# MLB: August 2023 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [August 2, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980 "2023-08-02T21:43:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/121 "2023-08-26T17:33:11Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > That’s really interesting, and I never knew that was a rule. I just randomly looked at Bob Gibson’s numbers and he never had fewer than 10 complete games in a full season until he was 38 years old. I would search for the first ERA title winner with fewer than 10 complete games but I’m not sure how. I went to Baseball Reference and just started looking up every ERA title winner for the AL and NL since 1901. Wilcy Moore on the 1927 Yankees had a league-leading 2.28 ERA in 213 IP, but [his entry at BR Bullpen](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Wilcy_Moore) says he was not recognized as eligible for the title at the time as he had only 6 complete games (he was used mostly as a reliever). Another disputed case that turned up in my googling is that of Ferdie Schupp, another starter/reliever swingman who posted an NL-leading 0.90 ERA for the Giants in 1916. His [SABR biography](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ferdie-schupp/) reports that he was recognized as 1916’s ERA title holder at the time and in record books all the way into the 1940s, but records since then have given the title to Grover Alexander instead. Some more googling indicates that the requirement of 10 complete games was done away with before the 1951 season. The second year the new rule was in place, full-time reliever Hoyt Wilhelm posted an NL-best 2.43 ERA and he has always been recognized as the league’s undisputed ERA leader for 1952. ---
**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/122 "2023-08-26T17:39:41Z")
Mariners recornd 25th July 50:50 Mariner’s records 26th August 72:56 What a month. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/123 "2023-08-26T17:42:12Z")
> [@Jegpeg](#): > > What a month. Yeah, it’s been fun. They have 7 games left against the Rangers. I’ll be happy if they win 4 of those. I’m not holding by breath, but they do look good. Or good enough anyway. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/124 "2023-08-26T18:11:20Z")
> [@journeyman\_southpaw](#): > > Some more googling indicates that the requirement of 10 complete games was done away with before the 1951 season. The second year the new rule was in place, full-time reliever Hoyt Wilhelm posted an NL-best 2.43 ERA and he has always been recognized as the league’s undisputed ERA leader for 1952. I assume they then switched to the standard of 1 IP for every game played by the team? That would make Wilhelm a squeaker with 159 1/3 innings in a 154 game season. I’m surprised the innings qualifier was so low in that era. In the same season, Robin Roberts tossed 330 innings for the Phillies and finished with an ERA of 2.59. Just for fun: In the seven seasons from 1950 to 1956, Roberts threw 2,235 innings, including 183 complete games. Yikes! ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/125 "2023-08-26T18:17:18Z")
Orioles have 80s wins, and it’s not even September yet. On pace for 101 wins, a number they haven’t hit since 1979. They won a combined 77 games in 2020 and 2021! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/126 "2023-08-26T19:53:45Z")
For those of us with absolutely no dogs in the AL hunt, a Mariners-Orioles LCS would be a Good Thing. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/127 "2023-08-28T12:52:37Z")
I have never seen a team fall apart due to coaching more than the Toronto Blue Jays. Note I didn’t say managing. Coaching. The hitting coaching has been a catastrophe; every young player the team has, has regressed proportional to the length of their exposure to the hitting coaches (they have two.) Their hitting approaches are horrific, and the team is historically bad at hitting with RISP, a trait at least 200-250 games long now and so not a fluke. The manager tactically manages games basically the same way all managers do, but I get the sense from his recent public statements that he has lost the clubhouse and isn’t the leader they need. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/128 "2023-08-28T16:21:37Z")
Sounds like the Royals under pitching coach Cal Eldred last year. Tons of highly touted pitching prospects thrived in the minors, got called up, and promptly lost every ounce of talent they ever showed. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/129 "2023-08-28T21:40:00Z")
If you’re looking for teams that have fallen apart, try the St. Louis Cardinals. Pitching, hitting, baserunning, and defense have all collapsed this season and dropped last year’s division winner to 19 games under .500 and falling. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/130 "2023-08-28T22:19:44Z")
How about them damn Yankees? Last year they won 99 games. Since June 1st they’ve scored fewer runs than any team in MLB. That’s three full months of suckitude. Total shitshow. Like someone said earlier in the thread, it would be nice to have a Baltimore vs Seattle ALCS. And maybe a Milwaukee vs Arizona NLCS. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/131 "2023-08-28T22:37:00Z")
I read one article that said Milwaukee vs. Seattle would be an interesting matchup in the World Series. The Brewers began their existence as the Seattle Pilots, and neither team has won the Series before. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/132 "2023-08-28T22:55:04Z")
Seattle, of course, has never even been IN a World Series, the only team of which that can be said. ---
**Author:** ![ZamboniAce1000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f19dbf/32.png) [@ZamboniAce1000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZamboniAce1000)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/133 "2023-08-28T23:40:31Z")
I wonder what Roberts’ pitch counts were ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/134 "2023-08-29T21:32:47Z")
Angels waiving the white flag? … They placed starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo López and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers Tuesday, [ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports](https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1696632481099755613). The Angels acquired Giolito, López and Grichuk at the trade deadline in an effort to make a playoff push and retain Shohei Ohtani in the offseason… > ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/135 "2023-08-29T22:49:18Z")
Manfred should suspend their GM - that’s shameful. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/136 "2023-08-29T23:06:22Z")
They’re going to have to back fill roster spots from the Ohio Correctional League. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/137 "2023-08-30T00:33:10Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Manfred should suspend their GM - that’s shameful. It’s logical. They’re dead meat; releasing some replacement level players to save money makes sense. You cannot suspend the GM for doing things perfectly within the rules to help his franchise. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/138 "2023-08-30T00:51:06Z")
They screwed the pooch when they decided to try to keep Ohtani. Should have traded him when they had the chance, before he got injured. Now they get nothing and Ohtani’s price just dropped like a paralyzed peregrine. In other news, KC and Oakland have been eliminated from the playoffs while it is still August. That’s Cleveland Spiders level bad. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/139 "2023-08-30T01:04:51Z")
Yeah - it’s just such a blatant pro-business/anti-competitive move that it leaves a really bad taste. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980/140 "2023-08-30T01:35:23Z")
Yanks release Donaldson and Bader. I can see Donaldson, he hasn’t contributed for quite some time. I’m ambivalent about Bader, great fielder but injury prone and not productive enough offensively. Time to let the young prospects take over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2023/987980.md?page=8)