I/O Seattle Times: Wakamatsu quoted on Doogie. He pitched better than the results showed, sez Wok. Broken bats, seeing-eye hits, an error behind him.
CRUNCH: No matter how much we 'net rats preach BABIP and HR/F* and S%, we're still about the runs, blast it... you'd think that we pure sabertistas would ignore runs, and mostly ignore hits, over any short span.
Jemanji has to modestly claim that he personally has little problem in actually ignoring short-terms runs and losses. This is because of rotisserie and Ron Shandler's Pure Quality Start (PQS) philosophy.
When guys offer me pitchers in roto, I run over and check their last month's Ks, BBs, and HRs. When the skills are good and the ERA bad, or vice versa, Jemanji gets to flimflam you out of your good starter or into his. He's in the habit of ignoring a short-term 8.00 ERA. They're actually good things -- opportunities.
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I/O: I was encouraged, sez Wok.
CRUNCH: Lots of amigos panicking on Doogie ;- ) but .... the truth is, what he needs to do is this:
- Display his "ON" game
- Before the moment in time in which he gets powerflushed
If and when Fister goes out there, slices up the edge of the plate, parachutes the change, and detonates a set of regular-season starters, the shot-callers will go "AAHHhhhhhhh." :- ) But that needs to occur before certain other things occur...
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I/O: Erik Bedard was frequently accused of being unhappy in Seattle, it being a bad fit for him, Bedard wanting to go back East, etc etc.
This was "never" true, quoth Bedard.
CRUNCH: Wishful thinking over, or projected dislike onto, Bedard that kept advising that "Bedard isn't coming back to Seattle"? We have to say, in all fairness, as much as we like the M's blog-o-sphere, it was hard to tell whether Bedard's departure was reporting or conjecture.
The "Bedard won't be back" shtick was often presented with a firmness that construed reporting. This reminds SSI to continue spinning its own take on word out of the clubhouse.
Doesn't matter. What does matter is that Erik Bedard can be more unpleasant to face than either Cliff Lee or Felix Hernandez. In his dreams Cliff Lee never thought of striking out 10 men per ball game. Bedard, when right, is the closest thing to Randy Johnson you're going to see.
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I/O: A 1-2-3 of Felix, Lee, and Bedard "could" (potentially) be "one of the best in the majors."
CRUNCH: So fill in the missing predicate that was left out in transit? Felix-Lee-Bedard could be "one of the best in the majors ..."
- "... after Feller, Lemon, and Wynn"
- "... like Griffey, ARod and Edgar were one of the best 3-4-5's in the majors"
- "... ' storied postseason annals"
- "... for touring Japan postseason"
Or fill in your own blank. Reality check: Felix was the 2nd-best pitcher in the AL in 2009, Lee was the 2nd-best pitcher in the NL in 2009, and Bedard was the best xFIP pitcher in both leagues in 2007. What's that spell? STRSNSCRBS.
It's fine to talk like hey, League, Lowe and Kelley could be one of the best bullpens in the majors. What Felix and Lee and Bedard could be, is historic, in terms of single-season pennant races.
And what they will be, at such time as Erik Bedard clocks 90 in an American League game, is the best Big Three in baseball.
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Ya, that's Feller, Lemon, and Wynn in the pic. Man do I love Stars & Scrubs...
Caple on the radio a great story about Feller. Seems that a group of reporters watched Feller jog onto a spring training (?) field and go out to CF by himself... practiced his pickoff throw with all gravity, staring in to the catcher and then whipping around and blasting the CF fence with a throw. Again and again.
He was 75 years old at the time :- ) ... hadn't ruled out the comeback...
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Rock on Bob & Jim,
Dr D