Benny Lava wrote:

Monkeyboy wrote:

Barry Jive wrote:Career BABIP on line drives is .795. He might not post his typical MVP numbers this year but even his worst year is going to keep him as a top-five first baseman in the NL, at the very worst. And I'm sure he'll be better next year, if healthy.

I'm not sure how you can be sure of that, but OK. Could I get next week's Lotto numbers while you're at it? I could use the cash.

I'm not sure it's fair to dismiss that. I think all that he was trying to say is that, if you're going to gauge future performance, would his whole career be a good indicator, or 2 months in a season?

Gaze below at the statistical flibberdigab that supposedly represent the greatness that was my career. But these numbers are useless: there are no columns for pints consumed, harlots bedded, or blades brandished.

Player may opt out after 2011 season

philliesphhan wrote:Great trade

Best part is still

Player may opt out after 2011 season

lethal wrote:

philliesphhan wrote:Great trade

Best part is still

Player may opt out after 2011 season

Not only did they not get Carl Crawford, they compounded that loss by taking on Vernon Wells' contract. They might've been better off trading for both Aaron Rowand and Barry Zito's contracts. I'm still shocked the Giants won the WS with those 2 albatrosses hanging around their necks.

smitty wrote:

lethal wrote:

philliesphhan wrote:Great trade

Best part is still

Player may opt out after 2011 season

Not only did they not get Carl Crawford, they compounded that loss by taking on Vernon Wells' contract. They might've been better off trading for both Aaron Rowand and Barry Zito's contracts. I'm still shocked the Giants won the WS with those 2 albatrosses hanging around their necks.

It may be a requirement to have an albatross or two to win a WFC. The Phils had Eaton and to a certain extent Jenkins in '08. The Yankees, who win a lot, always have a Pavano or someone on the team. Red Sox had Julio Lugo. Cards had Jason Marquis and Mark Mulder.

Albatrosses may be the next market inefficiency.

Is it just me or are there a seemingly inordinate number of pitchers who throw the ball 95 mph or more now? Every team seems to have a couple in their bullpen. Is this just a perception fed by tv broadcasts instantly showing us the speed of every pitch so that the idea gets immediate reinforcement or are we actually seeing an increase in the number of hard throwers in the majors?
Asked by: roughcarrigan
Answered: June 4, 2011

It's true but overstated by the radar guns.

About 1980, when radar guns were new, there were two different styles of radar guns in use, which gave different speeds. This was widely known at the time. When I first joined the Sox and began sitting in the seats surrounded by scouts, I noticed that all the radar guns gave the same speeds, with very few exceptions--even when made by different makers. When there was an exception, it was just a 92/93 exception or a case where a scout got a bad read on a pitch; the 3- or 4-mile difference in radar guns that had once existed had entirely disappeared. I pointed this out at the time, because a lot of people still believed there were "fast guns" and "slow guns", which really wasn't true from about 1990 until about 2004.

After that, however--about 2005--there was ANOTHER change in the radar guns. The old radar guns took longer to measure the speed of the pitch, and they tended to get the speed of the pitch when it was just in front of home plate. The newer guns got a reading much quicker, right out of the pitcher's hand, and thus picked up the speed of the pitcher BEFORE IT DECELERATED. There was another era then of "split speeds" on the guns, and the "faster" guns won--thus, the speeds that are "accepted" now are about 3-4 MPH faster than the accepted speeds of fifteen years ago, because the guns are different.

At the same time there HAS been a legitimate change; there ARE more hard throwers than there used to be, and there are many more hard throwers now being used in middle relief or short relief, where they can cut loose and air out their best stuff.

In the 1980s, at STATS, we used to publish some book that would highlight "90 MPH FASTBALL" on pitchers who threw hard. You'd NEVER do that now, because everybody throws 90 now; there are only a handful of pitchers now who DON'T touch 90 at least once in a while. In part it's a real change; in part it's a result of what used to be called an 86 MPH fastball now being measured at 90.

smitty wrote:Just saw this at Bill James on line. Really interesting. It's the radar guns that have caused the big "increase" in pitcher heater speeds:

....
It's true but overstated by the radar guns.

In the 1980s, at STATS, we used to publish some book that would highlight "90 MPH FASTBALL" on pitchers who threw hard. You'd NEVER do that now, because everybody throws 90 now; there are only a handful of pitchers now who DON'T touch 90 at least once in a while. In part it's a real change; in part it's a result of what used to be called an 86 MPH fastball now being measured at 90.