WheelsFellOff wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:I think he means the fellows on the team responsible for pitching, not hitting

You have no proof.

WheelsFellOff wrote:The only mark I could see get put against Chooch is the CS% which we all probably agree is due more to the pitcher on the mound than the Chooch behind the plate in this case. I think he has a slightly above average arm with good accuracy. Does anyone know of a good system for comparing stolen bases against a certain catcher? I'm assuming some sort of a per pitcher handicap would have to be in place, but that would be a crazy amount of work.

WheelsFellOff wrote:The only mark I could see get put against Chooch is the CS%.

Grotewold wrote:Is this true about Chooch eating a lizard

Ruben Amaro, the Phillies' general manager who traded for Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt, told some stories on Wednesday about each, stories that say something about each pitcher.

"I'll go back to the perfect game" that Halladay threw, Amaro recalled. "I walked up to [catcher Carlos] Ruiz after that to congratulate him, and he told me, 'I've never seen anybody like him. Even with the perfect game and a 3-2 count, he kept shaking off.'"

Think about that. Halladay had a perfect game in progress, a piece of history that would have been ruined if he had issued a single walk, and yet when the count was three balls and two strikes, Halladay was shaking off the sign for a fastball -- a pitch more easily thrown for strikes -- to prompt Ruiz to throw breaking balls.

Amaro paused for a second. In the midst of the competition, Amaro said, "I don't think Roy Halladay gave a crap about the perfect game. He was worried about getting people out."

Amaro made his deal for Oswalt the day before the right-hander was scheduled to pitch, and under better circumstances, Amaro said, the Phillies would have told Oswalt to take his time, to take a day or two to settle in before taking the mound for the first time.

But these were not perfect circumstances; the Phillies needed Oswalt to pitch right away.

"I asked him if it was OK, if he was available to pitch that Saturday," said Amaro, "and he was like, 'Yeah, no problem.' He never made an excuse about it. He's pretty straightforward, very quiet, goes about his business.

"You can tell these two guys are out to win ballgames. That's a nice tone to set for the other guys on the staff. Cole Hamels already had that mindset, but I think it helps crystallize that for him."

Napalm wrote:Cole $#@! Hamels

Soren wrote:$#@! I didn't bring clean underwear to work today

The Phillies have urged Brown to play winter ball to work on his outfield play, and baserunning in particular. But in the meantime, Amaro made a point of saying, "We could have a right fielder who's on our roster right now." And by that, he didn't even mean Werth.

The name he dropped: Ross Gload. For the record, Gload has started just 36 games in right in a nine-year big league career.

Rev_Beezer wrote:

The Phillies have urged Brown to play winter ball to work on his outfield play, and baserunning in particular. But in the meantime, Amaro made a point of saying, "We could have a right fielder who's on our roster right now." And by that, he didn't even mean Werth.

The name he dropped: Ross Gload. For the record, Gload has started just 36 games in right in a nine-year big league career.

smitty wrote:I was thinking that the quality of the pitching staff would certainly effect this type of thing. It hasn't helped Schneider much though (1 PB/8WP in 1/3 of the innings Chooch has caught).

Several Phils pitchers have some nasty stuff and of course, Lidge's out pitch is the slider in the dirt.

Just guessing but I think Chooch might be top of the league in preventing WP and PBs. If he's not the best I'd guess he's amongst 'em.

Fun stuff to think about and discuss because you can't prove it either way.