I'm not grasping for anything. I dismiss the convenient notion that everything good happens is because of talent and then when things inevitably don't go as hoped/expected, it's just a product of bad luck. It's not practical.
I'm neither suggesting luck doesn't play a part nor games like this don't happen. But I think people are so set in their position there's absolutely nothing wrong with the offense, that now it's a moral victory to score 3 runs in a game against a good pitcher, and a loss is just bad luck.
3 runs in a game wins only about 4 out of 10 games. You know that going in that if you score 2-3 runs, it very well might not be enough. There were no illusions. If you go into any game knowing you'll have just 2 runs through 8 innings, you expect you're probably going to lose. So regardless of how the game went, three runs isn't getting it done. The circumstances are understandable--Price is a terrific pitcher. But it's still not enough and when it's not, it's on the people that didn't get it done and not some dumb luck.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
If you watch baseball, or rather played it, you know there are a lot of things that happen in the course of a game that you do wrong that could have been done properly. Those mistakes are accountable to the people that make them more than random chance.
Despite your tendency to label everything regression or luck, a lot more of it is a product of the actual players on the field than not.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing 'base', a certain game of ball. Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms, the game of ball is glorious"
-Walt Whitman
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
Last edited by traderumor; 06-28-2011 at 10:26 PM.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing 'base', a certain game of ball. Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms, the game of ball is glorious"
-Walt Whitman
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
Yeah I said earlier I think luck plays into it. That's never been a contention of mine. I just think there are enough things that happen in a baseball game that are under your control to do better that it's shifting blame to pass off as luck.
Price is good, but he had a better game against the Reds today than his season averages. So they didn't really scratch and claw much because they did less against him than a lot of teams have done. So I think that is an indication that they could have (and probably should have) done more.
I'm not totally dismissing the element of bad luck. But I don't believe in luck being the overriding factor in these games or any game for that matter. You go out and play on any given night, usually the team that makes fewer mistakes will win the game. Sometimes it's a tossup and comes down to a bounce here or there. But that's all the more reason to maximize your opportunities.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
Maybe in games like "this", the better team might win.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
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