well, they aren't. era is a measure of a guy's pitching ability, not his fielding ability. i don't really understand why everyone gripes about this rule. the reasoning behind it is pretty obvious. you don't subtract points from a fielder's batting average because he makes an error. hill's hot start had me thinking he had a shot at the ASG...but his w/l record is likely to keep him out of it. a couple of his patented 13-14 strikeout games would help his cause. Well, I'm probably in the minority but I feel that when the pitcher commits the error, he "earns" the run. Either way, it's just my opinion. As for the bolded part... patented? He's never done that before in the majors. I'd let him do it at least a few times (heck, even once) before we start calling it patented. geez...how about 10 strikeouts? he's done that a few times...will that work for you? I'll take a couple of those.