Comments on: While America Sleeps, Lidge Saves

By: Bill Baer

Bill Baer — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:32:50 +0000

Jake,

The Dodgers do have home field advantage in the NLCS. Game One is Thursday.

By: eh

eh — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:28:15 +0000

can’t believe tracy didn’t go to a lefty to face howard.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:11:26 +0000

Christ, The Phillies are absolutely determined to send their fans into cardiac arrest.

Good luck with the Dodgers. Do they have home field? I think they do but I’m too lazy to verify.

By: eh

eh — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:58:54 +0000

rockies are so incredibly average.

Dodgers- Phillies will be a good one

By: Bill Baer

Bill Baer — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:32:17 +0000

Closers on the whole have been pretty awful so far. And Lidge doesn’t make the top-five!

By: eh

eh — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:47:33 +0000

oops, meant to say ” over used” not ” un used”

By: eh

eh — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:46:55 +0000

good point on charlie using madsen there, my thinking exactly. As an A’s fan, that AB by giambi was a microcosm of his stint with the a’s this year.

Your next blog should be:

” Unused and Annoying phrases used by people during baseball playoffs:

Example:

Cluth
big game pitcher
a true mvp
a choker
not showing up
..when it counts
the biggest hit of the game in the 9th inning
isn’t ready for the big time yet
buckles under the pressure
a true mvp
is a team player
shows intangibles really do matter…
what does VORP have to say about that?

am i missing any? it’s funny that most/all of those phrases are used by people who refuse to accept numbers/sabermetrics, etc.

here is a true reason why playoff sample sizes are worthless:

Has fuentes been the best ” closer” so far this playoffs? maybe.

he was the worst closer in the AL West all year.

By: Yanoff

Yanoff — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:36:18 +0000

Well stated! As a midwesterner, I fought off sleep and stayed up until 1:15 a.m., and it sure was worth it. Even with as sleepy as I feel this morning, I have a smile on my face.

By: Bill Baer

Bill Baer — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:35:10 +0000

Well put, AJH. You explained it better than I would have.

By: AJH

AJH — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:33:00 +0000

Exactly, the graph tracks the home team’s chance to win (0-100%) based on historical data of the likelihood to score in a particular spot in the game. Because it’s based on historical data, I don’t think individual statistics aren’t taken into account, so having Chase Utley up to bat would theoretically generate the same win probability as a pitcher in that exact same spot.