third eye

runners on 1st and 3rd for the Marlins with one out against Lidge

What was the line on this one leading up to the game?

Nice play call!

Yes! Urlacher - "Who's laughing now?......Me! LOL

Damn, Sori has been efficient with his SB this year. Actually adding value.

How has the LD% looked?April: 21.6% in 28-1/3 IP May: 25.5% in 27-2/3 IP June: 17.3% in 29-1/3 IP July: 11.7% in 26 IP August: 20.6% in 30 IP Sept: 12.8% in 13-1/3 IP 18.4% opp LD since the start of June So he got somewhat lucky in August, but has been pretty good at keeping the ball down generally since May?

When he's on his game and pitching to ground balls rather than giving up fly balls, wouldn't we expect his BABIP to be lower anyway? Yes, those are significantly lower than league average. As a non-strikeout pitcher who gets shelled when he gets the ball up, but is pretty decent when pitching to his strength, that should be expected. How has the LD% looked?

I'm all for Bhogg kicking off the next winning streak, but I was hoping for a Julio Zuleta style exorcism of the bat demons. Edit: I had the images off. I didn't see the grave stone. Task complete.

congrats to Koyie on his at bats today.

Yep, and I wanted a bout with Amoebic Dysentery, because it would mean that when my life counted, I would be regular.

That was your first mistake :-)) Moneyball is excellent but don't mistake it for a book about the importance of OBP. Many ppl miss this point: the book is about maximizing edge in the marketplace of baseball players, where edge is something like expected run production per dollar. OBP was simply the performance measure that Billy Beane discovered was the most undervalued at the time. Also keep in mind that this is something which is always shifting since these kinds of markets tend to correct themselves when something that is undervalued is being exploited. Currently, OBP is considered a valuable trait for position players to have for a number of clubs. The players with high OBP numbers are getting paid much more now than they were 10 years ago. Because of these shifts in the market and his limited budget, Beane always has to unearth valuable traits in players that other teams tend to undervalue in free agency and the draft. As for a book recommendation, I recently read The Cheater's Guide to Baseball and found it enjoyable. Zumsteg has a good sense of humor and clearly loves baseball. It never felt like he had an axe to grind or anything like that. Sadly, it took until this year for the braintrust of this organization to realize the value of OBP, now that it is not undervalued. But happily, they seem to have fully taken it to heart and have the resources to (over?)pay for it.

Jim Rome? That you? They were also facing a pitcher who was dominant out of the pen this year, a high draft pick a few years ago, plays in Seattle and wasn't named Joba. So I guess I understand how it didn't translate for the East Coast :-" :wink: I am not saying Morrow is a good pitcher, I was commenting on the entire season. I wondered why Morrow wasn't starting long ago. The season has been lost for Seattle for quite some time. And yes, that was my Jim Rome impression. Very good question. The fact that the Mariners refused to trade any of their reasonable trading chips was beyond me. My favorite part was when they publicly stated after firing the GM and manager that the goal was "winning as many games as possible" this year. Really?? Not trying to get a better understanding of the younger talent you have?? And you waited until 2 months after the trading deadline to stretch your best pitching prospect into a starter?? I thought that previous years of the Cubs idiocy was bad, but it has been an embarrassment in Seattle this year.

Jim Rome? That you? They were also facing a pitcher who was dominant out of the pen this year, a high draft pick a few years ago, plays in Seattle and wasn't named Joba. So I guess I understand how it didn't translate for the East Coast :-" :wink:

:OverMy Head: A little help here?

When the hell did they make him a starter? I like it Seattle has been stupid about how long they kept him in the pen. He should have been stretched out to be a starter long ago, but at least they finally made the right call. They will go into next season (likely) with King Felix, Morrow and Bedard as their top 3. That should be an indicator of potentially good things to come. But they have NOTHING on the offensive side. Maybe they get 2 decent picks for Ibanez when he walks, but they'll obviously be a couple of years away. They may be better off trading away 2 of those three, because they need to restock the system unless Clement and Tuisasosopo turn out to be sensational. By the way, does anyone have access to the PECOTA projections on those two?

Given the difference between bullpens, that is surprising. Brewers RP had a 3.93 ERA going into tonight, Cubs had a 3.80 ERA so it really isn't a big difference. The fact the Brewers are anemic with RISP would be the bigger factor I'd think. 1 run games are a pretty goofy stat, the Brewers have turned a lot of 2-3 run leads into 1 run wins which I'm sure has something to do with it. Luck has a lot to do with it too. That's what I was getting at. I absolutely respect the talent the brewers have. But the run differential, while not the end all be all, indicated that the win differential should have been larger.

When the hell did they make him a starter? I like it Seattle has been stupid about how long they kept him in the pen. He should have been stretched out to be a starter long ago, but at least they finally made the right call. They will go into next season (likely) with King Felix, Morrow and Bedard as their top 3. That should be an indicator of potentially good things to come. But they have NOTHING on the offensive side. Maybe they get 2 decent picks for Ibanez when he walks, but they'll obviously be a couple of years away. They may be better off trading away 2 of those three, because they need to restock the system unless Clement and Tuisasosopo turn out to be sensational.

An economy of words for the game thread pimp. There is beauty in simplicity I suppose.

When the hell did they make him a starter? I like it Seattle has been stupid about how long they kept him in the pen. He should have been stretched out to be a starter long ago, but at least they finally made the right call.

Given the difference between bullpens, that is surprising.

Noted. I just didn't realize the extent to which this was the case.

Me neither, but oh well. It worked.

because they've scored every other time those guys have come up this game Its still the heart of their lineup and a powerful one. Just because they havnt gotten the job done yet this evening doesnt mean they wont. I don't think it's as powerful as you think it is. They have power in the SLG sense, but I'm a bit surprised the OPS numbers for the middle of the Brewers order arent higher than they are.

Quick, someone bust out the Torres Toast pic

Did his steroids suffer an injury? if only steroids hadn't caused him to need TJS How long ago did he have it? Guys come back rom TJS all the time. had it in 2005 and was out all of 2006. He's never been the same. We're talking about a guy who had over 150 saves over 3 seasons, a Cy Young, etc. The guy was unhittable. So? Nobody is arguing that he was amazing. We're arguing what has caused his decline. Since he's a known roider I don't think it's unfair to suspect that it's the lack of juice, especially when guys come back strong from TJS on a regular basis. Ah, right, his was one of the names dropped. Forgot about that.