# MLB post season: 2009 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 4, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592 "2009-10-04T21:59:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/401 "2009-10-30T16:26:07Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > In the 7th, Burnett faced 3 hitters. Ibanez and Stairs both struck out looking, and Feliz grounded out to Jeter. He was dealing, and showing no signs of weakening. If you want to have Mo up and ready, I totally agree, but I see no reason not to let the guy with the hot hand start the 8th. A starter who has already been told it’s his last inning, at least probably, has a tendency to dig deep and go after batters with a few more MPH on his heater. That gets guys out in that inning but leaves him unable to go further. Seeing Pedro should have reminded you of that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/402 "2009-10-30T16:38:07Z")
\ Cubs pitchers would undoubtedly give up runs to Cub hitters if we looked closely enough… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/403 "2009-10-30T16:44:28Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > [2025 MLB Batting Pitching Team Stat Leaders - ESPN](http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching) Anybody spot the trend? Teams that score more runs than the other team tend to win more games? I’d always suspected that. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/404 "2009-10-30T16:52:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Teams that score more runs than the other team tend to win more games? > > I’d always suspected that. Tell that to the 1960 Yankees. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/405 "2009-10-30T16:59:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Quite true. In English, Ibanez’s name is correctly spelled without the diacritical marks. How often do you see Panama spelled Panamá on TV or in English publications? But that’s the way it’s spelled in Spanish. See, i think there’s an important difference here; it’s a distinction in the effect of the diacritical mark. The accent in Panama/á really only indicates emphasis; it tells you where to place the rising inflection of your voice when speaking the word. The eñe, on the other hand, fundamentally changes the way the word is pronounced, and actually constitutes a distinct letter of the Spanish alphabet. Saying ee-ban-ez is quite different from ee-ban-yez, and it’s the tilde that tells us about that difference. If there were no chance of confusion, i’d be less concerned. But there are people with the last name Ibanez, and people with the last name Ibañez; the two are not the same, and i think it’s useful to make the distinction. It’s clear i’ve lost this battle before i’ve begun. If FOX isn’t already doing it, they’re unlikely to change anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/406 "2009-10-30T17:01:02Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A starter who has already been told it’s his last inning, at least probably, has a tendency to dig deep and go after batters with a few more MPH on his heater. That gets guys out in that inning but leaves him unable to go further. > > Seeing Pedro should have reminded you of that. 😉 Nah, Burnett was pretty steady all game. I didn’t notice any extra intensity in that last inning. His pitch counts in innings 5 - 7 were 12, 11, 10 respectively. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/407 "2009-10-30T17:01:12Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > [2025 MLB Batting Pitching Team Stat Leaders - ESPN](http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching) Anybody spot the trend? > **[2025 MLB Team Batting Stat Leaders - ESPN](https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting)** > > ESPN is the place for MLB stats! Find a list of the Batting team stat leaders for the 2025 MLB Regular Season. Anybody spot the trend? Or what about this one? > **[2025 MLB Team Batting Stat Leaders - ESPN](https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/sort/OPS/order/true)** > > ESPN is the place for MLB stats! Find a list of the Batting team stat leaders for the 2025 MLB Regular Season. Or this? > **[2025 MLB Team Batting Stat Leaders - ESPN](https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/sort/homeRuns/order/true)** > > ESPN is the place for MLB stats! Find a list of the Batting team stat leaders for the 2025 MLB Regular Season. Or this? > **[2025 MLB Team Batting Stat Leaders - ESPN](https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/sort/totalBases/order/true)** > > ESPN is the place for MLB stats! Find a list of the Batting team stat leaders for the 2025 MLB Regular Season. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/408 "2009-10-30T17:19:56Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > [2025 MLB Team Batting Stat Leaders - ESPN](http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting) > > Anybody spot the trend? > > Or what about this one? > > [2025 MLB Team Batting Stat Leaders - ESPN](http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/sort/OPS/order/true) > > Or this? > > [2025 MLB Team Batting Stat Leaders - ESPN](http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/sort/homeRuns/order/true) > > Or this? > > [2025 MLB Team Batting Stat Leaders - ESPN](http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/sort/totalBases/order/true) What’s sad is that gonzo is now going to believe none of us think pitching is valuable or a huge part of the game as well. Not that he ever did… ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/409 "2009-10-30T17:48:50Z")
Ibanez: I know, right? What is he, a [guitar](http://ibanez.com/Splash.aspx)? 😃 OTOH, Ibáñez, like Alex Rodriguez, is American born and raised. I have a hard time lumping either of them into the group of “Latin players”, a tag which seems to me should apply only to players who are actually _from_ Latin American countries. I mean, I never hear Oakland A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki (born in Hawaii) being lumped in with Japanese players. ETA: Not to mention all the “black” players who would be considered “black” players were it not for the fact that they’re from Latin American countries. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/410 "2009-10-30T17:59:20Z")
McCarver and Buck both pronounced the name correctly as Ibáñez every time I noticed. But I wasn’t keeping track. Game three is Pettitte vs. Hamels. What are the chances on Lee going in game four? I’m sure Sabathia will pitch that one and I don’t really think Philly will ask Blanton or Park to start. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/411 "2009-10-30T18:59:17Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > See, i think there’s an important difference here; it’s a distinction in the effect of the diacritical mark. > > The accent in Panama/á really only indicates emphasis; it tells you where to place the rising inflection of your voice when speaking the word. The eñe, on the other hand, fundamentally changes the way the word is pronounced, and actually constitutes a distinct letter of the Spanish alphabet. > > Saying ee-ban-ez is quite different from ee-ban-yez, and it’s the tilde that tells us about that difference. If there were no chance of confusion, i’d be less concerned. But there are people with the last name Ibanez, and people with the last name Ibañez; the two are not the same, and i think it’s useful to make the distinction. > > It’s clear i’ve lost this battle before i’ve begun. If FOX isn’t already doing it, they’re unlikely to change anyway. Since when does English make an effort to spell foreign names the way they are pronounced? It used to be fairly common to see French François spelled with the cedilla in English, but I usually just see it as Francois now. An alternative way to spell Ibáñez in English without the tilde would be Ibanyez, just as we spell cañon as canyon. However, English is not too prone to deal with diacriticals from other languages in this way, even if we sometimes spell German Müller as Mueller. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/412 "2009-10-30T19:45:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > McCarver and Buck both pronounced the name correctly as Ibáñez every time I noticed. But I wasn’t keeping track.. Yeah, the commentators get it right. And it’s spelled Ibáñez on the back of his uniform. > [@Colibri](#): > > Since when does English make an effort to spell foreign names the way they are pronounced? It used to be fairly common to see French François spelled with the cedilla in English, but I usually just see it as Francois now. > > An alternative way to spell Ibáñez in English without the tilde would be Ibanyez, just as we spell cañon as canyon. However, English is not too prone to deal with diacriticals from other languages in this way, even if we sometimes spell German Müller as Mueller. I don’t dispute a word of this. I’m not arguing “This is how it is.” I’m arguing “This is how it should be.” English has become even more of a default global language since the advent of the internet, and i think that respecting the accent marks of other languages, especially when they actually help us with pronunciation, is a small and fairly simple step. Anyway, i’ve probably hijacked the thread enough with this language discussion. I think we should go back to talking about how hitting shuts down pitching (or was it the other way round?). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/413 "2009-10-30T19:50:03Z")
One more quick hijack: > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Ibanez: I know, right? What is he, a [guitar](http://ibanez.com/Splash.aspx)? 😃 > > OTOH, Ibáñez, like Alex Rodriguez, is American born and raised. I have a hard time lumping either of them into the group of “Latin players”, a tag which seems to me should apply only to players who are actually _from_ Latin American countries. I mean, I never hear Oakland A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki (born in Hawaii) being lumped in with Japanese players. > > ETA: Not to mention all the “black” players who would be considered “black” players were it not for the fact that they’re from Latin American countries. My comment on Latin players was simply designed to observe that, given how many Hispanic _names_ there are in baseball, _and_ how many players actually come from Mexico and Central and South America, i think it would be good if they were spelled with the accent marks. Whether Ibáñez was born in Cleveland or Cuba, Dayton or the Dominican Republic, doesn’t really change my argument. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/414 "2009-10-30T20:44:43Z")
Well, yes it does. If Ibanez is born in America, his name is not Ibáñez, but Ibanez. That’s what will be on his birth record, and that’s his official name. The fact that it would be written Ibáñez in Spanish is irrelevant. Or, as I pointed out, do you insist that we spell Swedish/Norse/Danish names using the various Scandinavian characters? And what do you want us to do about Poles or Hungarians or Serbs? Greeks? Russians? Chinese? Japanese? etc., etc., etc. Taken to a logical conclusion, it gets a bit difficult to contemplate, don’t you think? Back on topic: I thought it was good running trumps good fielding. The heck with hitting and pitching; you do one and the other follows naturally. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/415 "2009-10-30T21:10:23Z")
But good throwing beats good running. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/416 "2009-10-30T21:40:12Z")
And good stretching beats good scratching. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/417 "2009-10-30T21:54:10Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Game three is Pettitte vs. Hamels. What are the chances on Lee going in game four? I’m sure Sabathia will pitch that one and I don’t really think Philly will ask Blanton or Park to start. Definitely not Park, no. I believe that Manuel would be OK with sending Blanton out there, though. If it’s 2-1 Yankees at that point I think there’s a good chance you’d see Lee. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/418 "2009-10-30T22:04:12Z")
[Blanton it is, says Manuel.](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/10/30/phillies.blanton.ap/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/419 "2009-10-31T01:33:17Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > What’s sad is that gonzo is now going to believe none of us think pitching is valuable or a huge part of the game as well. Not that he ever did… That was never the claim. Don’t argue with yourself. I just said the people who just loved the Yankee offense and touted all their great numbers were missing the point. The Yankee offense has not been the big factor in the series. Pitching shuts down hitting. that is where series are won and lost. Hitting has been of little consequence. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/420 "2009-10-31T02:31:47Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > That was never the claim. Don’t argue with yourself. I just said the people who just loved the Yankee offense and touted all their great numbers were missing the point. No, you didn’t. This is what you said: > [@gonzomax](#): > > You will note that before the Series started ,our stat freaks were declaring the hitting juggernaut the Yankees put together as unbeatable. **RickJay** has already asked you to provide evidence that anyone said this, and i now repeat the call: show us one single person who said that the Yankees would be unbeatable. Put up, or shut up. > [@gonzomax](#): > > The Yankee offense has not been the big factor in the series. Pitching shuts down hitting. that is where series are won and lost. Hitting has been of little consequence. You’re right, those home runs hit by Chase Utley were completely irrelevant to the Game 1 outcome, and the dingers hit by Teixera and Matsui in Game 2 also had no connection with the final result. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592.md?page=22)