tend to increase over a period of several years. Average pitches per plate appearance went up by .2 or so between 1988 and 2005.

 

Anyway, using the 3.39 figure, Fergie would have thrown about 4478 pitches in 1971. That works out to 4478 pitches, or an average of 115 per start. That's 5 more than Zambrano or Arroyo last year, and a long way from 150 pitches.

 

I don't think Fergie intentionally lies about his pitch counts, but if he really believes he threw 150 pitches on any kind of regular basis, he's deluding himself.

[SaorsaDaonnan]

Premise: Ferguson Jenkins was a good baseball player

Premise: All good baseball players know heaps more about baseball than fans do

Conclusion: Ferguson Jenkins' statements cannot be falsified by facts.

 

 

 

:roll:

[mg420]

Premise: Ferguson Jenkins was a good baseball player

Premise: All good baseball players know heaps more about baseball than fans do

Conclusion: Ferguson Jenkins' statements cannot be falsified by facts.

 

 

 

:roll:

when did guesses & approximations become facts? the # of pitches approximation done is actually very well thought out and could quite likely be correct but i would hardly call it a fact. the 1st & second premises are accurate though.

[Rob]

Premise: Ferguson Jenkins was a good baseball player

Premise: All good baseball players know heaps more about baseball than fans do

Conclusion: Ferguson Jenkins' statements cannot be falsified by facts.

 

 

 

:roll:

 

Is this the theory of how Joe Morgan got a job announcing?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Premise: Ferguson Jenkins was a good baseball player

Premise: All good baseball players know heaps more about baseball than fans do

Conclusion: Ferguson Jenkins' statements cannot be falsified by facts.

 

 

 

:roll:

 

Is this the theory of how Joe Morgan got a job announcing?

 

Yes. And it is why Morgan says he can't learn anything about baseball from people who never played.

[cheapseats]

Premise: Ferguson Jenkins was a good baseball player

Premise: All good baseball players know heaps more about baseball than fans do

Conclusion: Ferguson Jenkins' statements cannot be falsified by facts.

 

 

 

:roll:

when did guesses & approximations become facts? the # of pitches approximation done is actually very well thought out and could quite likely be correct but i would hardly call it a fact. the 1st & second premises are accurate though.

 

If anything, the estimate is high because pitches per plate appearance trended upward as offense increased between 1988 and 2005. There's no reason to believe that the same trend didn't occur between 1971 and 1998, but since there's no data available, I went with figures from 1988, when offensive levels were higher than they were in 1971 but lower than they are in today's game.

 

It is very possible to count exactly how many batters Fergie faced if someone really wants to. Just go through the play-by-play at retrosheet. It's actually kind of fun to do that.

 

I really think Fergie doesn't realize that the game has changed since the time he pitched. If you look at his 1971, he threw a whole lot of complete games, even if he lost. He'd face too many batters to do that on a consistent basis in today's game.

[wastra]

Wood has changed his approach multiple times. It's simply not always possible to change the way youv'e done something every day since you were old enough to hold a baseball.

 

He stopped throwing the "slurve" that was so devastating to hitters after his first surgery because it puts so much lateral pressure on the forearm and elbow and went with a traditional curve and slider.

 

He tried to establish a consistant release point the following year to improve consistancy as well. He got better at it, just never perfected it.

 

 

So let's not act like he's "stubbornly" refused to change.

 

 

 

 

 

The slider is in itself responsible for a lot of injuries today. it's a relatively new pitch in the grand scheme of baseball, and the fact that it's thrown almost as hard as a fastball but still torques the arm like a curve has to have a LOT to do with so many pitching injuries.