THE ARS

Man, I miss listening to games on the radio. I would never do it, but I miss it. I used to listen to the Celtics and play Nerf basketball in my room. Tom

Hurt himself? In 1999 Pedro had an ERA+ of 243. Ninth all time. In 2000 it was 291. Second* all time. To put that in perspective, Bob Gibson's 1.12 ranks seventh and Dutch Leonard's 1.01 ranks third. That is not a hurt pitcher, that's a tremendous athlete in his prime with an understanding doctor on call. Tom * Tim Keefe is #1, BUT it was in 1880.

I can see people liking him, he has personality. But he reminds me of David justice when he was on ESPN, good stories, interesting character but no polish. I really miss the PROS, Ned Martin and Sean McDonough. Mercy! Tom

That's a good point. I don't think it's really his mother. Tom

Does baseball even test for weed? I have never heard of anyone getting suspended for recreational drugs. I know Steve Howe was suspended a ridiculous amount, but did it originate with a dirty test? Tom BTW, THANK YOU for this professional announcer today! f***, I have missed you Monty. Please stick around, listening to Eckersley and Roberts is painful.

1998? The Davids, Cone and Wells? 1999? El Duque? 2000, now you got something. f*** that game anyway. Everybody loses.

Red Sox under 25? I looked this guy up, not bad, 21 years old. 23 - 12, 1.75. Led the league in ERA, shutouts and hits per nine. No HR given up in 323 IP, even got a save. Again, not bad. For a lefty.

How is that alarming? .280, 30, 100. Every year. Tom

Sorry, you are right, that formula is f***ing still gay, but I tried to apologize for something here. They won't let me talk here. Manana. Tom

See? I knew that, but I tried to bail you out. YOU said it was a measure of defense. Tom What? I''m trying to apologize?

Still looks like total chances to me. Tom

So UZR does not measure a SS arm? How about 3B, man you need an arm there right? Not according to UZR. As everyone who has ever set foot on a diamond knows, a throwing arm is meaningless. It's not like the entire f***ing game is based on it. Read up. "Note: Before I begin explaining the UZR system, keep in mind that there are at least two components of defense that UZR does not address: One, an outfielder�s "arm", and two, an infielder�s skill at turning the double play. Of course, these skills can be measured (and they are in my Super-LWTS system). They are just not included in UZR. Like ZR, UZR is designed to measure and quantify only that skill which enables a fielder to turn batted balls into outs." But don't get it twisted, this dude has a BIG calculator. "You can take the average out-conversion rates by sub-zone and apply this rate to the number of balls in play for each fielder for each sub-zone to establish a baseline. This baseline will show the number of outs an average fielder would have had, had he received the same number of balls in play for each sub-zone that our specific fielder received. This is, essentially, UZR, or Ultimate Zone Rating. There are other contexts that have not been considered, which we will get to later on." This dude's calculator could hit 60. Without steroids. Tom Thank you for that, guys. EDIT: Oh s***, thank me, I just read arm and started writing.

That is a formula? Son, where did you go to school? Tom

That's funny. I was just thinking that you were a gay little man who could use a laugh. HTH. Tom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS_3m-sQ2bg&feature=related Too deep again? How does UZR factor a stolen HR? Please give me this formula. I promise to simplify it and put this newly created knowledge into your greasy little Blackberries. Tom

Started where he always does. Tom EDIT: Not apalling (sp?) just funny. Show me the formula please? Or is that still a secret?

Is this a serious question, Coco? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPuCf-vH0QM Is that range? Tom

Hunter at - 2.9 career. You think he is anything less than stellar in CF? Saves more runs than any man in baseball, in my humble opinion. Tom

No. Worthless number. Like UZR. No. Bet they use it to compute UZR though.

Dutchy, these geeks did not invent the calculator. They use the same stats that have been available since the start of the game. They have the same value they did in 1919. None. If you rate Joe Crede as the best defensive player in baseball you are wrong. These are the same dudes who will tell you with a straight face that BA is a useless stat. The only time a walk is as good as a hit is when you can't get a hit. I know this. I heard it every time I stepped on deck. Tom

Not every statistic is pointless. This one is. Now tell me honestly, without looking at your beloved numbers. Was a 40yo Barry Bonds or a 38yo Kenny Lofton a better defender than Torri Hunter? If you can defend these numbers I will grant you a 400.64 UZR. Tom

How many games did he play in the other years he was rated an above average defender? Tom Julio Lugo has put up a better number than Rey Ordonez. Man, I know it only goes back to 2002 but that should tell you all you need to know about this stat.