Shrill vs Chill, Pitchas
Felix CHILL Hernandez - I'm the last guy in the world who runs around demanding signatures for PC fealty contracts. But it isn't often that you'll find either side, on any issue, 100% or 0% right or wrong. There are substantive ideas in the class-warfare cause also. In my humble opinion, if nobody else's, America is pretty much down to the last finishing touches on social justice. But we still hang with our own kind, all of us, and there are subconscious generalizations that persist.
It's a truism that in sports, people of color tend - tend! - to be regarded as physically talented, and whites tend to be regarded as hard-working and/or intelligent. Bill James wrote a historic piece on this comparing Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, double play partners for the Tigers. Per his most-comparable player formulas, new at the time, "You could hardly find two more comparable players than Trammell and Whitaker." Yet, James demonstrated, Whitaker was constantly praised for his athletic ability and Trammell got credit for being a heady ballplayer...
My opinion is intended in good humor. We're not rebuking anybody. More like in a Sasha Cohen mood.
If Felix Hernandez looked like Greg Maddux or Mike Mussina or Jamie Moyer, he would be considered the brainiest pitcher in baseball. In this post we attempted to document, pitch-by-pitch, Felix' otherworldly coolness and intelligence under pressure. By "pressure" we mean a 1-0 game, bottom of the 9th, IN Yankee Stadium, giant crowd, YES television network, lefty mashers Granderson and Cano up - for the fourth time. They didn't have a chance - and it had nothing to do with power. Felix threw those two 8 pitches, and all 8 were offspeed. Does Justin Verlander do that?
Felix doesn't get enough credit for how intellectually gifted he is. And chill? The man is surgically cool. Bottom of the ninth, Yankee Stadium, babe. Who knows. Maybe Grumpy will volley on the idea of "surgically cool" :- )
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Tom SHRILL-CHILL Wilhelmsen - start of the year, Dr. D was whining and groaning, spitting and moaning about Wilhelmsen not being in the rotation where he could get the heart rate down and get into rhythm.
Going by the body language, the high shoulders, the tempo, the (sometimes) overthrown curves and high-outside fastballs, I'd say he's still feeling pretty tight out there. But! Feeling tight doesn't mean you lose. He's done a great job fighting through the tension. GREAT job.
And, he's not needing 7-8 pitches to find his command. He's gettin' there. Wish we coulda been so lucky with Brandon Morrow.
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Stephen SHRILL Pryor - There are a lot of big closers - not big-name closers, but BIIIIIGGG closers - who will tell you that they have to have the adrenaline pumping to throw their best games.
Pryor's one of those for whom a wild-eyed demeanor is a good thing. One more reason not to send him out for a second warm-up and a second inning. The edge is off. ... We don't need to CONTROL Achilles! We need to UNLEASH him! :- O
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Blake CHILL Beavan - his detractor Gordon Gross has always been quick to credit Beavan with staying loose with men on base. Beavan is simply a very fine competitor, no argument there, and that is a big part of why he has overperformed. He's way ahead of other 23-year-olds with more talent, he's making adjustments ... hey, he has 32 starts behind him, at the age of 23. Bill James always said, most pitchers will figure out a way to retire hitters - if they could only avoid the attrition. Beavan is 32 starts up on The Golden Boys.
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It's a funny thing. A lot of aikido senseis award early rank belts based not on physical grace, but on relaxation and state-of-mind. They feel it predicts future success. The analogy here would be Eric Wedge picking his 25-man roster based on pulse rate in the batter's box ... or in Jack Zduriencik picking Blake Beavan and Jason Vargas based on coolness under pressure.
The 2012 Mariners have, as a team, been trying way too hard. Especially in Safeco. But man, they are a young team.
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