Dice-K and Joe Morgan, BFFs
BALTIMORE – AUGUST 19: Brian Roberts catches a classic 2-ball, 1-strike pitch from Daisuke Matsuzaka in the 4th inning at Camden Yards August 19, 2008 in Baltimore, Maryland.
I know Joe Morgan has never met a counting stat he didn’t like, but maybe if he watched Dice-K we’d finally get to agree that the Win statistic is useless. Apparently he’s attending the Manny Delcarmen School of Pitching with his 11 baserunners in 5 inning performance. That’s right, it’s a WHIP over 2! Like always, he wiggled out of most of the jams and only allowed 2 runs, but stayed in just long enough to qualify for the almighty “Win” stat. And while I probably shouldn’t be complaining about a guy who is 15-2 on the season with a 2.77 ERA, those 15 wins still don’t make up for the cost of Kim’s defibrillator training to re-start my heart every other inning while he pitches.
Also, for everyone who has already dug a grave for the MFY this season, I just want to remind these people that back on August 15, 2004 a certain Red Sox team was 10.5GB in the division and went on to win the World Series. I’m not saying the same will happen with the MFY, but they’ve come to bite us in the ass before. Just sayin’.
Sans defibrilator, I tend to rely on the dulling effects of watching the game after a couple of beers. Works pretty well. You could give that a try, though it may not aid your memory, used to write up your game reviews.
As for the MFY, I agree with all the numbers and tendencies that suggest that they’re down for the count, but I agree with you… they’re too notorious to be ignored. The one encouragement I have to their seeming lack of come back is that not only is the news panning them now, but their own players seem, in their interviews, seem to act as though their run is over.
Comment by whit — August 20, 2008 @ 12:39 pm
Thanks for the comment whit. I try to go back-and-forth about writing up game reviews vs. random comments from the games. Sometimes one type of post gets monotonous after awhile. Also, due to the fact that I live on the left-coast, it’s sometimes hard for me to follow every pitch of the 7 PM EDT games due to work.
With regards to the MFY, you’re right, they don’t have the same swagger this year that they have in the past. But it’s amazing what winning streaks will do to a team’s confidence.
Comment by Matt — August 20, 2008 @ 1:25 pm