Maxbialystock

Neat story.

Near the end of the movie Moneyball Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) travels to Boston and Fenway Park to meet with the new Sox owner, John Henry (Arliss Howard), who is eager to tell Billy just what a monumental achievement the A's season had been. He did that by comparing the cost per win that season (2003) between the Yankees (101 wins) and the A's (96 wins). From those numbers he concludes that any team that doesn't use sabermetrics is dumb. However, we now know that, while John Henry may have admired the A's efficiency and use of sabermetrics, he did not hesitate to spend bucks for good players with the result that the Sox went several sold out years (sort of) and even this season, 9-9 after a season in which the Sox finished dead last in AL East, they are averaging 31,000 attendance. He didn't re-sign Bogaerts, but did keep Devers. And the Rays with that absolutely brilliant opening run of 13 straight wins? They average 17,000 attendance. I did a quick look at their cost per win this season and it's a terrific $555K. But it has to be that low because they have no fan base. The LA Dodgers, on the other hand, are 9-9 this season--same as our Sox--but they average 50,000 attendees per game. Padres are 8-11 and average 41,000. Yankees, 10-7, average 39,000. Phillies, 7-11, average 38,000. All of those team have expensive star power--and pretty good fan bases. Where I am headed with this? Simple. Fans these days don't care nearly as much about wins and losses as they do about star power. Last week the Angels with Ohtani and Trout came to town and the Sox average attendance was 36,000. Last night with the no-name Twins, 28,000. And the Twins are a better team than the Angels thanks to their superb pitching. Good pitching doesn't mean squat unless the guy on the mound is a zillionaire. Relatedly, look at the stories about MLB. Commentators talk or write endlessly about big salaries and how those pricey players are worth every dime. And you can bet they hated having to talk/write about the cheap charlie Rays winning 13 straight. Bottom line: the thesis of Moneyball as stated by John Henry, not Billy Beane, is baloney. Winning isn't everything, not by a long shot, unless you have star power to go with it.

Ryan, RHP vs. Kluber, RHP--another mismatch vs. the Twins (lowest team ERA in MLB) Sale definitely delivered the goods last night: 6 IP, 1 ER, 11 K's, 2 BB's. Plus no errors by Sox defense. The game was decided in a very weird 10th inning in which the Twins scored 2 runs on no hits (a BB and an HBP by Schreiber) and the Sox 3 runs on a 3d strike WP Vazquez didn't block, a catcher interference by Vazquez, 2 singles by McGuire and Duran, a GIDP by Refsnyder (heady play by Twins 3d baseman), and game-winning single/double by Verdugo which got challenged but was upheld. Attendance was 28,132, well down from LA Angels (Ohtani and Trout) series which averaged 36,000.

OK, now that's pretty cool. Straight from the twilight zone, but cool.

By the way, if I'm not around to start the game thread tomorrow, please feel free to step in. It sure worked for Jad.

Back to the subject of this thread--a shout out to moonslav who more than anyone else has showed faith in the Sox pitching. Tonight was the best I've seen Sale pitch since 2019. His upper 90's fast ball is gone, but his command was terrific, as was the mix of his pitches. And we have already seen Houck, Pivetta, Whitlock, and Crawford pitch some pretty good games. Kluber could/should come around. And Bello wasn't half bad last year. Plus a pretty good bullpen with a terrific closer--Schreiber's stint tonight notwithstanding.

I am not a Vaz fan. In the early days I loved that arm of his and his quick release. Kind of like Wong has been this year. But even then I thought Sandy Leon was better with the pitchers. Later I was furious at the reckless way he ran the bases and into outs. I do not mind admitting he played a lot in 2021 because he was really hitting the ball well. Nevertheless, I did love tonight's game. Wong was terrific behind the plate, and even got a double. Then McGuire pinch hit and got a hit and stayed in to catch the 9th and 10th innings, during which Schreiber, who has been very good this season, gave up that one earned run in the 10th. Meanwhile, Christian Vazquez, who is hitting .325 for the Twins, caught a pretty good game until the the disastrous 10th in which he failed to block a 3d strike wild pitch because he raised his glove to catch the hop instead of blocking it--and the ball went right under his glove. He also got called for catcher interference. So all by himself Vazquez put two Sox players on base. Sweet. Plus, after he was called for interference, he kept pointing to the back of his glove as if to say, "hey, not my fault. The batter hit my glove." The guy is just ignorant as heck. Right now I'm pretty happy with the two young catchers we have. Wong is pretty good defensively and McGuire right now is hitting everything, BA of .393. If I were to applaud Vazquez at Fenway Park, it would be to thank him for not playing for Boston anymore.

Sarcastic, but entirely too much truth in that. I'm with you on Bello because I thought he showed real potential last year. I just don't want him to keep starting if he can't get his stuff together.

OK, now that 5th one is kind of cheating. You used the word ballplayer instead of batter.

What truly adds to the weirdness is that all us fans could see it was fair, especially after the first replay. However, the opposing manager has the right to request a replay as long as he hasn't done it too many times in a game (and been wrong).

Now I'm with you.

I'm sure you're right--but that does not apply to this play.

A very relevant point. It sure looks like Wong is better defensively, but Wright's bat is too good not to be in most or all games. He's hitting .393 with an OPS of .914. Any catcher can play 1b. Napoli did it, and so did Vazquez. DH is too tricky for the 2d catcher.

Prophetic, even if I do say so.

Just to show how really smart Vazquez is, he kept pointing to the back of his glove as if to say, "hey, that wasn't my fault. The batter hit my glove so it's his fault."

One earned run in the 10th, the result of the BB and the HBP which barely grazed the Twins batter who clearly was trying to get hit. He gave up no hits and got 3 outs. I didn't say he was great tonight, just that I still like him. The two leaders in WAR on the Sox pitching staff are Winckowski with +0.5 and Schreiber with +0.4. With that one earned run, his ERA is now 2.00.

Also a shout out to our very own (formerly) Christian Vazquez. Thanks for the catcher interference in the 10th, also for not blocking that wild pitch. Love ya, good buddy. Best defensive catcher the Sox ever had with just great instincts, hands, arm, etc.

Sox are back to .500, 9-9, and against an excellent starter for the Twins plus he best pitching staff in MLB. Wild applause for the Sox real star tonight, Chris freaking Sale!!! I have maligned him incessantly, but tonight he was just terrific and for six innings yet. Sale had great command of his pitches and apparently is comfortable with Wong behind the plate. Hello, CERA. For tonight, anyway. If anyone's interested, right now is the only Sox player with a + WAR. The vast majority are at zero, and Casas--of course it has to be Casas--is at -0.4.

About Schreiber. I still like him. He was going for the corners and was just a little off. That HBP was not that far inside--the Twins player smartly stood his ground and just moved his arm a tad to show intent to avoid the HBP--but not enough to keep from getting hit.

Casas, totally bereft of any feel for the game, made that DP possible. He also ran back to 2d base on the single to CF. We're lucky he wasnt doubled up going to 3b.

Great statement!!!!!

Verdugo saves the day after Casas demonstrates that he is a monumentally stupid baserunner on successive plays. Great game. I don't care if the jar says the brain is Abby Normal, Casas needs a transplant.

Interesting. Wong was terrific catching Sale, and McGuire has been terrific hitting. Who says Cora doesn't know how to manage?

Absolutely the dumbest thing in the history of baseball, walking a guy who just struck out 4 times.

Bad play by Vazquez. Block first, then catch. Get the out first with a 2 run lead.