Jon

I agree. I just wondered about a separate stat. The problem with a stat combining everything is that in order to include fielding, you can't just look at errors, since that's just a part of fielding. You'd have to look at a lot more when fielding statistics still leave a bit to be desired. And in order to combine that with pitching, you'd have to figure out how much of the defensive game is pitching and how much of it is fielding in order to weight it properly. Of course, a pitcher's offensive output would only apply to half of the pitchers in the majors. I'm not sure there has been a stat that has been NL-only before. There would be many difficulties with combining defense -- mainly because defensive stats already leave something to be desired. Though, I suppose you could simply just add back on unearned runs resulting from pitcher errors. That would be way less than perfect, though. I think the offensive output add-back would be easier to deal with and more informing. And, obviously, it wouldn't really mean much for AL teams/pitchers. Hopefully one day they'll have the tools to really be able to accurately quantify defensive value, but the more I think about it, the more I think it would be ridiculously complicated to combine pitching and defensive value. You wouldn't be able to just add back in pitchers' errors since that would mean you're only holding them accountable for their bad plays and not crediting them for their good plays. But beyond that, you would not only have to figure out what percentage of fielding a pitcher is responsible for, you'd really have to calculate the level of defensive responsibility on a pitcher by pitcher basis. As T_T alluded to, a fly ball pitcher will likely have less of a defensive role than a ground ball pitcher. And much of what a pitcher is responsible for comes in the form of sacrifice bunts, which are more common (I'd imagine) in the NL than in the AL. I'm not sure trying to calculate all of that would be fair to the computer.

I agree. I just wondered about a separate stat. The problem with a stat combining everything is that in order to include fielding, you can't just look at errors, since that's just a part of fielding. You'd have to look at a lot more when fielding statistics still leave a bit to be desired. And in order to combine that with pitching, you'd have to figure out how much of the defensive game is pitching and how much of it is fielding in order to weight it properly. Of course, a pitcher's offensive output would only apply to half of the pitchers in the majors. I'm not sure there has been a stat that has been NL-only before.

The purpose of a stat like ERA should never be to judge a pitcher's total value (including fielding and hitting). It should only be used to look his pitching.

Probable Starters: Iowa: RHP John Webb (1-1, 5.17 ERA, 231.1 IP) Tennessee: RHP Kevin Hart (2-5, 6.40 ERA, 52 IP) Daytona: RHP Scott Taylor (3-5, 4.95 ERA, 56.1 IP) Peoria RHP Juan Mateo (2006 at West Tenn: 7-4, 2.82 ERA, 92.2 IP; 2006 w/ Cubs: 1-3, 5.32 ERA, 45.2 IP) & RHP Robert Hernandez (0-1, 5.14 ERA, 14 IP) Webb: 31.1 IP, 19 K/12 BB, .290 BAA Hart: 52 IP, 45 K/16 BB, .292 BAA Taylor: 56.1 IP, 24 K/11 BB, .320 BAA Mateo (2006 at West Tenn): 92.2 IP, 70 K/26 BB, .229 BAA Mateo (2006 w/ Cubs): 45.2 IP, 35 K/23 BB, .288 BAA Hernandez: 14 IP, 10 K/5 BB, .302 BAA

Iowa lost to Tacoma 7-3 LF Patterson - 1/4, BB, outfield assist SS Cedeno - 0/4, R, BB 2B Fontenot - 0/3, BB, 2 K RF Kinkade - 2/4, R, HR (3), 2 RBI (18) C Soto - 1/4, R, 2B (10) 3B Moore - 1/4 DH Richie - 1/4, RBI (6), 2 K SP Webb - 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4/4 K/BB, 6/4 GO/FO, HR RP Schappert - 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1/1 K/BB, HR Tennessee beat Birmingham 10-3 CF Fuld - 1/3, R, HBP LF Cortes - 2/5, 2 R, RBI (18) RF Fox - 1/5, 2 K, outfield assist DH Kroeger - 2/4, 2 R, 2 RBI (41), K 3B McGehee - 2/4, R, 2B (9), 3 RBI (26), K 1B Craig - 1/4, R, HR (4), 3 RBI (24), K 2B Spearman - 2/4, R, 2B (8), K SS Simokaitis - 2/3, 2 R, BB SP Hart - 7.0 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 5/0 K/BB, 11/4 GO/FO RP Mendez - 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1/0 K/BB RP Avery - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0/1 K/BB Daytona lost 20-5 RF-CF Amador - 1/5, RBI (15), K, E (6, fielding) 3B Matulia - 1/2, R DH Culpepper - 2/3, R, RBI (5), BB 1B-LF Garcia - 1/3, 2 R, HR (3), 2 RBI (14) SS Chirinos - 3/4 C-2B Reed - 0/4, RBI (8) SP Taylor - 1.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2/2 K/BB, 2/0 GO/FO, HR RP Downs - 1.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2/1 K/BB, 3 HR RP Phelps - 1.0 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 0/3 K/BB RP Layden - 3.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1/0 K/BB RP Estrada - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2/1 K/BB, HR Peoria lost to Beloit 14-4 SS Mota - 1/4, R, 2 K CF Camp - 1/4, R 3B Lansford - 1/2, R, 2B (9), RBI (25), K 1B Canzler - 0/2, RBI (21), BB, K LF Adduci - 1/3, RBI (9), PO RF Carter - 1/4, RBI (30), 2 K 2B Malone - 2/3, R, K SP Mateo - 3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1/0 K/BB, 6/2 GO/FO, HR, WP RP Albuquerque - 5.2 IP, 8 H, 10 R, 5/3 K/BB, 4/8 GO/FO, 2 HR RP Lalli - 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0/0 K/BB

He didn't pitch much in college and when he did, he wasn't that great. Regardless of his contract and what he did in spring training, he was always going to be a project.

Onyewu with a beauty.

That almost looked like a marketing ploy. It sure seemed he had that all planned out already.

Will SOMEONE finish?

Make Veal into a closer.

They've had quite a few quality chances so far. They probably should have a third goal already.

Nicely done. Not a bad first goal. Could have done without seeing white guys dance, though.

What the hell was that? I mean aside from not bothering to clear the ball.

1-0 US off of Beasley's PK. Too bad he couldn't keep his feet going and finish it without the PK.

anyone watching this one? I'm hitting up the globe pub. I'll probably check up on it during breaks of Cavs-Pistons. Why is it that China isn't all that good at soccer when they have a trillion people that live there? On a related matter, I read this article in Forbes while in a waiting room a month ago. Some striking numbers: Just think of where that market will be in 10 years.

He took the easy way out today. I wish I could do that.

Since I don't understand the obsession that 99% of music stations have with airing inane morning shows instead of music, I was wondering what people actually wanted to hear:

Yeah, I've been looking for both for ages. I finally decided to get that Bears Historic set DVD for the games after a few months of thinking about it. What an amazing two weeks that was...

If there's a large betting community for it along with a large fantasy fan base, it could work. Of course, without those two things, the NFL would be down in NBA territory right now.

I put up video highlights here of the Walter Payton game in '99 and the OT wins in 2001 against the 49ers and Browns.

The Chicago Trophy lineup is set: Not as nice as the rumored teams earlier.

Uh oh. Mitre's gonna get demoted to the bullpen.

Damnit, Cubs. You're not supposed to hurt good pitchers who aren't under our control anymore.

Woo...I'm back! This sort of nonsense won't happen again. :P It's just not the same when it isn't you who drops the ball.

How can you not assume it wouldn't just be Cotts to get the call if they did something with Eyre?