Lest anyone think that today's pitchers are better than those of the past, look at this list of complete games leaders from 1966, and these are just the ones with 11 or more complete games. How many had 5 or more? How many of today's pitchers have even 2?
In 2021 there were 34 complete games pitched in all of baseball. The co-leaders were tied with three a piece. Today we have throwers. These men were pitchers.
Yeah, I can't wrap my head around the Guardians or the Commandos - er - Commanders. I don't have a problem with replacing Native American-related names, but IMO both teams went too far. What's wrong with simpler, alliterative names like Washington Wallflowers or Cleveland Carps (a la Lake Erie).
Well all good things must come to an end. Mariners got to Verlander last night, hit 4 bombs off him. In the post game eval I learned a new Stat (to me), wiff ‰. Apparently his go to pitch after the fast ball is his slider and when he's going well there is a high # of swing and miss, last night they were connecting a lot. Not so many wiffs
I know I'm OG, but I can't comprehend why all the "new" stats have been invented by the stat geeks, nor do I see the necessity of things like speed of the ball off the bat, etc.. If a guy hits a single, it's a single. Who cares what the speed of the ball was? I don't. All I need to know is that he's on first base. Same with a home run. Add to that so many other useless (to me) stats that have little to nothing to do with how the game is played and scored.
I agree with Stu. Computer metrics have fueled these new measurements. I am completely old school, preferring to measure player performance the way my dad taught me.
Everything that happens in Baseball has a meaning and affect on the game. Unlike the other big sports, there's no time clock, the defense is in control of the ball/puck. Every pitch, foul ball, missed sign has an impact on the game. What a beautiful sport. I've seen groups of nuns at Busch that keep the books at games. Numbers are important in baseball. Just ask Sister Nancy like I did!
AJ, when my son was in Little League, he was what I considered overly intense and would blame himself when his team lost even if he didn't do anything wrong. I constantly would explain to him what you said. I'd point out 4-5 things that happened that had an impact on the outcome (I could have pointed out many more, as you explained in your post). As he grew into his teens and into HS, he came to understand the nature of the game and played with a positive attitude, win or lose. It's been gratifying to see him impart the same approach to his twin boys, one of whom was born with his dad's high level of intensity.
May 30th 1935, Babe Ruth plays in his last game. He was playing for the Boston Braves. The Braves hoped to notch another win when they took the field for the first game of doubleheader on May 30. Jim Bivin started for the Phillies. Although he did not give up a run in the first, he did surrender runs in four of the next five innings before he left the game with the Phillies down 5-4. Ruth was penciled in as the starting left fielder for the game. In the first inning, he grounded out to Dolph Camilli at first. Unknown to everyone in attendance, it was the last time that Babe would stand in the batter’s box as a major leaguer. When the Braves took the field, Ruth took his place in left field. He continued to struggle defensively. First, a ball dropped in front of him when he couldn’t run in to catch it. When Lou Chiozza hit a fly ball to left field, Ruth failed to catch it. The ball rolled past him to the wall. Ruth finally caught up to the ball and threw it to the relay man, third baseman Pinkey Whitney. Whitney relayed the ball to home and Chiozza was thrown out as he tried to make an inside-the-park home run. Ruth was credited with an assist on the play, his last one, but the Phillies had jumped out to a 3-0 lead. As the Braves left the field after the third out, Ruth did not join them. He left through the center-field fence where the clubhouse was located. As he slowly trotted off the field, the 18,000 fans who had shown up gave him one last standing ovation.5 No one at the Baker Bowl suspected that Ruth would announce his retirement three days later. May 30, 1935: Babe Ruth plays his final major-league game with Boston Braves – Society for American Baseball Research
Once again it is beginning to appear that Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani will be available for personal appearances in October.