leviramsey Posted October 3, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted October 3, 2008 vintage base ball wonder if there are any clubs in England playing football by the 1870s rules in period kit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macmahonjames Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Lets go Red Sox!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 What is considered a great/good/average/bad/awful ERA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted October 3, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted October 3, 2008 less than 2.00: exceptional (indeed, only two pitchers in history, neither of whom played after 1917, have maintained a sub-2.00 ERA... the active leader is Mariano Rivera with a 2.30, but being a closer distorts the ERA... when Pedro Martinez was laying legitimate claims to being the best pitcher ever, his ERA hovered between 1.70 and 2.30) 2.00-3.00: excellent 3.00-4.00: good 4.00-5.00: average 5.00-6.00: bad greater than 6.00: awful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 less than 2.00: exceptional (indeed, only two pitchers in history, neither of whom played after 1917, have maintained a sub-2.00 ERA... the active leader is Mariano Rivera with a 2.30, but being a closer distorts the ERA... when Pedro Martinez was laying legitimate claims to being the best pitcher ever, his ERA hovered between 1.70 and 2.30) 2.00-3.00: excellent 3.00-4.00: good 4.00-5.00: average 5.00-6.00: bad greater than 6.00: awful 3.00-4.00 over the course of a long career can often be a bit better than "good". Take Greg Maddux for example, I doubt anyone would say he's only been "good". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Thanks guys. Whenever I played MVP baseball I was getting ERAs between 3.00 and 5.00 and I thought it was bad, I seemed to think you needed it to be around 2.00 to be considered decent! Glad I was wrong, and clearly I don't suck at the game as much as I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted October 4, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted October 4, 2008 3.00-4.00 over the course of a long career can often be a bit better than "good". Take Greg Maddux for example, I doubt anyone would say he's only been "good". ERA comparisons across eras (pun not intended) and even between different teams can be misleading. There have been periods where offense dominated and periods where defense dominated. Perhaps more importantly, some parks are very hitter-friendly while others aren't (Wrigley, where Maddux pitched for many many years, is well known as a hitters park, due to its size and the fact that many times in the summer the prevailing wind pattern blows to the outfield, meaning that weaker hits become home runs; Fenway is known as a decent park for righthanded pitchers, but a lefthanded pitcher for the Red Sox with an ERA of less than 5 has to be considered a freak of nature). Combine this with the tendency, especially in recent years with the unbalanced schedule (clubs play their division rivals nearly 20 times each a season, while only playing the clubs from the other divisions in their league maybe 6-9 times a season), to structure a squad to beat the clubs in one's division and you get cases like it being considered harder to get a given ERA in the AL East than it is in other divisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Rays, Red Sox, Dodgers and Phillies all lead their series' 2-0. Looks like the end of the White Sox. On the plus side, the Cubs are failing yet again, this is becoming hilarious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 ERA comparisons across eras (pun not intended) and even between different teams can be misleading........... Which is where ERA+ comes into it. I don't think we can pigeon hole what is and isnt a good ERA. What we can say is anything below three is excellent in almost any era and above five should be concidered poor, even for a left handed Red! In between that it all gets a little too fuzzy. As an aside, sort of, it's a shame what has happened to Pedro. Even if he is a Mutt and it isn't entirely unexpected. He's still a lock for the Hall, 1st ballot in my opinion. But it would have been good for baseball to see him reach 300 wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Rays, Red Sox, Dodgers and Phillies all lead their series' 2-0. Looks like the end of the White Sox. On the plus side, the Cubs are failing yet again, this is becoming hilarious. Yeah the division series could become a bit of an anti-climax to a good season. White sox showed how their offence is not dynamic enough, leaving man after man on base. I'm not too disapointed as I was anticipating these sort of shortcomings in the postseason (we've been useless in the clutch all year). We definitely need more speed for 2009. Cubs are a big surprise...but not an unpleasant one . I thought Zambrano, Dempster and Harden could take them to the pennant. I still think the Red Sox will win it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 I thought Zambrano, Dempster and Harden could take them to the pennant. I still think the Red Sox will win it all. Zambrano has been lit up like a christmas tree lately, although he wasn't exactly bad. Dempster has had an astonishing season, totaly unexpected. He really isn't that good. I think and I hope the Rays will be able to keep it up. Though I do look at their statisticas and wonder how the hell they managed to do it. Solid, healthy pitching 1-5 helps I guess. I wonder if post-steroid era baseball will see a return to small ball, or if teams like the 2008 Ray's area one off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted October 4, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted October 4, 2008 I think and I hope the Rays will be able to keep it up. Though I do look at their statisticas and wonder how the hell they managed to do it. Solid, healthy pitching 1-5 helps I guess. I wonder if post-steroid era baseball will see a return to small ball, or if teams like the 2008 Ray's area one off? They do it by having a good manager who's come up with a new set of tactics and who surrounded himself with young, cheap, hungry players. I for one am worried if the Sox have to play the Rays for the pennant... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted October 5, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted October 5, 2008 Bud Selig is normally a clearing in the woods, but why don't we see Scudamore doing something like this? Given the state of the U.S. economy, baseball commissioner Bud Selig warned team owners Saturday not to "get too cocky" and overprice game tickets. "Because you do pay a price," Selig said. Speaking before Game 3 of the NL playoff series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers, Selig called 2008 a "phenomenal success" for baseball despite a decline in attendance that Selig attributed to bad weather and high gas prices. But Selig acknowledged concern about a prolonged economic downturn and how it might affect the sport next year. "I think anybody in every business is concerned," Selig said. Selig was optimistic about baseball economics, citing playoff appearances by the small-market Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays as an example of the positive effects of revenue sharing. "I think the sport has more competitive balance today than there's ever been," Selig said. Selig, a former owner of the Brewers, planned to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Sunday if the series reached a fourth game. He said the festive atmosphere surrounding Milwaukee's first playoff appearance since 1982 made him recall the contentious legislative fight he went through to get Miller Park built in 2001, mostly with public funding. "Every time I drive by the stadium I'm reminded of much that went on," Selig said. "But as my mother would have said, thank goodness for small favors: All the politicians that fought it are either gone or don't say anything. That's a good thing. It's a wonderful day for Milwaukee." Selig acknowledged that there are "reasonable" arguments for and against public financing of sports stadiums, but insisted that it would be hard to argue that the new stadium didn't make Milwaukee a better place. "You can debate the economics," Selig said. "I think it's a plus, but we can have a reasonable debate. But the question you must always ask yourself is, will this be a better place because we have done this?" Selig also praised the popularity of the wild card but downplayed talk of allowing more teams into the playoffs. "I don't happen to believe that," Selig said. "I happen to think the system is good this way. I don't think it should be changed. But I think it's fair. And nobody can say that the Milwaukee club this year that won 90 games shouldn't be in the playoffs. Because, of course, they should." Selig also downplayed any talk of expanding the first round of the playoffs from to best-of-seven series. He told team owners that expressed support of more playoff games they would have to cut regular-season games from the schedule -- something owners clearly weren't willing to do and the players' union likely would oppose. "End of discussion," Selig said. Selig said there were no new developments in the impending sale of the Chicago Cubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Well, the cubbies are gone in a sweep. So much for being the "bestest team in the world ever". Brewers pull one back against the Phillies to make it 2-1. All of a sudden they're right back in it. Blanton Vs Suppan though, in a playoff game, bleh.... The White Sox have Danks going up against Garza tonight, should be interesting. I fancy the Angels to pull one back against Beckett too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 John Danks pitches another beauty to give the Sox a lifeline. Now down 2-1 in the series. Hopefully Gavin Floyd can win tonight and take the series to a decider. Angels also win in a tense 12 inning game against Boston. K-Rod pitching out of a bases loaded jam with the game on the line. Lackey, however, is 2-4 with a 6.34 ERA at Fenway so it doesn't look too good for the Angels in game 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Well, the cubbies are gone in a sweep. So much for being the "bestest team in the world ever". I quite like the fact that the big rivals of all the teams I support are complete failures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 John Danks pitches another beauty to give the Sox a lifeline. Now down 2-1 in the series. Hopefully Gavin Floyd can win tonight and take the series to a decider. Tonights game should be great, if we can pull off a win, anything can happen in game 5. A repeat of some of our 2005 magic please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Well, the cubbies are gone in a sweep. So much for being the "bestest team in the world ever". I quite like the fact that the big rivals of all the teams I support are complete failures. Hey1 I hope you're not including the Braves in that. Though we have been a complete faliure. Bobby Cox is losing it a little, he's doing a Dusty Baker on our bullpen these last few years. He's ruined a couple of good arms. And our injuries have just been horrible, for three years solid. We can talk about the Mutts though if you like, calling us choke artists for 14 years. Nice to see them get what they deserve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Quite like the Braves myself to be honest. But the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Eagles and Blues are just great team to hate, they've won F all between them for the last century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Rays win game 4 and take the series 3-1. Well played to them, they won a very tough division to get to the playoffs and were the better side throughout the series, good luck to them. I wouldn't mind an all LA World Series, Red Sox-Dodgers wouldn't be bad either, particularly with Manny going back to Fenway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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