S5Dewey

I hope Price can turn it around too, but would anyone give more than a 50-50 chance that it will happen?

I don't entirely disagree. In fact, on a global view I agree with everything you said. However, here's my problem with the SSS argument. Every situation in baseball is different and yet we want to lump all of these different situations into one conclusion. For example, I'm now seeing that " 'Batter X' is hitting .283 when the count is 2-2". But Batter X will probably have a different BA when the count is 3-0 but we lump both along with every other count together when we get to the conclusion of his BA. Since hitters have many different counts throughout a season and each count is in itself a Smaller SS why do we conclude that a batter is what his average is? Actually his BA is a compilation of many SSS's but we know that he will hit better in certain situations. Getting back to David Price now, one of the different situations he's come up against is his post-season experiences and he's fared worse in his post-season experiences than he has in the regular season. He's appeared in 15 post-season games over seven years, has an ERA of >5.50 and a WHIP of 1.2xx, both of which are significantly higher than his regular season numbers. Hence, he hasn't pitched as well in the post season as he has in the regular season. If we can acknowledge that "Batter X" hits better in certain counts (each of which are a SSS) why can't we also acknowledge that Price pitches worse in certain situations (like the post-season) - which is also a SSS? Sure, Batter X gets more opportunities to hit with a 2-2 count than Price gets post-season starts, but where is the cutoff point when we say that a sample size is meaningful? IMO we often beat the sample size argument to death and can't see the forest for the trees. I'm of the opinion that not all pitching starts are created equal and that every playoff game is a higher-pressure situation than most regular season games. Price has a history of not faring well in these post-season high-pressure situations. Therefore I have little faith in him as a playoff pitcher. As I said when we picked him up, he's a guy who can get you to the playoffs but doesn't have a history of getting you out the other side of them - at least not in a positive way. I'm not trying to denigrate Price. I'm just trying to be objective and see what's going on. Price is what he is and that's ok with me - well, everything except that he's overpaid is ok with me. I'm glad he's there to get us to the playoffs where "anything can happen" (and just did. UGH) but he's not the guy in the playoffs that we're paying for.

My memories of those 1-15 seasons go back to one person - Beasley Reece. Every time I think of him and those seasons I shudder. I mean, it's bad enough that the team sucked. Why did we also draw the worst announcer ever to broadcast an NFL game? I don't care how bad a team is, NO FAN deserves to have a team that bad PLUS have Reese announce their games.

We tend to use the Small Sample Size argument when we don't want to see something the way it is.

The turnaround on fan opinions was directly related to his belt size. After blessing us with an OPS of ~.650 in 2015 and then coming into 2016 ST looking like The Michelin Man fans had every right to have low expectations for him. Many fans, myself included are beginning to believe that he can be productive again but it's because he is all we've got and as my mom used to say, you may as well laugh as cry because neither of them will do you any good. He's given us reason to hope by losing the weight and getting himself into playing shape but it's been three years since he had even a mediocre OPS of .750 and he's not getting any younger. My optimistic expectation for him now is for him to be mediocre, which in itself will be an overpay. But, as you said, he's all we've got so we may as well hope for the best.

Me3!

I knew I liked you!

He's becoming the next Alan Craig in that we can't move him and we can't play him, albeit for a different reason. Ughhhhh.

Where I live wrestling is still a very traditional, somewhat conservative and disciplined sport. A handshake is still a "gentleman's handshake" and wrestlers aren't allowed to compete if they have facial hair. They say "Yes, Sir" and "No, Sir" a lot and I never see a wrestler contest a call or show dissatisfaction in any way. Here's an anecdote for you: A few years ago I saw a wrestler in a State Championship bout that was so closely contested that it was in Sudden Death. The first wrestler to score a point would be the State Champion in his weight class. The bout had already gone through 3-2 minute periods along with three overtime periods with neither wrestler scoring a point and had gone to the tie-breaker of Sudden Death. After about two more minutes of wrestling the more aggressive wrestler (who was on top of the other wrestler and trying to turn him) said to the official, "C'mon - he's stalling!". Intentionally stalling would have resulted in a one point penalty to the stalling wrestler. The official instead penalized the more aggressive wrestler one point for poor sportsmanship, ending the match and deciding the State Championship in favor of the other wrestler. The losing wrestler dropped his head, turned around and went back to his team without a word. The coach and the official had a very civil discussion about it, the coach walked away, and that's the way it ended. I don't necessarily think the "poor sportsmanship" call was the right one under the circumstances but it was the one the official made and it was respected with little fanfare. IMO one of the (several) reasons wrestling hasn't "caught on" with the general public is because the general public no longer values these things. They'd rather see a batter go nose-to-nose with an umpire over a called 3rd strike or a football player put a cheap shot on another player. They see talking trash and insults as a part of the game. Since TV ratings dictates what the American people get to see on their TV's and they don't value what happens on a wrestling mat they don't get exposed to wrestling. Economics at work. I could go on about other reasons I don't think wrestling is popular, but this is, after all, a baseball forum.

I'd lost faith in Taz by the end of the year. I still think we should have signed Koji for $6M. He was closer-good stuff at the end of the year. Dump Abad and we'd still have a $6M cushion.

Definitely off-topic for baseball, but since you asked.... Wrestling is also a team sport, with points awarded for a win in each weight class counting toward the team's overall scores. If a team has two outstanding wrestlers at one weight class (say, the 145 lb maximum class) and one of them weighs 144 lbs and the other weighs 138 lbs the lighter wrestler may try to lose two pounds so he can wrestle at the 136 lb class to give his team a better chance of accumulating points. On the other side of that coin, if it's known that the team's upcoming bout is against a team who has an outstanding wrestler at the 145 lb class but has a wrestler who isn't as good at the 152 lb class that 144 lb wrestler (above) may try to put on two pounds so he can avoid the outstanding 145 lb wrestler and instead wrestle against someone who's not as good. This will will give the 144 lb wrestler a better chance to win which will give his team a better chance to accumulate points. Clear? Clear as mud?

I simply don't want to see Wright coming out of the pen. K-ballers have three things that can happen to their pitch. It isn't working at all - which is a lot like BP to opposing hitters, it's working great - which is what we want but can't depend on, or it's working too well - in which case the catcher can't always catch or block it. Two of those three are disastrous for a RP but as a starter Farrell has time to figure out what kind of a day he's having before major damage is done. Let me ask this: If we hadn't picked up Sale wouldn't Wright have been in our top 3 this year based on what he's done in the past? If so, does it make any sense to banish him to AAA or the 'pen?

Like wrestling?

I see the most grueling part of auto racing being mental. I can't imagine the continued intensity of having to be attentive to everything going on around one and focusing on those things for the extended periods of time involved with no moments when one could "take a few seconds off". I think it would be mentally exhausting, more than just about any other "sport". If it is a sport. :-) I have an older brother who's also into sports, but his sports center around the great outdoors - hunting, fishing, trapping, etc.. My original comment about something not being a sport unless it involved a ball was a takeoff on a good-natured jab I take at him when describing our definitions of sports. "We both like sports but to me it's not a sport if there's not a ball involved and to him it's not a sport unless he's killin' somethin' ". Regardless of how that sounds I do have a lot of respect for him and what he does. I believe in the rights of hunters and fishermen, and if I'm going to be lost in the woods I don't know anyone I'd rather be with. I'm confident he'd get us out alive.

Yeah. Back in elementary school I was forced to commit the Gettysburg Address and the Preamble to the Constitution to memory and I can still recite them on demand. As I like to say, they're great to know but a bitch to work into a conversation!

I don't disagree that we have a ways to go yet in protecting our young players, and wrestling isn't the only sport. I'm not completely comfortable with the risk of concussion high school and younger (or anyone, for that matter) football and soccer players are subjected to. I don't like how many Little Leaguers are throwing curve balls or how many young pitchers are throwing too many pitches in games. Locally we had a high school pitcher throw 162 pitches in a state championship game. I think that's too many, and in fact many states are now limiting the number of pitches a pitcher can throw in a game. My state is in the process of adopting a rule like that for this season that's consistent with what other states are doing. Is it in response to the kid throwing 162? We'll never know. If not it's a huge coincidence. I agree that something doesn't seem right about wrestlers starving themselves to make weight and I wish it weren't that way, but my point still remains that wrestling in my part of the country is possibly the greatest example of team sportsmanship and overall good behavior by the participants of any sport I see. I'd like to think that the weight issue will change but until parents and coaches monitor the wrestlers weights on a day-to-day basis it probably won't, and I don't see that happening.

Yeah.. well...,. I guess I assumed that most people wouldn't think that I believed that any activity that has a ball and we keep score is a sport and any activity in which we don't have a ball and/or keep score isn't. It was more of a general tongue-in-cheek comment and not intended to be taken literally. Especially when I later talked positively about wrestling, which doesn't have a ball. But I do appreciate your effort to disprove my "definition"!

I never wrestled and at my advanced age I'm not about to start now! I've always been involved with "ball sports" until about 5 years ago when wrestling entered my life. Now I believe that wrestling is what it's all about. Conditioning, technique, sportsmanship, & respect. I still like the ball sports too, but IMO wrestling is the purest sport - even if it doesn't involve a ball.

I agree, and in my experience it's why I like the sport of wrestling. Wrestling is all about sportsmanship, respect, and ethics - at least where I live it is. Wrestling is also an obvious sport Notin overlooked in his remark to my prior post. Although wrestling doesn't involve a ball we do keep score, and the participants are more athletic than jacks players. Maybe the most athletic of any sport.

IMO Moon nailed it when he said that we have an aversion to K-ballers, and it's not just the things Bell listed. We're suspicious of anything out of the norm. When a "normal" pitcher has a couple of rough outings in a row we tend to be patient with him, saying that it's just a slump and he'll probably come back to his norm. When a k-ball pitcher has a couple of rough outings the immediate suspicion is that he's "lost it", he can't be trusted any more, and his career is probably over. For some reason there's always a lot more trepidation over a couple of bad starts for a k-baller than for someone who throws FB's and curves. Edit: Moon was posting while I was typing. It seems that we're on the same page with this.

I agree that golf is a sport because 1) It involves a ball [or a puck] and 2), you keep score. But your definition makes cheerleading a sport and there's no way I'm buying into that!!

YES! This is what amazes me about some people. Castiglione, for example. I go to an event every winter where there's a question and answer period between Stiggy and the local fans. One of the fans will bring up something memorable about a particular AB, maybe back in July, and Joe will follow up with something like, "Yes, and what made that an even better AB is that it was a 1-2 pitch he hit after fouling off three straight sliders". How the F**k does he remember stuff like that? Holy Hell, I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning!!

Contrary to the common belief that Mainers are steeped in common sense, sometimes we do stupid s*** too. Doubt it? Take a look at how dysfunctional our state government is! To answer your questions in order, yes - I think the number is 3, no, and no. And there's also no limit as to the number of old washers, dryers, stoves and refrigerators one can have on their porch, either!

Apropos nothing baseball related and since there's nothing going on... There's a town near me that had a coffee shop in the middle of downtown where they roasted their own coffee. The people who lived near the coffee shop petitioned the Town Council to declare the smell coming from the coffee shop a "nuisance" and a threat to the environment, the town council complied, and the coffee shop had to install scrubbers to take eradicate the smell of the roasting coffee.

Yep. And I was one of them!