baseball questions
 

I took off about the last 15 from caring about baseball. here' s the biggest change I've noticed now that I'm back: complete games are not important at all- in fact it seems like you're not allowed to get them. I understand with really young pitchers, but the other night Kenny Rogers was cruising through 7, with a big lead and got pulled because his pitch count was high. in the early 90s he'd have completed the game (hopefully).

Was this just a reaction to some study of stats and how often a starter falters in the last 2 innings, or after 110 pitches or something compared to how often a closer fucks up? the Tigers closers have screwed up a couple in the last few weeks when the starter had seemed fine when yanked. Of course with the change you never see when the starter blows it in the 9th.

Anyway, complete games WAS the stud statistic for pitchers.

Another thing, and I know there is no answer for this, but anyway....is there any explaination for a team that never gets runs for one starter compared to the team's other starters- like a guy who pitches slowly cools his own hitters off or some odd thing?

We have a guy who is 13-12 with an ERA of 3.6. He has lost several 2-0, 2-1, 3-2 games, and he should be like 20-5 or so.

baseball questions
 

Last year with the Stros, Roger Clemens had a 13-8 record with a 1.87 ERA.

baseball questions
 

The game has changed. Pitchers and their agents believe (and probably not without reason) that their careers will be extended if they don't go too far over 100 pitches in any given start. Middle relief is now a career position for many pitchers and teams pour money into their bullpens, recognizing their importance. Closers make big money and managers have figured out that they can avoid criticism if they have a system that calls for bringing in a closer for every save situation. Unless you have a no-hitter going or a shut out with a low pitch count (and probably a four run lead with no one on), you're not going to finish the game.

I think LaRussa's pure statistical approach and Torre's Mariano-Wetteland ideal that everyone is reaching for are the major contributors to the change.

Plus, Kenny Rogers fucking sucks. You'll see come playoffs, when the games mean something.

Tell it to Clemens.

TM

baseball questions
 

After the last month, that is really all I'm hoping for (that is, that they make it)

baseball questions
 

Just wait. Pretty soon, I predict you will see starter by committee, sort of like in LL. Pitcher 1 goes through the batting order once, pitcher 2 goes through the second time, then you have 3 or 4 guys each going an inning. Hitters never have a chance to adjust and the pitchers never get tired.

As far as getting runs for a particular pitcher, if that guy is the third or fourth in the rotation on a team that is very deep in pitching, he is usually going against someone who is also third or fourth in the rotation on the other team. So let's say for example the Mets, go Pedro, Glavine, Duque, Traschel. Traschel, now the 4th starter when matched up against the Brewers -- a team far less deep than the Mets -- goes against some guy who probably is a AA pitcher. The Mets pound the shit out of him and Traschel gets 55 runs a game run support.

baseball questions
 

You'll make the playoffs. Chicago has completely fallen apart. I think it will be the wildcard for Detroit, but I guess that's why you need to win all those games early in the season. And anything can happen in the playoffs (although, as I've learned from watching the Yankees blow it in the post season, the hottest team at the end of the season is the team most likely to go the deepest).

TM

baseball questions
 

I thought teams simply tried to maximize the starts for their number 1 (the 1 pitches every fifth day, regardless if 5, 4, or 3 games are played in that 5 day span). If there are a lot of rainouts, it's possible to have your 4 and 5 not pitch for a couple weeks.

But what you're suggesting is that teams make an effort to match their 1 with the other team's 1. Is this true?

baseball questions
 

And the deepest team (pitching) is most likely to be the hottest.

baseball questions
 

The strike zone has changed too. With the smaller strike zone, batters work the count a lot more, so more pitches, so fewer innings. Worse, an increase in runs and base runners (hitter-friendly parks) also increases pitches. So pitchers are likely to run out of steam earlier in the game. They can't just throw the ball over and let 'em hit it any more.

Car Question
 

Ford eliminated the Town Car years ago when they turned it into an alternatively branded Crown Vic.

baseball questions
 

I guess I can agree with "most likely," but if you have a great number 1 and number 2, you tend to do pretty well in the stretched-out playoffs.

TM

From Here to Partial Eternity.

Sort of a low-budged half-assed version of the first one. Long makeout scene on the concrete next to a kiddie pool.

baseball questions
 

The baseball threads are the FB equivalent of the estate tax policy threads on Politics.

Between a National Guardsman and a woman with a live-in boyfriend.

baseball questions
 

Do you hate hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet as well?

baseball questions
 

If you had to create your own baseball team, how would you start?

baseball questions
 

Really cool uniforms.

baseball questions
 

I HAVE PLAYOFF TICKETS!!!!

baseball questions
 

baseball questions
 

And which girlfriend are you taking?

baseball questions
 

Hypo: Yankees- Tigers, who are you cheering for?

baseball questions
 

Nope, just people who prattle on endlessly about a game that consists largely of people standing around waiting for something to happen.

baseball questions
 

And take it to the Politics Board.

baseball questions
 

I knew you were Hanks' sock.

baseball questions
 

Maybe if you were not such a pussy, you would be able to improve your masturbation technique to the point where you would not have to vent your frustration through angry yet emasculated posts such as the above.

Just a thought.

baseball questions
 

That's a tough one. The first baseball game I ever attended was a Tigers - Royals game (in Tiger Stadium). The Tigers were always a household favorite, but the Yankees were popular too (we lived in Columbus). But I haven't lived in the midwest for, well, a long time, and have been a Yankees fan for as long as I've lived in NY (which includes years when they were not exactly successful).

To conlcude, I'm cheering for the Yankees - but if they don't win, I hope the Tigers do.

baseball questions
 

Talk about having your cake and eating it, too.

baseball questions
 

Excellent. I enjoy playoff baseball a lot. It's the only time I really pay any attention to it.

My doorman also has playoff tickets. He and my boyfriend were talking so much about baseball last night that finally I just left them to chat and I went up to my apartment. My boyfriend showed up about 15 min later. I am all for bonding, but really. I need dinner and attention!

Disturbing photos
 

David Spade

http://img.timeinc.net/people/i/2006...avid_spade.jpg

Christopher Walken

http://img.timeinc.net/people/i/2006...her_walken.jpg

OK so what's with the men in drag movies trend all about.

baseball questions
 

No, actually, GGG is my wife, with the photoshop skills. But she forgot to sign off.


--Hank

baseball questions
 

Sometimes I find myself in a bit of a dilemma trying to decide which group I find more offensive -- the cake eaters or the cake havers. DTB has resolved this dilemma for me nicely.

baseball questions
 

Oh. I see. It's been okay for you for 50 years of Friday and Saturday nights, but if it's not about you, you get all huffy.

TM

baseball questions
 

Take it to the spinning board.

Classic or Exotic?
 

Sacré bleu! No way is she hotter than Sophie:

http://sophie-marceau.konta.waw.pl/g...-marceau-3.jpg

The ND band has been playing it for years.

baseball questions
 

They'll be fine. My teamed Atticus-ed the bed.

Six flags promo
 

Eat a hissing cockroach, cut in line.

GURNEE, Ill. — Why wait in line when you can just eat a cockroach? That's the question Six Flags Great America is asking its thrill seekers during its Halloween-themed FrightFest. The amusement park is daring customers to eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach in exchange for unlimited line-jumping privileges.

The promotion, which has Lake County Health Department officials shaking their heads, starts Oct. 7.

Anyone who chows down the entire 2- to 3-inch horned cockroach gets a pass for four people to cut to the front of ride lines through Oct. 29.

Consuming live roaches might increase risks of gastrointestinal illness and allergies, according to Bill Mays, Lake County Health Department's community health director.

And may cause random people around them to just barf. I don't know how bad the lines are, but this isn't a real incentive for me.

roaches

Taylor says he's hoping someone can beat the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records feat in which a British man downed 36 cockroaches.

Classic or Exotic?
 

I assume this isn't today's submission since there are no T&A.

TM

Classic or Exotic?
 

Almost noone is hotter than Sophie.

Six flags promo
 

Nothing like downing a few roaches before climbing on King Chaos.

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/.../cockroach.jpg