Friday Playoff thread

[MWM]

FCB, facing AL lineups, especially the east ones, is much different than facing the pathetic NL. I really think that masde a much bigger difference this year than in any year I can remember. There just wasn't a lot of good NL offenses.

[WMR]

How many pitchers in ALL of baseball can throw 102 mph right now?

[MWM]

It's hard to believe Junior hit that Grand Slam off Zumaya. He's awesome.

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by MWM

FCB, facing AL lineups, especially the east ones, is much different than facing the pathetic NL. I really think that masde a much bigger difference this year than in any year I can remember. There just wasn't a lot of good NL offenses.

I'm accounting for that and I still feel Arroyo and Harang had better seasons than any Yankees' starter.

[RFS62]

Man, listening to Ernie Harwell was a rare treat. What a great announcer.

Sean knocks out the big unit. Wow.

And I can't stand Kenny Rogers. But I have to admit, he pitched a masterpiece.

[MWM]

RFS, I was going to ask you if you were disapointed with how chicken boy pitched tonight. He's one the few players you have real disdain for.

[RFS62]

Give the devil his due.

He pitched the game of his life tonight. And you could just see his thought process watching him out on the mound.

[vaticanplum]

Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

Wright really didn't have a very good season. And while Mussina had some good peripherals, he was pretty hit-fortunate. And gave up a reasonable number of dingers. And to say Johnson had a pretty crummy season by his standards (or really by several standards) is being nice.

Wang was good, but kind of a one-trick groundball pony.

On balance, I'd say both Harang and Arroyo outpaced any pitcher on the Yankee starting staff by a respectable margin.

I disagree. the top two are pretty comparable. Wang had an amazing season; so did Harang. Mussina and Arroyo both had largely great seasons marred by one long stretch of mediocrity. I think this all evens out.

Then we're down to the bottom three. Johnson did have a crummy season by his standards, but he pulled off 17 wins in a tougher division and league. Wright had some very good starts; his ending stats are evened out. So not the greatest. But I can't be convinced that the season from these two can equal the motley crew of the Reds' bottom three: Ramirez, Milton, Lohse, whoever.

I'm halfway to drunk and despair by this point, and I have a sad rally cap on. A friend called to give me a radio feed just in time for me to hear the Yankees lose. Rock.

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by vaticanplum

I disagree. the top two are pretty comparable. Wang had an amazing season; so did Harang. Mussina and Arroyo both had largely great seasons marred by one long stretch of mediocrity. I think this all evens out.

Then we're down to the bottom three. Johnson did have a crummy season by his standards, but he pulled off 17 wins in a tougher division and league. Wright had some very good starts; his ending stats are evened out. So not the greatest. But I can't be convinced that the season from these two can equal the motley crew of the Reds' bottom three: Ramirez, Milton, Lohse, whoever.

I'm halfway to drunk and despair by this point, and I have a sad rally cap on. A friend called to give me a radio feed just in time for me to hear the Yankees lose. Rock.

Yeah, you're right that the bottom of the Yankees' rotation was better. But I deeply disagree that Mussina and Wang were as good as Harang or Arroyo.

[RFS62]

Ha!

I just saw a sign that said "Billy Crystal Sucks"

[MWM]

Wang had kind of an odd line this year. He gave up more hits than innings pitched, walked a decent amount of guys, and struck out next to no one. He didn't give up a lot of HRs, but his ERA was much lower than it should have been.

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by RFS62

Ha!

I just saw a sign that said "Billy Crystal Sucks"

That is brilliant.

[MWM]

the better sign would have been "City Slickers Sucks."

[vaticanplum]

Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

Yeah, you're right that the bottom of the Yankees' rotation was better. But I deeply disagree that Mussina and Wang were as good as Harang or Arroyo.

Wang had a 3.63 ERA and a 19-6 record. His Ks are low but that's just due to his style of pitching -- he also doesn't walk a lot of hitters. I don't care if he's almost entirely a sinkerballer; he does it better than just about anybody, and the AL hitters don't seem to have figured it out yet. And Moose was on the way to one of his best seasons ever until he got hurt.

I don't want to belittle Arroyo or especially Harang. But Wang and Mussina consistently pulled off wins against a tougher league. The initial assertion was against the entire pitching staff, and I still believe that the Yankees' is slightly underrated.

I don't know why I'm defending this team right now.

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by vaticanplum

Wang had a 3.63 ERA and a 19-6 record. His Ks are low but that's just due to his style of pitching -- he also doesn't walk a lot of hitters. I don't care if he's almost entirely a sinkerballer; he does it better than just about anybody, and the AL hitters don't seem to have figured it out yet. And Moose was on the way to one of his best seasons ever until he got hurt.

I don't want to belittle Arroyo or especially Harang. But Wang and Mussina consistently pulled of wins against a tougher league. The initial assertion was against the entire pitching staff, and I still believe that the Yankees' is slightly underrated.

I don't know why I'm defending this team right now.

I realize I said "the whole staff." That's incorrect on my part; sorry for the bait and switch.

But way too many metrics point to the two Reds' starters as being better. And almost certainly better going forward.

Let me put it this way: I'd much prefer the pitching matchups of the Reds in this configuration in a short series than the Yankees': Arroyo, Harang, Belisle vs. Mussina, Wang, Johnson/Wright.

But the point's utterly moot as the Yankees' offense is about a trillion times better than the Reds'.