Shoutistics
242,219
Total Shouts
7
Last 24 Hours
Leaderboard
The Shoutbox
Wow. New levels of pointlessness. 
I say:
I knew that, actually. Just typed faster than I thought.
Pettite and Rivera? Yeah, perhaps. El Duque? No flickin' way...the guy is the epitomy of instability. But yes, the Yanks would get a couple games by that logic...
Anyway, I still stand by what I said: people like to think of games in September as more important than games in May, but they're not...at all. A win holds the same value at absolutely any point in the regular season.
"Baseball isn't played on paper...it's played inside television sets by tiny little men." -- Kenny Mayne
Pettite and Rivera? Yeah, perhaps. El Duque? No flickin' way...the guy is the epitomy of instability. But yes, the Yanks would get a couple games by that logic...
...and despite what you may say, the formulas by and large DO work. The majority of them, anyway. Bill James is a statistical genius...he knows his sh*t, to put it crudely.
What I find interesting is that the Pythagorean Standings (standings based on run differential rather than wins and losses) have the BoSox as the unluckiest team in baseball...apparently their run production and pitching suggests that they should be four games better than they are...and that the Yanks ought to be one game better than they are.
I find that very interesting. Luck plays its part, however, and no, I'm not suggesting that we change the way wins are counted...however, this method is usually very close to dead on (so far this year it's not off by more than 5 games for ANY team), and tends to serve as a good indicator of how well a team has performed, luck aside.
Pettite and Rivera? Yeah, perhaps. El Duque? No flickin' way...the guy is the epitomy of instability. But yes, the Yanks would get a couple games by that logic...
...and despite what you may say, the formulas by and large DO work. The majority of them, anyway. Bill James is a statistical genius...he knows his sh*t, to put it crudely.
What I find interesting is that the Pythagorean Standings (standings based on run differential rather than wins and losses) have the BoSox as the unluckiest team in baseball...apparently their run production and pitching suggests that they should be four games better than they are...and that the Yanks ought to be one game better than they are.
I find that very interesting. Luck plays its part, however, and no, I'm not suggesting that we change the way wins are counted...however, this method is usually very close to dead on (so far this year it's not off by more than 5 games for ANY team), and tends to serve as a good indicator of how well a team has performed, luck aside.
And if by that same logic you give the Yankees another three or four wins for Pettite, Rivera and El Duque's total absences, then the Yankees are still "up" a few, yeah.
This is why formulas don't work and why thankfully it is played on the field and not on paper.
Anyway, this should be another excellent Post Season - assuming there isn't a fu*king strike again and we actually get to see one.
This is why formulas don't work and why thankfully it is played on the field and not on paper.
Anyway, this should be another excellent Post Season - assuming there isn't a fu*king strike again and we actually get to see one.
If you don't play well in September, then May don't mean *****.
As for Rodriguez: he's surrounded by a weak supporting cast (I'm referring primarily to the pitching). Ramirez's situation is far different. No one's claiming that sticking Manny on a floundering team would mean their saving grace...but on a contender only three games out, well, it means a great deal. So I don't know what "that" dependent is supposed to mean, precisely, but seeing as how the best players (according to Bill James) account for several wins (at least) per year, yes, losing Manny for a quarter of the season could mean the difference between the division and the wild card, if they end up just a couple of games out.
The NL West is crazy. Quite frankly, I'm shocked that the D-Backs are taking this long to grab the reigns...regardless, I see them, if not in the World Series again, as damn near close to being the favorites. It's hard to beat the 1-2 punch of Johnson and Schilling in a Playoff series.
And for those of you who don't give two damns about Baseball, please, as you were....
We now return you to your regularly scheduled shouting.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled shouting.
Of course it all counts, but especially now with the way the schedules are set up, unless you're just plain out of it, you play each other so much including a bunch at the end of the year that even six or seven games really could be made-up in the final three weeks of the season...that is if you can dominate the final few series, not just win 'em but sweep 'em (or darm near). If you don't play well in September, then May don't mean *****. Ask the Angels and Red Sox teams of the late '90s.
Is Manny Ramirez more important overall to teh Red Sox success than Pettite and Rivera are to the Yankees? Impossible to say, of course, especially since this is Manny's first year in Boston.
Alex Roderiguez is an RBI machine too, but how many World Series did he and Griffey win with Seattle? How many games has Texas won the past two years with him in the line-up? If your team is that dependent on one player anyway, you probably weren't going to win. Baseball isn't like Basketball where one player out of five can truly make THE difference. Every player is important, but without a total team effort, you aren't going to advance very far into the Post Season.
Because of the uneven scheduling, I'm sure there will be some good pennant races this year, in most of the divisions, though the AL East, the AL West and the NL West are going to be the ultra-fun ones to watch.
Is Manny Ramirez more important overall to teh Red Sox success than Pettite and Rivera are to the Yankees? Impossible to say, of course, especially since this is Manny's first year in Boston.
Alex Roderiguez is an RBI machine too, but how many World Series did he and Griffey win with Seattle? How many games has Texas won the past two years with him in the line-up? If your team is that dependent on one player anyway, you probably weren't going to win. Baseball isn't like Basketball where one player out of five can truly make THE difference. Every player is important, but without a total team effort, you aren't going to advance very far into the Post Season.
Because of the uneven scheduling, I'm sure there will be some good pennant races this year, in most of the divisions, though the AL East, the AL West and the NL West are going to be the ultra-fun ones to watch.
I'd also have to wonder why baseball in April and May doesn't count, but September does. A win early in the season is just as valuable as a win late in the season. If you were talking about the playoffs, it'd make more sense...but other than that it really makes no difference WHEN you play your best ball, in terms of the regular season.