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what has surprised you in the first month of the baseball season

xavier mcdanielxavier mcdaniel Somewhere in NYC Posts: 9,305
edited May 2008 in All Encompassing Trip
A couple of things have surprised me, things like the following:

The good:

That Ervin Santana is 6-0

Mike Mussina has been a pleasant surprise, although my confidence in him hasn't been as low as others

The Cardinals, I'm not Tony LaRussa fan but credit is due for a 20-12 team, when very few if any picked them to be good.

The bad:

The way the Mariners have played of late, especially over the weekend

The Tigers being 14-19 and not hitting consistently

The Indians struggling to score runs
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • South of SeattleSouth of Seattle West Seattle Posts: 10,724
    Ryan Howard is a Dog.

    Someone traded me Nady for Brad "I can't hit lefties" Hawpe last week.

    Prince Fielder needs a T-Bone Steak

    JJ Putz is being a Putz.
    NERDS!
  • LONGRDLONGRD Posts: 6,036
    The Bad: The Tigers and Mariners have been a disappointment. I had both winning their division.

    The Good: The Rays are pretty damn good before getting swept by Boston during their last series! :p
    The Twins after losing stars Santana and Hunter, they're playing pretty good in the tough AL Central.
    PJ- 04/29/2003.06/24,25,27,28,30/2008.10/27,28,30,31/2009
    EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009
  • xavier mcdanielxavier mcdaniel Somewhere in NYC Posts: 9,305
    LongRd. wrote:
    The Bad: The Tigers and Mariners have been a disappointment. I had both winning their division.

    The Good: The Rays are pretty damn good before getting swept by Boston during their last series! :p
    The Twins after losing stars Santana and Hunter, they're playing pretty good in the tough AL Central.

    I didn't have the Mariners winning but didn't think they would lose 19 of their first 32.

    And that's a good point with Minnesota, especially the way they just swept Detroit and have won 12 of their first 18 divisional games.
    Reading 2004
    Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
    Chicago 2007
    Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
    Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
    Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
    Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
    Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
    Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
    Fenway 2, 2018
    MSG 2022
    St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
    MSG 2024, MSG 2024
    Philadelphia 2024
    "I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
    Things happen in the game. Nothing you
    can do. I don't go and say,
    "I'm gonna beat this guy up."
  • PorchsitterPorchsitter Loganville, GA Posts: 1,078
    I can't believe how many injuries the Braves pitching staff has taken.....I mean aside from Hampton which came as no shock.
    We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution.--Bill Hicks
  • Fighting HellfishFighting Hellfish Posts: 3,170
    Cliff Lee

    Melky Cabrera leading the Yankees in homeruns

    Ryan Dempster

    Manny Corpas having a meltdown and losing the Rockies closer job a few weeks into the season
  • TrailerTrailer Posts: 1,431
    Zito is now a RELIEVER!! :eek:
    Whoa, chill bro... you know you can't raise your voice like that when the lion's here.
  • LONGRDLONGRD Posts: 6,036
    Trailer wrote:
    Zito is now a RELIEVER!! :eek:
    Curse of Bonds in SF?

    Well, they never did win a title with him anyways. Hehe :p
    PJ- 04/29/2003.06/24,25,27,28,30/2008.10/27,28,30,31/2009
    EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009
  • markymark550markymark550 Columbia, SC Posts: 5,172
    With as average a first season that he had last year, I'm a bit surprised Daisuke Matsuzaka is 5-0 with a 2.43 ERA. I expected another season much like the one he had last year.

    Josh Hamilton leading the AL in RBI is a bit surprising too...
  • patrickredeyespatrickredeyes Posts: 8,834
    The Cardinals
  • tvismyfriendtvismyfriend Posts: 2,118
    Blue Jays releasing Frank Thomas.
  • Phantom PainPhantom Pain Posts: 9,876
    Suprised : The Phils in 1st place with Howard doing nothing and Rollins being out

    Plus their bullpen has been rock solid and Lidge has been lights out

    Not suprised : Utley tearing the cover off the ball.....let's make this 3 for 3 on the MVP's

    :D
    My drinking team has a hockey problem

    The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill



    A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
  • PureandEasyPureandEasy Posts: 5,811
    Pleasantly surprised - the great start Pat Burrell has had. After the last half of the seaon last year, I kind of knew he had his swing back, but I never imaged he would have 11 doubles, 9 homeruns and 30 RBI's after the 1st month

    yeah Pat! :):):)
    Don't come closer or I'll have to go
  • gregkitefangregkitefan Posts: 1,116
    markymark550 wrote:
    With as average a first season that he had last year, I'm a bit surprised Daisuke Matsuzaka is 5-0 with a 2.43 ERA. I expected another season much like the one he had last year.

    Josh Hamilton leading the AL in RBI is a bit surprising too...


    Dice was far from average last year.
    He had 15 wins, 200K's and over 200 IP's.

    Only (17) people had more wins and only (7) people had more K's.
    Only (28) people pitched over 200 innings.

    There are (150) starting pitchers in the majors.

    Far from average.
    38
  • oldermanolderman Posts: 1,765
    My KC Royals have been competetive. Great pitching.

    How about Joakim Soria

    13 Innings pitched, 3 fucking hits, 8 out 8 on saves, 0.00 ERA, 1 W, 15 SO!!

    If you let the Royals get ahead in the late innings, you are fucked

    Unfortunately, until the bats get going, the Royals will remain at or about .500
    Down the street you can hear her scream youre a disgrace
    As she slams the door in his drunken face
    And now he stands outside
    And all the neighbours start to gossip and drool
    He cries oh, girl you must be mad,
    What happened to the sweet love you and me had?
    Against the door he leans and starts a scene,
    And his tears fall and burn the garden green
  • markymark550markymark550 Columbia, SC Posts: 5,172
    gregkitefan wrote:
    Dice was far from average last year.
    He had 15 wins, 200K's and over 200 IP's.

    Only (17) people had more wins and only (7) people had more K's.
    Only (28) people pitched over 200 innings.

    There are (150) starting pitchers in the majors.

    Far from average.
    15-12 record with a 4.40 ERA last year....that's average and not indicative of the start he's having this year

    also, last year he had the 12th most walks and was one of 19 players to give up over 100 earned runs
  • Solat13Solat13 Posts: 6,996
    markymark550 wrote:
    15-12 record with a 4.40 ERA last year....that's average and not indicative of the start he's having this year

    also, last year he had the 12th most walks and was one of 19 players to give up over 100 earned runs

    True, but he also had the 8th best hit per innings pitched ratio in the AL and held batters to a .246 average against him which was also 8th in the AL.
    - Busted down the pretext
    - 8/28/98
    - 9/2/00
    - 4/28/03, 5/3/03, 7/3/03, 7/5/03, 7/6/03, 7/9/03, 7/11/03, 7/12/03, 7/14/03
    - 9/28/04, 9/29/04, 10/1/04, 10/2/04
    - 9/11/05, 9/12/05, 9/13/05, 9/30/05, 10/1/05, 10/3/05
    - 5/12/06, 5/13/06, 5/27/06, 5/28/06, 5/30/06, 6/1/06, 6/3/06, 6/23/06, 7/22/06, 7/23/06, 12/2/06, 12/9/06
    - 8/2/07, 8/5/07
    - 6/19/08, 6/20/08, 6/22/08, 6/24/08, 6/25/08, 6/27/08, 6/28/08, 6/30/08, 7/1/08
    - 8/23/09, 8/24/09, 9/21/09, 9/22/09, 10/27/09, 10/28/09, 10/30/09, 10/31/09
    - 5/15/10, 5/17/10, 5/18/10, 5/20/10, 5/21/10, 10/23/10, 10/24/10
    - 9/11/11, 9/12/11
    - 10/18/13, 10/21/13, 10/22/13, 11/30/13, 12/4/13
  • myhookmyhook Posts: 284
    Here is a quick list

    Surprised:
    Cliff Lee and Zak Greinke leading the AL in ERA
    C.Wang being 6-0
    Chase Utley having 13 homers already
    Josh Hamilton leading all of baseball in RBI
    Chipper Jones batting .425 with 9 HR and 27 RBI
    The way the Florida teams have played. They are a combined 4 games over .500
    Cleveland and Colorado playing way under .500
    Not one win between Hughes and Kennedy
    Xavier Nady
    TB sweeping Boston (although got swept right back)


    Not Surprised:
    A.Jones still sucks
    the NY 1st basemen are terrible. Giambi and Delgado.
    Pedro got hurt
    Hey, you wouldn't hire a clown to fix a leak in the jon so why do you let these hooligans tear down the biz? YEEAAHHH. I don't care if he is Mr. Notorious BIG, can he croon?
  • markymark550markymark550 Columbia, SC Posts: 5,172
    Solat13 wrote:
    True, but he also had the 8th best hit per innings pitched ratio in the AL and held batters to a .246 average against him which was also 8th in the AL.
    so basically, all the good and bad cancel out, showing that he had an average season last year ;)
  • gregkitefangregkitefan Posts: 1,116
    markymark550 wrote:
    15-12 record with a 4.40 ERA last year....that's average and not indicative of the start he's having this year

    also, last year he had the 12th most walks and was one of 19 players to give up over 100 earned runs


    15 wins is average.
    Once again there are 150 atarting pitchers in MLB.
    The average starting pitcher in MLB had 9 or 10 wins last year.

    My point is he was very very far from average.
    38
  • Solat13Solat13 Posts: 6,996
    markymark550 wrote:
    so basically, all the good and bad cancel out, showing that he had an average season last year ;)

    Very true, but if you take out September when both he and Oki had dead arms, he would have had an era of 3.88 which would have been a really good year for a rookie. Or if the Sox wouldn't have blown two games for him in September, he would have been 17-12. (One was the infamous Gagne game when Dice-K left up 5-1 after 7 and Gagne came in and gave up 4 runs in the 8th. The other was the game against the Yanks when he left up 5-2 in the 6th and Oki and Papelbon gave up 6 runs in the 8th.)

    I think he an above average season personally, but unless he won 20 there was no way he was going to match the hype he had going into the year.
    - Busted down the pretext
    - 8/28/98
    - 9/2/00
    - 4/28/03, 5/3/03, 7/3/03, 7/5/03, 7/6/03, 7/9/03, 7/11/03, 7/12/03, 7/14/03
    - 9/28/04, 9/29/04, 10/1/04, 10/2/04
    - 9/11/05, 9/12/05, 9/13/05, 9/30/05, 10/1/05, 10/3/05
    - 5/12/06, 5/13/06, 5/27/06, 5/28/06, 5/30/06, 6/1/06, 6/3/06, 6/23/06, 7/22/06, 7/23/06, 12/2/06, 12/9/06
    - 8/2/07, 8/5/07
    - 6/19/08, 6/20/08, 6/22/08, 6/24/08, 6/25/08, 6/27/08, 6/28/08, 6/30/08, 7/1/08
    - 8/23/09, 8/24/09, 9/21/09, 9/22/09, 10/27/09, 10/28/09, 10/30/09, 10/31/09
    - 5/15/10, 5/17/10, 5/18/10, 5/20/10, 5/21/10, 10/23/10, 10/24/10
    - 9/11/11, 9/12/11
    - 10/18/13, 10/21/13, 10/22/13, 11/30/13, 12/4/13
  • thunderDANthunderDAN Posts: 2,094
    Cliff Lee with a ERA under 1 after a month
    myhook wrote:
    Cleveland and Colorado playing way under .500

    3 games is 'way under'?
  • Solat13Solat13 Posts: 6,996
    gregkitefan wrote:
    15 wins is average.
    Once again there are 150 atarting pitchers in MLB.
    The average starting pitcher in MLB had 9 or 10 wins last year.

    My point is he was very very far from average.

    I agree. Winning 15 games is far from average.

    Brett Myers has been the Opening Day pitcher for the Phillies for the last 2 seasons and is considered a very solid #2 behind Hamels. The most wins he has ever had in a season is 14 and that was in 2003.
    - Busted down the pretext
    - 8/28/98
    - 9/2/00
    - 4/28/03, 5/3/03, 7/3/03, 7/5/03, 7/6/03, 7/9/03, 7/11/03, 7/12/03, 7/14/03
    - 9/28/04, 9/29/04, 10/1/04, 10/2/04
    - 9/11/05, 9/12/05, 9/13/05, 9/30/05, 10/1/05, 10/3/05
    - 5/12/06, 5/13/06, 5/27/06, 5/28/06, 5/30/06, 6/1/06, 6/3/06, 6/23/06, 7/22/06, 7/23/06, 12/2/06, 12/9/06
    - 8/2/07, 8/5/07
    - 6/19/08, 6/20/08, 6/22/08, 6/24/08, 6/25/08, 6/27/08, 6/28/08, 6/30/08, 7/1/08
    - 8/23/09, 8/24/09, 9/21/09, 9/22/09, 10/27/09, 10/28/09, 10/30/09, 10/31/09
    - 5/15/10, 5/17/10, 5/18/10, 5/20/10, 5/21/10, 10/23/10, 10/24/10
    - 9/11/11, 9/12/11
    - 10/18/13, 10/21/13, 10/22/13, 11/30/13, 12/4/13
  • myhookmyhook Posts: 284
    thunderDAN wrote:
    Cliff Lee with a ERA under 1 after a month



    3 games is 'way under'?
    True, but I meant combined. Together they are 11 games. I didn't think either of them would be under .500 after the first month. Actully I love Cleveland's team. Seizmore and Maritinez are STUDS and if the CC and Carmona can get quality starts they will be fine. I know it is early, hell I am Yankees fan. I have t tell myself that every day.
    Hey, you wouldn't hire a clown to fix a leak in the jon so why do you let these hooligans tear down the biz? YEEAAHHH. I don't care if he is Mr. Notorious BIG, can he croon?
  • thunderDANthunderDAN Posts: 2,094
    myhook wrote:
    True, but I meant combined. Together they are 11 games. I didn't think either of them would be under .500 after the first month. Actully I love Cleveland's team. Seizmore and Maritinez are STUDS and if the CC and Carmona can get quality starts they will be fine. I know it is early, hell I am Yankees fan. I have t tell myself that every day.
    yeah the Indians are a weird team. They have probably some the best starting pitching in the AL and some of the most godawful hitting ever. Who knows
  • senninsennin Posts: 2,146
    Nate McLouth/Xavier Nady

    Seattle Mariner Bullpen

    Ryan Howard

    Joe Saunders
  • markymark550markymark550 Columbia, SC Posts: 5,172
    Solat13 wrote:
    Very true, but if you take out September when both he and Oki had dead arms, he would have had an era of 3.88 which would have been a really good year for a rookie. Or if the Sox wouldn't have blown two games for him in September, he would have been 17-12. (One was the infamous Gagne game when Dice-K left up 5-1 after 7 and Gagne came in and gave up 4 runs in the 8th. The other was the game against the Yanks when he left up 5-2 in the 6th and Oki and Papelbon gave up 6 runs in the 8th.)

    I think he an above average season personally, but unless he won 20 there was no way he was going to match the hype he had going into the year.
    If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas....

    Good point about not living up to the hype though. That may be why I consider him to have had an average year. When I see 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA I think he's a solid 3rd man in a rotation that will eat some innings to possibly save the bullpen, not one of the best pitchers in the league.

    Using the qualified stats (meaning those pitchers who qualified for the best ERA award), there were 79 pitchers and the average record was 13-10. So, for last year, his record wasn't too far off from average. Seeing that his ERA was 52nd out of those 79 is a good bit below average.
  • gregkitefangregkitefan Posts: 1,116
    markymark550 wrote:
    If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas....

    Good point about not living up to the hype though. That may be why I consider him to have had an average year. When I see 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA I think he's a solid 3rd man in a rotation that will eat some innings to possibly save the bullpen, not one of the best pitchers in the league.

    Using the qualified stats (meaning those pitchers who qualified for the best ERA award), there were 79 pitchers and the average record was 13-10. So, for last year, his record wasn't too far off from average. Seeing that his ERA was 52nd out of those 79 is a good bit below average.

    You can't look at it that way.
    If 79 pitchers qualified for the ERA title, that means there are 71 other pitching rotation spots that were so bad that didn't last long enough in the rotation to qualify.

    Once again you don't see the point that when the Baseball season starts there are 150 starting pitchers.

    When the 2007 season ended Dice was one of the top 25 pitchers in the
    game.

    Not even close to average.
    This is not my opinion........this is fact.
    38
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,156
    For me, it's that I have yet to watch a full game, but I've seen about 20 hockey games.

    I guess I will have to wait until after the Stanley Cup finals before baseball gets some love.
    Be Excellent To Each Other
    Party On, Dudes!
  • markymark550markymark550 Columbia, SC Posts: 5,172
    gregkitefan wrote:
    You can't look at it that way.
    If 79 pitchers qualified for the ERA title, that means there are 71 other pitching rotation spots that were so bad that didn't last long enough in the rotation to qualify.

    Once again you don't see the point that when the Baseball season starts there are 150 starting pitchers.

    When the 2007 season ended Dice was one of the top 25 pitchers in the
    game.

    Not even close to average.
    This is not my opinion........this is fact.
    With the 150 starting pitcher thing, it's not as cut and dry like that. You have some pitchers get injured, then some teams will try out their top AA and AAA pitchers, then some others that will make spot starts within the year. Sure Matsuzaka is going to look like the best pitcher ever when compared with Joe Doe who got called up from AA to see how he would perform for a couple of starts, but when compared to established starters nothing says he had a great year. The last two months of the 2007 regular season, he was 3-3 with something like a 5.92 ERA. I'd hardly put him in the top 25 based on that.

    And of course it's your opinion...don't even get started on that.
  • gregkitefangregkitefan Posts: 1,116
    markymark550 wrote:
    With the 150 starting pitcher thing, it's not as cut and dry like that. You have some pitchers get injured, then some teams will try out their top AA and AAA pitchers, then some others that will make spot starts within the year. Sure Matsuzaka is going to look like the best pitcher ever when compared with Joe Doe who got called up from AA to see how he would perform for a couple of starts, but when compared to established starters nothing says he had a great year. The last two months of the 2007 regular season, he was 3-3 with something like a 5.92 ERA. I'd hardly put him in the top 25 based on that.

    And of course it's your opinion...don't even get started on that.

    Why do you think teams bring up pitchers from the minors???
    You think if a team had (5) established starting pitchers that were all pitching well, they would spend the money to bring up a new pitcher.
    They bring up people because the established pitcher that was in that spot before either was no good or got hurt.

    The last I remembered it was a 6 month season and not a 2 month season.

    Sorry I will take 15 wins, 200K's and 200 innings anytime.
    By the way only (6) pitchers did that last year.
    CC, Peavy, Harang, Vazquez, Santana and Dice.

    Yea your right he was real average.
    38
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