HOW ARE THE SOX DOING IT,
How are Chowderville's finest kicking the Yankees ass and running away with the division. The pundits chorus with one voice, it's the starting pitching, that great starting pitching that Theo studiously invested in. As usual, the pundits are at least half-wrong.
The starting pitching has been good but certainly not great, particularly as compared with the Yankees' starting pitching, which everyone knows has been injury plagued and awful. No, actually, it's not the pitching at all; it's the run-scoring stupid! Josh Beckett has a 7-0 record with exactly the same ERA as Andy Pettite (3-3). Dice-K has a 7-2 record with an ERA one third of a run higher than Wang (2-4). Tavares ERA has been comparable, until this week, to Mussina's and he has been able, unlike Moose, to maintain a 5oo record. Schilling is 4-2 with an ERA higher than Clippard's and comparable to Rasner's before he went down. Wakefield's ERA has gone up a full 2 runs a game over his last three starts as the weather warms up.
But as Boston's pitching has actually worsened, their run scoring has gotten progressively better. How have they done it? Well they have 3 guys over 300, just like the Yankees and none of them (Lowell, Ortiz, Youk) has anaverage as high as either Jeter or Posada. Noone on their team as as many homers or RBI's as AROD. Hell Manny doesn't have more rbi's than Jeter. They have a line-up as filled with holes as the Yankees. You think Abreu stinks, check out J.D. Drew (227). You think Damon's been disappointing--not compared with Crisp (240's). Has Cano let us down? Well he's hitting better than Lugo who was supposed to be their sparkplug. Adn Pedroia's not exactly setting the world on fire either. Varitek has been better than expected, but he's no better than Giambi, and Manny has been going worse all around than Matsui. The answer is sadly familiar. As bad a situational hitting team as the Yankees are, that's how good the Red Sox are. When you get on base someone will bring you home. Their hits occur next to one another not scattered through the nine innings. And that means they are producing in the clutch. and that in turn menas they are, and it kills me to say it, a team with character, certainly a good deal more character than this version of the Yankees. Remember Knoblach did not hit 300 form the Yankees; Brosius didn't hit 250 and Giardi didn't either. O'Neill was typically not a 300 hitter, nor was Tino, nor Raines, nor Fielder, nor Strawberry nor Posada. The last dynasty was built on timely hitting not overwhelming offense (unlike the Ruth dynasty (27-29), the Dimaggio-Gehrig dynasty (36-39), but like the Dimaggio- Mantle dynasty (49-54) and the second Mantle dynasty (58-62). From 96-2000, the Yankees were a team whose stats belied their greatness and while this Boston team has achieved nothing yet, they are setting the same pattern.
The pundits, I am pleased to announce are wrong again. While Boston's pitching may be better, they are not necessarily pitching better; and while their hitting may be no better, they are in fact hitting better, much better.
The starting pitching has been good but certainly not great, particularly as compared with the Yankees' starting pitching, which everyone knows has been injury plagued and awful. No, actually, it's not the pitching at all; it's the run-scoring stupid! Josh Beckett has a 7-0 record with exactly the same ERA as Andy Pettite (3-3). Dice-K has a 7-2 record with an ERA one third of a run higher than Wang (2-4). Tavares ERA has been comparable, until this week, to Mussina's and he has been able, unlike Moose, to maintain a 5oo record. Schilling is 4-2 with an ERA higher than Clippard's and comparable to Rasner's before he went down. Wakefield's ERA has gone up a full 2 runs a game over his last three starts as the weather warms up.
But as Boston's pitching has actually worsened, their run scoring has gotten progressively better. How have they done it? Well they have 3 guys over 300, just like the Yankees and none of them (Lowell, Ortiz, Youk) has anaverage as high as either Jeter or Posada. Noone on their team as as many homers or RBI's as AROD. Hell Manny doesn't have more rbi's than Jeter. They have a line-up as filled with holes as the Yankees. You think Abreu stinks, check out J.D. Drew (227). You think Damon's been disappointing--not compared with Crisp (240's). Has Cano let us down? Well he's hitting better than Lugo who was supposed to be their sparkplug. Adn Pedroia's not exactly setting the world on fire either. Varitek has been better than expected, but he's no better than Giambi, and Manny has been going worse all around than Matsui. The answer is sadly familiar. As bad a situational hitting team as the Yankees are, that's how good the Red Sox are. When you get on base someone will bring you home. Their hits occur next to one another not scattered through the nine innings. And that means they are producing in the clutch. and that in turn menas they are, and it kills me to say it, a team with character, certainly a good deal more character than this version of the Yankees. Remember Knoblach did not hit 300 form the Yankees; Brosius didn't hit 250 and Giardi didn't either. O'Neill was typically not a 300 hitter, nor was Tino, nor Raines, nor Fielder, nor Strawberry nor Posada. The last dynasty was built on timely hitting not overwhelming offense (unlike the Ruth dynasty (27-29), the Dimaggio-Gehrig dynasty (36-39), but like the Dimaggio- Mantle dynasty (49-54) and the second Mantle dynasty (58-62). From 96-2000, the Yankees were a team whose stats belied their greatness and while this Boston team has achieved nothing yet, they are setting the same pattern.
The pundits, I am pleased to announce are wrong again. While Boston's pitching may be better, they are not necessarily pitching better; and while their hitting may be no better, they are in fact hitting better, much better.
posted by joe valente | 10:41 AM
2 Comments:
Backing up your point is that the Yanks have scored 251 runs and yielded only 225 runs. That normally should put them over .500 but it doesn't because they aren't producing runs at the right times.
Here's anpther telling stat. The Yankees are 6 games under 500 and exactly that in one run games, 5-11. The closer the game the more every at bat is a timely at bat, and the more each at bat counts, the less likely the Yankees are to produce.
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