# Baseball Thread September 2008 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 4, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994 "2008-09-04T15:20:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/181 "2008-09-20T04:45:26Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > The bad news is that suspended Cleveland Indians makes it more likely that the Red Sox can sweep the tribe. The good news is that suspended Detroit Tigers might help the Rays in their final series. I’m guessing that the teams won’t appeal suspension this late in the season since both these clubs are out of it? We have not needed Fausto or Victor Martinez in the last half of this season. Our “backup” catcher leads the AL in home runs for catchers (with 150 less at-bats than the NL leaders) and Carmona is 8-7 on the year with a 5.19 ERA. Our hot players are Choo, Cabrera, Shoppach (the backup catcher) and Sizemore. And Hafner is back - wobbly, but back. So don’t worry about our chances against the Sox. If we’re destined to lose to them, it’ll be with or without Carmona and Martinez. It does make me uneasy that beating the Sox gives hope to the Yankees. :mad: Let’s go, Jays! ---
**Author:** ![Dosipede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dosipede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dosipede)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/182 "2008-09-20T07:47:36Z")
Hey, look at that. The Brewers are blowing it and Ben Sheets is injured. Why does this seem familiar? ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/183 "2008-09-20T11:40:26Z")
This occurred to me last night, while seeing part the White Sox game in a bar – there’s a pretty fair chance the postseason will have the 2 LA teams, the 2 Chicago teams, and the Mets, but not the Yankees. Odd. They’re not the team most people would have left out of that collection in April. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/184 "2008-09-20T13:56:24Z")
From the August Baseball thread: > [@Baseball Thread August 2008](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-august-2008/458489/92): > > We’re replacing a pitcher who has an ERA of 6.05 and a questionable shoulder with a guy who has an ERA of 3.99 and 17 Gold Gloves. And what **silenus** said. > > You’re right – what WERE the Dodgers thinking? 😉 You have replaced him with a pitcher with a 5.71 ERA since the trade, who has gone 1 - 4 with a no-decision. Not sure, what WERE the Dodgers thinking?? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/185 "2008-09-20T14:08:51Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > This occurred to me last night, while seeing part the White Sox game in a bar – there’s a pretty fair chance the postseason will have the 2 LA teams, the 2 Chicago teams, and the Mets, but not the Yankees. Odd. They’re not the team most people would have left out of that collection in April. Except people that were worried the team was too old and had many question marks on the starting staff. Moose, Kennedy and even Pettitte were question marks and Hughes was unproven. Losing players among the Giambi, Abreau, Damn, Matsui and even Posada group seemed likely. Who knew Moose would be great and Wang would be out for the season. Kennedy and Hughes a complete failure. Having Cano and Cabrera have bad and very bad years was an unpleasant surprise and A-Rod having his worst late inning year and missing a good chunk of time hurt a lot. The odd part is the old player that fans and critics were most worried about overall did well and the youngster all failed for various reasons. Then there was the Posada injury that really hurt the team. Yes I was fearful he could not repeat last year and would miss some time, but he missed most of the year and that was a big blow. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Yanks while challenging for the playoffs. It was largely a failure in this respect as none of the young players made the progress the Yanks were hoping for on the Major League level. Now the Yanks roam into an off-season with over $80 million coming off the books and no sure plan for the future. They will probably over pay for Texeira and C.C. and hopefully bring back Moose. Other than that, I have no clue what the will do. Girardi will be back and Cashman will probably be back but with a loss of some power. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/186 "2008-09-20T14:39:01Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > It does make me uneasy that beating the Sox gives hope to the Yankees. :mad: Let’s go, Jays! Don’t worry, you can stick a fork in the Yankees. Neither the Red Sox nor the Rays will collapse enough to get them back in it. ---
**Author:** ![Jello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@Jello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jello)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/187 "2008-09-20T22:10:37Z")
The other thing about the Yankees this year was the abysmal defense. All of their below-average defenders (Jeter, Cano, Abreu) decided to become the worst in the league this year. Speaking of defense, that’s the part about the Rays that’s surprised me the most this year. I expected them to break .500 and maybe contend for the wild card, but in no way was I prepared for the [simply incredible turnaround](http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/sunshine-and-leather/)from one of the worst defensive teams in the league to one of the better ones. It’s not like they replaced everyone with Ozzie Smith-equivalents, either: their regulars are pretty much the same guys as last year, aren’t they? What happened? Did they get new coaches? Or did everyone just get better by a year? I wouldn’t have thought defense was something that matured in the same way hitting did. Maybe some things that presumably get better with experience, like reaction time or judging a ball off the bat, but I wouldn’t have thought that kind of thing would become so much better in just one year. I don’t know anything about fielding statistics, though, and I haven’t seen them play very often, either this year or last. Does anyone else have a clue? ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/188 "2008-09-20T22:40:13Z")
Cubs are going to the post-season!!Go Cubs Go!! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/189 "2008-09-21T00:17:37Z")
> [@Qwisp](#): > > Cubs are going to the post-season!!Go Cubs Go!! So are the Rays! Go Rays, Go Rays!! Also, I think our magic number for the division is now 7, although I might be off by one on that. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/190 "2008-09-21T02:45:27Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Having Cano and Cabrera have bad and very bad years was an unpleasant surprise and A-Rod having his worst late inning year and missing a good chunk of time hurt a lot. Do late inning runs count more than runs scored earlier? ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/191 "2008-09-21T04:05:10Z")
> [@Jello](#): > > The other thing about the Yankees this year was the abysmal defense. All of their below-average defenders (Jeter, Cano, Abreu) decided to become the worst in the league this year. > > Speaking of defense, that’s the part about the Rays that’s surprised me the most this year. I expected them to break .500 and maybe contend for the wild card, but in no way was I prepared for the [simply incredible turnaround](http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/sunshine-and-leather/)from one of the worst defensive teams in the league to one of the better ones. > > It’s not like they replaced everyone with Ozzie Smith-equivalents, either: their regulars are pretty much the same guys as last year, aren’t they? What happened? Did they get new coaches? Or did everyone just get better by a year? I wouldn’t have thought defense was something that matured in the same way hitting did. Maybe some things that presumably get better with experience, like reaction time or judging a ball off the bat, but I wouldn’t have thought that kind of thing would become so much better in just one year. I don’t know anything about fielding statistics, though, and I haven’t seen them play very often, either this year or last. Does anyone else have a clue? Many players do, indeed, mature as fielders, in much the same way as any other discipline. Tony Gwynn entered the majors with a reputation for being a good hitter and a defensive liability, but he worker hard at it and won five Gold Gloves before he won five batting titles, IIRC. George Brett and Wade Boggs both won their Gold Gloves later in their careers. That list is fairly lengthy. And then there’s Manny Ramirez, who has never bothered to learn how to field, as far as I can tell. Anyway, my point is, that yes, players, or an entire team, can make significant improvements defensively over a single year. Congrats to the Cubbies for making the playoffs! I saw my first-ever game at Wrigley this year, so it’s cool to see them succeed. It’s just going to make it that much sweeter when they collapse and maintain their century-old World Series drought in October. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/192 "2008-09-21T10:04:07Z")
\*\*Congrats to the Rays! \*\* > [@Yookeroo](#): > > Do late inning runs count more than runs scored earlier? Yes! ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/193 "2008-09-21T12:30:18Z")
Go Cubs Go! ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/194 "2008-09-21T15:34:37Z")
CUBS!!! Hey, I’m entitled. Wait til you see what I do after we win the series!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/195 "2008-09-21T15:42:32Z")
> [@Jello](#): > > It’s not like they replaced everyone with Ozzie Smith-equivalents, either: their regulars are pretty much the same guys as last year, aren’t they? What happened? Did they get new coaches? Or did everyone just get better by a year? I wouldn’t have thought defense was something that matured in the same way hitting did. Maybe some things that presumably get better with experience, like reaction time or judging a ball off the bat, but I wouldn’t have thought that kind of thing would become so much better in just one year. I don’t know anything about fielding statistics, though, and I haven’t seen them play very often, either this year or last. Does anyone else have a clue? Bit of a mix. Catcher Dioner Navarro has blossomed, for one. He has a rifle with laser scope arm and has done a great job of calling games and throwing out runners. Evan Longoria is a fantastic defensive third baseman who also hits for power. Maybe most importantly the Rays traded, at the end of last season, Delmon Young and a couple of other guys for Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza. Bartlett has had a team MVP kind of season at shortstop and Garza has become perhaps the Rays best pitcher, at least at home where has been dominant. I have to imagine a great deal of credit goes to Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey, who has brought along Scott Kazmir and James Shields, Garza, plus Andy Sonnastine and Edwin Jackson. They also have pieced together a pretty damned good bullpen. I’d say the outfield is still there most suspect area, especially with Carl Crawford out with a wrist injury. BJ Upton will probably be a premier outfielder somewhere down the road, and I also suspect that Fernando Perez and Gabe Gross might be capable of very good things in the future. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/196 "2008-09-21T15:56:37Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > CUBS!!! > > Hey, I’m entitled. Wait til you see what I do after we win the series!!! 😃 I’m sure it’ll be interesting, but I’m not waiting another 100 years for that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/197 "2008-09-21T19:26:43Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > This occurred to me last night, while seeing part the White Sox game in a bar – there’s a pretty fair chance the postseason will have the **2 LA teams** , the 2 Chicago teams, and the Mets, but not the Yankees. Odd. They’re not the team most people would have left out of that collection in April. What 2 LA teams? There **aren’t** 2 LA teams. There is ONE, repeat, ONE LA team. What you are thinking of is an Orange County team with delusions of grandeur. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/198 "2008-09-21T19:56:50Z")
Red Sox beat the Jays 3-0 today, so the Yanks get eliminated by a single Red Sox win or Yankee Loss now. I just hope it is not tonight. I think even Yankee haters can understand that much. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/199 "2008-09-21T20:12:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > What 2 LA teams? There **aren’t** 2 LA teams. There is ONE, repeat, ONE LA team. What you are thinking of is an Orange County team with delusions of grandeur. Well, the Anaheim Angels 😛 have already clinched. The Dodgers will probably choke away the NL West and the D-backs will go to the playoffs. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994/200 "2008-09-21T20:13:21Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Red Sox beat the Jays 3-0 today, so the Yanks get eliminated by a single Red Sox win or Yankee Loss now. I just hope it is not tonight. I think even Yankee haters can understand that much. Did the Yankees win the first game in Yankee Stadium? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-thread-september-2008/461994.md?page=11)