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Projo SoxTalk with Art Martone »
April 9, 2007
A spin around the baseball world . . .
NOW THAT'S PITCHING: The phrases "Bill James" and "bullpen by committee" were welded together in certain circles in 2003, and even today I have a tough time understanding how such a simple concept could be so misinterpreted by so many. What the Sox tried in the beginning of '03 -- a mix-and-match concept based on the lack of a dominant, end-of-the-game arm -- had nothing to do with Bill James. All James ever said about relief pitching was this: It's far more effective to bring your best relief pitcher into the game when the game is actually on the line -- even if it's the eighth, even if it's the seventh -- instead of keeping him in mothballs for a "save situation" in the ninth.
And that's exactly what the Red Sox did last night. (projo.com)
Old friend David Pinto applauded the strategy (baseballmusings.com, skip down a few posts), as did Sox blogger extrodinaire Allan Wood. (''I don't know about you,'' Wood commented, "but those last two innings sure didn't feel like an April 8 game.)'' (joyofsox.blogspot.com) It seemed to fly in the face of the all the cautionary talk the Sox did when they switched Jonathan Papelbon back to the bullpen, talk of protecting him and not asking him for four- and five-out saves. But Ian Browne noted last week that Terry Francona indicated there'd be times he'd call on Papelbon in the eighth inning. (mlb.com) There was no better time for it than last night, and, boy, did Papelbon deliver.
THANKS, BUDDY: Curt Schilling was the beneficiary of Papelbon's brilliance -- or at least he got a win out of it -- and he was suitably grateful/impressed. (38pitches.com) As for his own performance, which seemed plenty good to the untrained eye, about as far as he was willing to go is that it was better than Opening Day in Kansas City.
AND SPEAKING OF PITCHING . . . Yankee starters were unspeakably bad the first time through the rotation (New York Daily News). The good news (for the Yanks) is Chien-Ming Wang has started throwing again. (New York Post)
SLOW AWAKENINGS: Even NYYFans.com has seen the light on Derek Jeter's defense. Will Gold Glove voters be next?
GO GET 'EM: Met fans have their marching orders, courtesy of John Maine. (Newsday)
LEMME OUT OF HERE: Cal Ripken isn't getting involved in the latest Don Imus controversy. (Washington Times)
LOCAL BOYS: Hamstring? Rocco Baldelli ain't worried about no stinkin' hamstring. (Tampa Bay Tribune)
OLD FRIENDS: Hamley Ramirez pulled up lame in the Marlins' win over the Phillies yesterday. (Miami Herald) . . . Kevin Millar finally broke out of his early season funk with a home run against the Yankees (Baltimore Sun) . . .
A STAT FOR EVERYTHING: M Phillip Baudrand introduces the PLP, or Player Likeability Percentage. (knuckling.blogspot.com) Don't ask.
BUH-BYE: Some Red Sox fans are just now realizing the Sox made a change to their radio broadcast team this year. Some of them miss Jerry Trupiano. Chad Finn isn't one of them. (touchingallthebases.blogspot.com)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 7:03 AM | Permalink
