Monday, February 27, 2006
Things that only happen in video games
The 2005 season after I finished playing every danged game on MVP Baseball 2005 (Sox finished 133-29, thanks to some ridiculous pitching):
Tim Wakefield won not only the Cy Young, but, in a shocker, pipped David Ortiz at the final stretch to win the AL MVP award. Of course, going 25-4 with a 1.42 ERA, 179 Ks, 1 BB (yeah, a 179 K/BB ratio is ridiculous, especially for a knuckleballer) over 253 1/3 innings probably earns you that.
Ortiz must have felt hard done by. 66 homers, 138 RBIs, 1.030 OPS, and nothing to show for it. On the other hand, Wakefield led all in OPS with a 1.500 OPS, accumulated, admittedly, in just 4 plate appearances (3 singles in 4 plate appearances, 1 run scored.)
As for the rest of the regulars: Trot had a monster season in the 2-hole: 43 homers, 94 RBI, 1.000 OPS. Manny flopped out, with 29 homers and a .724 OPS. Damon, Bellhorn, and Mueller spent significant time on the DL. David Wells was the All-Star Game MVP (!). Johnny Damon won a Gold Glove (!).
And the last series with the Yankees was a doozy, with 3 come-from-behind wins in a row: Trot hits a homer in extra innings off Tom Gordon for the Sox to win 4-3; Randy Johnson inexplicably loses control and walks 8 people in a game, including 4 or 5 in one inning (Sox win 6-5, with the winner coming off a Manny groundout RBI); Ortiz hits a 3-run homer in the 8th off Tom Gordon for the Sox to win 6-4.
And Kevin Millar won the batting title, with a .365 average (Joe Mauer was second at .329). Now that's how you really know this is fantasy.
The 2005 season after I finished playing every danged game on MVP Baseball 2005 (Sox finished 133-29, thanks to some ridiculous pitching):
Tim Wakefield won not only the Cy Young, but, in a shocker, pipped David Ortiz at the final stretch to win the AL MVP award. Of course, going 25-4 with a 1.42 ERA, 179 Ks, 1 BB (yeah, a 179 K/BB ratio is ridiculous, especially for a knuckleballer) over 253 1/3 innings probably earns you that.
Ortiz must have felt hard done by. 66 homers, 138 RBIs, 1.030 OPS, and nothing to show for it. On the other hand, Wakefield led all in OPS with a 1.500 OPS, accumulated, admittedly, in just 4 plate appearances (3 singles in 4 plate appearances, 1 run scored.)
As for the rest of the regulars: Trot had a monster season in the 2-hole: 43 homers, 94 RBI, 1.000 OPS. Manny flopped out, with 29 homers and a .724 OPS. Damon, Bellhorn, and Mueller spent significant time on the DL. David Wells was the All-Star Game MVP (!). Johnny Damon won a Gold Glove (!).
And the last series with the Yankees was a doozy, with 3 come-from-behind wins in a row: Trot hits a homer in extra innings off Tom Gordon for the Sox to win 4-3; Randy Johnson inexplicably loses control and walks 8 people in a game, including 4 or 5 in one inning (Sox win 6-5, with the winner coming off a Manny groundout RBI); Ortiz hits a 3-run homer in the 8th off Tom Gordon for the Sox to win 6-4.
And Kevin Millar won the batting title, with a .365 average (Joe Mauer was second at .329). Now that's how you really know this is fantasy.
More on parity and the AL/NL Central
Fungoes pulled up some interesting research on overextended sports markets, and linked it back to an old post I did on parity and how the existence of the AL and NL Central Divisions in baseball helps create parity in baseball. To further the point about the AL and NL Central Divisions acting as normalisers, the most recent World Series was a Central vs Central one. Which means, of the 10 teams in the 5 World Series since 2001, 4 have come from one of the East divisions, 3 from the West divisions, and 3 from the Central divisions. Hardly a sign of economic imbalance.
(Although there still should be a 3rd New York/New Jersey area team...)
Fungoes pulled up some interesting research on overextended sports markets, and linked it back to an old post I did on parity and how the existence of the AL and NL Central Divisions in baseball helps create parity in baseball. To further the point about the AL and NL Central Divisions acting as normalisers, the most recent World Series was a Central vs Central one. Which means, of the 10 teams in the 5 World Series since 2001, 4 have come from one of the East divisions, 3 from the West divisions, and 3 from the Central divisions. Hardly a sign of economic imbalance.
(Although there still should be a 3rd New York/New Jersey area team...)
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Reasons to hate Derek Jeter
More random links taken off SoSH - 100 reasons to hate Derek Jeter. Admittedly a lot of it is not about the player but his deification by the media, which is what gets to me anyway. For instance:
More random links taken off SoSH - 100 reasons to hate Derek Jeter. Admittedly a lot of it is not about the player but his deification by the media, which is what gets to me anyway. For instance:
77. Jeter the Guru - Here's a quote from Jeter's 2004 Playboy interview: "has a knack for elevating the play of his teammates." What exactly are they basing this on? ARod came to the Yankees and immediately had his worst season. Randy Johnson declined in his first season in pinstripes. Pavano, Weaver, Rondell White. Not that Jeter's to blame, but where are the guys who improved dramatically because of him? And what exactly did he do?
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Registration
Man, work is killing me. Here, go get Scott Podsednik something nice for his wedding. Come on, these lush hand towels aren't going to buy themselves.
Man, work is killing me. Here, go get Scott Podsednik something nice for his wedding. Come on, these lush hand towels aren't going to buy themselves.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Clemens returning to the Sox?
Still in off-season mode (and dealing with work), but thoughts on the idea that Roger Clemens might come back to Boston (here's the SoSH thread on the subject): I don't think Clemens has any sentimentality in him. But I still think it's possible for Roger to have zero sentimentality towards Boston and still want to come back for the personal glory he would get through surpassing certain Sox records (the 192 wins he shares with Cy Young, for one). Chasing records isn't sentimentality, it's ego, and I think Rajah has that in spades. Still don't think it outweighs his desire to be near home, or his desire for the money though.
And besides, what's the rhinestone supply situation in the Hub? Debbie Clemens might have conniptions.
Still in off-season mode (and dealing with work), but thoughts on the idea that Roger Clemens might come back to Boston (here's the SoSH thread on the subject): I don't think Clemens has any sentimentality in him. But I still think it's possible for Roger to have zero sentimentality towards Boston and still want to come back for the personal glory he would get through surpassing certain Sox records (the 192 wins he shares with Cy Young, for one). Chasing records isn't sentimentality, it's ego, and I think Rajah has that in spades. Still don't think it outweighs his desire to be near home, or his desire for the money though.
And besides, what's the rhinestone supply situation in the Hub? Debbie Clemens might have conniptions.
Singapore Sox Fan
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