ARod2212

Choke yourself. Any comeback is a good win, 4 runs down qualifies as a great win. How come when they beat us, they own us and when we beat them we're supposed to. What is with the double standard?

hahahahahaah, don't you know that he's a YANKEE! He must be cheating, he couldn't possibly do it honestly. Yankee fans are soooooo dumb, lolz.

Today we spell Redemption, Rob.

I've made my points, they are valid enough (far more than a lot of things being accepted as truths, anyway). People who are choosing to skip over them are being ignorant, so that's their problem. I'm pretty much done with this topic.

First off, that is retarded in and of itself. You don't just remove 40 homerun, 1.000 OPS guys, replace them with Rey Sanchez and not suffer in the lineup. Argument is flawed off the bat, incredibly. Yankees would suffer just as much as (if not more than)the Sox would. In baseball, value can only be definied by individual stats, which I'll get into in a little while. A player's value in baseball is his defense, his offense and to a much lesser extent, his 'intangibles'. Now in this case, Rodriguez has brought very good defense (top 3 in the league). Ortiz has brought no defensive value. Which means Ortiz has helped his team win 0 games in the field, and Rodriguez has helped win at least a few. (yes, games can be won or lost with fielding. The team that trades Garciaparra's offensive prowess for Doug M. and Cabrera should know that.) Next is their offensive statistics. Rodriguez is better in Average (which I don't put stock into anyway), and more importantly OPS and OBP, percentages of a hitter's success each plate appearance. These two stats are widely recognized as the most important tool to judge a hitter, because they judge success vs. opportunites. Again, advantage Rodriguez. Intangibles (clutchness, etc.) is hard to define, but hits in big spots do count for something, as does leadership. However, to think a homerun in the 3rd inning is worth less than in the 8th inning is just not smart. RBIs are RBIs, homeruns are homeruns. No matter where they come from, they help your team win. And while I absolutely give Ortiz the advantage in this category, it certainly does not make up for the discrepencies in the other sections to qualify him for MVP. Would you people get together and make up your mind. Anyway.. A player's value is not determined by the rest of the team, or their standing. Suppose you have a player, who plays gold glove defense at short, hits 1.000 for the year with 525 homeruns in 525 at bats. Also suppose, that his team is absolutely terrible around him. His pitching staff gives up more runs than he puts on the board, and they go 0-162 for the season. Suppose a guy on a first place team hits .300 with 35 homers and 110 RBIs, best hitter on their team. Is the guy who is on the first place team more valuable because of their standing? I don't know, but it seems the guy with the better statistics was a bit more important to his team. Any way you slice it, the player on the 0-162 team had more value. You can't penalize (or reward) a player for being on a good team. This isn't basketball or football, where if a guy puts up big numbers, success is guaranteed to follow for a team. You have a QB with Peyton's season last year, you are definitely winning some games. Put vintage Jordan on a bad basketball team, they make the playoffs. Vintage Gretzky would take even the NY Rangers to the playoffs. Baseball, you put Babe Ruth on the Royals, they're still in last place. A player being valuable (most valuable) is not contingent upon his team's success, although they often do coincide.

man 26.. I was killing these guys in the Giambi argument. What happened? (just playing man, don't worry about it. These guys are not going to change their minds no matter what)

(1)That doesn't make them 'informative', and just because you "Never roll my eyes in disgust" doesn't mean they're good. It just means you agree with their opinion, which is most likely biased towards the Red Sox. Of course you aren't going to be disgusted with them giving hope for Boston. (2) The announcers are pretty good in calling homeruns, compared to other stations anyway. A homer in a big spot, for either team ellicits a big response from the announcer. When Perez hit the homer off Rivera a couple of weeks ago, Kay got really loud. Oh, and Aaron Boone's homer on the Red Sox radio station. Swing and a long drive to left, if it is fair it's gone, and it is gone the New York Yankees have won the pennant. In the most monotonous voice there is. Here's a general rule. IF IT IS A HOME TOWN STATION, THEY ARE BIASED TOWARDS THAT TEAM.

He was off steroids by then. Oh, and more importantly. IT WASN'T AGAINST THE RULES. Immoral, yes. Against rules, no. Blame the system, not the person. Unless you would like to invoke ex post facto laws on everyone. Lame, choke yourself.

I guess we should give it to Curt Schilling then? It's called the 2005 MVP.

3rd in Fielding Percentage among third basemen in the American League. Longest errorless streak in 7 years for Major League third baseman. That's a tiny bit better than 'average at best'. And infinitely better than Ortiz' defensive value this year. OPS is the best stat for judging hitters, and OBP is the more important half of the stat. Rodriguez leads in both. Even throwing defense out the window, Rodriguez has still been a better player. Alex's outstanding defense is icing.

That has nothing to do with the fact they're hyping and giving the positive spin for the Red Sox?

hahahhaha, oh come on, stop arguing networks. That's just pathetic. I'm sure NESN has a few bad announcers, and one good one like YES. Kaat is the only guy on there worth watching. Good win, Rivera was smoking today and Matsui is still pounding the ball. Go for the kill tomorrow.

I suppose we should award the MVP to the homer run leader every year! Hell, it would get rid of all the pesky voters too!

He didn't do it with the Yankees, and it was unintentional. In fact if you read Sports Illustrated, that is the reason Sheffield despises Barry Bonds, for tricking him into using steroids. Sheff called for tougher testing, something I have yet to hear from Barry Bonds or the other steroid people.

And it didn't happen over night.

I would definitely bet on Ortiz leading the league in homers. However, that still won't make him the MVP.

Absolutely. Probably will do it this week.

Why can't a player improve? Is there no precedent of a player turning his year around by getting more work in, or figuring out a mechanical flaw. Conspiracy theories are fun to throw around, but when you start believing in them you look stupid. My point is this, it is going to get tiring and pointless to keep accusing players who are hot/cold for a span of a season. Unless they increase testing the accusations are going to lead us nowhere. Until you can actually prove something, accusations fall on deaf ears (as well they should).

Bingo. In every random sampling of a group of people, you will find ignorant and flat out stupid people. The larger the group (fan base) the more likely it is you will find such people. Ergo, two of the largest fan bases (Yankees, Red Sox) will have people with lack intelligence and an abundance of ignorance. The presence of these people, however does not make the entire group subject to this mental state. And to classify them as such is a stereotype, and one with very little importance.

Wow. That is a huge factor shaping this race down the stretch.

Billy, rule of thumb. The 'Individual Game Thread' area is solely for the game of the day. Also, try not to quote yourself after one minute of impatience. It's the highway to bannedzville.

Do you count the A's out of the playoff mix?

It is official, redsoxrules has joined my ignore list. Of his 202 posts, zero have been worth reading. Exclusive club, man. The list includes you and only you.

Well if we can't prove anything then what is the point of accusing? I'm not saying we should turn a blind eye, in fact I think we should increase testing 10-fold. However, until we do that it is entirely unfair to be accusing hot/cold players of steroids, regardless of history, until you have got some proof.

Umm Oh forget it.