MLB: Opening Day!

[Ned]

Also, the AL era is lower. Given the DH, this means the AL pitching must be better or the NL parks are bandboxes that allow mini-players to hit homers on the scale of Ruth. I think both are somewhat true.

[Ned]

Take a look at the ESPN RPI (Relative Power Index). The AL Central's top three teams are also the 3 out of the four top teams in the index. Chicago at No. 1, Twins at No. 3 and Cleveland at No. 4.

None of these teams will have an All Star as none of them are on the more fashionable coasts and do not get the press.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Once again Ned, would you replace A-Rod with anyone on those teams? Soriano? Vlad Guerrero?

I thought we put this dumb argument to bed. Apparently not.

[DerSchwarzfalke]

They will not have All Stars from among their position players, yes, and Imran proves thoroughly why. But Johan Santana, Freddy Garcia, and Jon Garland will all be in the All Star Game, and I would be willing to bet some money that John Garland will be starting for the AL team. Your argument is groundless.

[Ned]

Originally posted by DerSchwarzfalke
They will not have All Stars from among their position players, yes, and Imran proves thoroughly why. But Johan Santana, Freddy Garcia, and John Garland will all be in the All Star Game, and I would be willing to bet some money that John Garland will be starting for the AL team. Your argument is groundless.

Maybe. But I think Santana or Buehrle starts.

As to the bias for Eastern teams, please explain how Tino of the Yanks deserves to start over Konerko or Teixeira? The one guy I have no dispute about is A-Rod.

[DerSchwarzfalke]

He does not, that has to do with fan voting idiocy. It happened last year when a mediocre Giambi got in the All Star Game as starting first base. In a perfect world, Teixera starts first base for the AL.

EDIT: Damn, good point about Buehrle. I did not realize the season he had strung together to date.

[Imran Siddiqui]

There is no bias for "Eastern teams". It's a bias for Yankees. That's a much different thing. And Teixiera has been climbing in the vote numbers. When you play for a team like the Rangers which hasn't been to the playoffs in years, it's hard to get national recognition.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I still don't believe the Nats will hold on. Their hitting is atrocious. They have given up more runs than they've scored. They are supposed to be worse than their record (Pythagoran Record). They'll come back down.

they seem to do well in the clutch, eking out a lot of late inning one run victories. And they do particular well at home.

[Imran Siddiqui]

They have good pitching, but their hitting will not keep them in their lofty position. "Clutch" hitting is a myth and statistical analysis of the game proves that it doesn't exist (common sense says it is silly to think a player becomes a better hitter when suddenly placed in a pressure packed situation).

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
They have good pitching, but their hitting will not keep them in their lofty position. "Clutch" hitting is a myth and statistical analysis of the game proves that it doesn't exist (common sense says it is silly to think a player becomes a better hitter when suddenly placed in a pressure packed situation).

why would common sense say that? Lots of folks in other walks of life do BETTER in a clutch situation. Focuses the attention and all that. Ill defer to you on the stats though.

[DerSchwarzfalke]

A "curse" is also a statistical 'myth,' but it is currently quite real to Cubs fans. There are certain aspects of baseball unreachable by sabermetrics, the idea of 'clutch' being one of the most obvious.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
why would common sense say that? Lots of folks in other walks of life do BETTER in a clutch situation. Focuses the attention and all that. Ill defer to you on the stats though.

I tend to completely disagree. I've never met anyone that did better in a clutch situation in life. They just THOUGHT they did better.

A "curse" is also a statistical 'myth,' but it is currently quite real to Cubs fans. There are certain aspects of baseball unreachable by sabermetrics, the idea of 'clutch' being one of the most obvious.

Clutch hitters has been shown to be wrong. Such as Joe Carter, considered one of the best 'clutch' players, but actually has horrid postseason stats, he just had some timely hits. Barry Bonds was the ultimate clutch choaker... until the 2002 World Series where he was a God in the batter's box. And the sample size used to determine if someone is 'clutch' is absurdly small. It's a baseball myth that no one had checked up on (along with a lot of things that sabermetrics has shown to be silly).

[Ned]

Morgan, on ESPN last night, said that teams with hitter-friendly ball parks had a hard time making the playoffs and winning series. Apparently, players alter their swings for their own parks and cannot adjust properly for road games.

As well, hitter-friendly fields have a tendency to wear down pitching staffs.

The combined effect is hard on teams. This could help explain why the Cubs and, until last year, the Red Sox had a hard time even making the playoffs.

The White Sox have a similar problem with their field (perhaps until this year). The Sox have one of the highest BA differentials home and away historically because of that ballpark, Cellular Field.

The AL went +4 yesterday against the NL. That makes it +36 on the year.

[DerSchwarzfalke]

That amazing Yankees comeback last night, with the 13 run 8th inning? Yeah, I was there

It was the most electric I have ever seen any crowd in any sporting event. Very few people left the game early in spite of the makings of an embarassing blowout, so there were people in the stands to go nuts when the game just opened up.

I still do not understand why Lou Piniella left that kid in for so long. It looked like he was ready to cry from where we were sitting.

[Imran Siddiqui]

It's kind of sad when the Yankees are estatic after coming back against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays . How the mighty have fallen .