June 16: BOS (Richards) @ HOU (Anderson)

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

It's the leadoff walks that really have killed us- many to weak hitters before the top of the order comes up to drive them in.

 

46 BBs to batters leading off an inning! (608 PAs)

 

Hi, Moon. The stat I was referring to was that the SOX have the fewest walks in MLB.

[moonslav59]

Hi, Moon. The stat I was referring to was that the SOX have the fewest walks in MLB.

 

I guess I had bad pitching on my mind.

 

Yes, last in BB's, 3rd in BA and T9th in OBP at .317.

 

3rd in SLG

 

T3rd in OPS

 

3rd in runs scored

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Here's a question for MVP78, but anyone can jump in if they want:

 

What offensive statistic did Jim Rice accomplish in 1978 that hadn't been done in the AL since 1937 by Joe DiMaggio?

[mvp 78]

Here's a question for MVP78, but anyone can jump in if they want:

 

What offensive statistic did Jim Rice accomplish in 1978 that hadn't been done in the AL since 1937 by Joe DiMaggio?

 

400 total bases

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

400 total bases

 

Yup, and in '78 Jim led his league in HR's(46), Triples(15), and RBI(139); he's the only player who ever did that in ML history.

Edited June 17, 2021 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

400 total bases

 

He had 406. Hank Aaron in the NL had exactly 400 in 1959.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

He had 406. Hank Aaron in the NL had exactly 400 in 1959.

 

 

Gee, 406, that number sounds familiar.

[mvp 78]

Gee, 406, that number sounds familiar.

 

The year hops was introduced to Europe.

[Maxbialystock]

I haven't heard from that guy who kept saying good pitching always beats good hitting for weeks.

 

I missed Wednesday's game because of a family reunion, and I definitely still think good pitching beats good hitting.

 

But forget me, MLB believes that same thing so emphatically the Commish put out a decree telling pitchers they will be suspended for 10 days if they are caught using a foreign substance or whatever on the ball they are pitching. Apparently, this decree is, according to one pitcher, tantamount to letting batters hit off a tee, so dependent have pitchers been on doctoring up the baseball before they pitch it.

 

This year, until the decree, MLB batting averages were the lowest in 50 years. Hence enforcement of a rule that's been on the books for longer than 50 years.

And thus are the current batch of pitchers outraged.

 

Cora has warned Sox pitchers they do not want to be suspended--the shame of it--with the result that they are struggling.

 

Me, I like good pitching, but admit I was surprised when I learned that almost every MLB pitchers feels free to doctor up that ball before pitching it even though that has been against the rules for a very long time.

[moonslav59]

I think good pitching beats good hitting, too- most of the time.

 

However, it’s not the reason for every win and loss.

[Bellhorn04]

I think good pitching beats bad pitching.

[moonslav59]

I think good pitching beats bad pitching.

 

By more than good hitting beating bad hitting?

[Bellhorn04]

By more than good hitting beating bad hitting?

 

Yes. Generally speaking, it's the pitchers who decide the outcome.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Any changes approved by MLB will always favor the hitters and not the pitchers. It all started in 1969 when the mound was lowered.

[Bellhorn04]

Any changes approved by MLB will always favor the hitters and not the pitchers. It all started in 1969 when the mound was lowered.

 

With one exception, I guess, the crackdown on sign stealing.

[moonslav59]

Yes. Generally speaking, it's the pitchers who decide the outcome.

 

Yes, generally.

[moonslav59]

With one exception, I guess, the crackdown on sign stealing.

 

And the changing of the ball.

[dgalehouse]

This spin rate thing is relatively new. A product of the analytics craze. I am pretty sure that most of the great pitchers of the past used something to enhance their grip. As do the batters. MLB needs to stop meddling with things.

[moonslav59]

Let's say you're a MLB pitcher back in the 70's and one day, you use a different soap to wash your hands, and that day, you have a much better grip on the ball. Would it be cheating, if you kept on using that soap?

 

Of course not, but you can see where I'm going with this.

 

Yes, soap has never been banned, as long as you're not slopping it on the ball, and there should be limits on just what can and cannot be used, but to me, this is just another knee-jerk reaction made to counter an earlier blundering knee-jerk reaction made by MLB.

[a700hitter]

I am old enough that I remember when pitchers used foreign substances to reduce friction and have the ball slip out of their hands. Bring back slippery elm.