Comments on: RBI Baseball http://www.thermocaster.com/2007/09/12/rbi-baseball/ The part of the knee that, you know, means something. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:15:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Jeff Meredith http://www.thermocaster.com/2007/09/12/rbi-baseball/#comment-7 Jeff Meredith Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.thermocaster.com/2007/09/12/rbi-baseball/#comment-7 In a short series, anything can happen. And to be completely trite, the regular season means nothing.<br/><br/>Look at recent Yankee teams -- many entering the playoffs with the best record in the league -- and their respective fates. <br/><br/>The 2002 Yankees, whom I mention in my post, lead the league in scoring. <br/><br/>Which is irrelevant when your pitching staff allows 31 runs in 4 games, as the Yankees did in losing to the eventual World Series winner, the Angels. Pettitte, Mussina and Wells were all knocked out before the start of the 6th inning. <br/><br/>One can make the case that the 2003 Red Sox were done in by a vengeful God or Grady Little. I leave them out of this picture.<br/><br/>The 2000 White Sox had the best record in the American League. And they got swept by the wildcard winner, the Seattle Mariners. The White Sox were held to 7 runs over 3 games in that series. Outside of getting to Freddy Garcia in the opener (and eventually losing that game because of Keith Foulke), they were shut down. By Paul Abbott of all people, who won 43 games his entire career, and Aaron Sele -- who was actually a decent pitcher at this stage of his career, but always very hittable. Sele was an All Star in 2000, but he had a 4.51 ERA and allowed more than a hit an inning -- he was definitely a beneficiary of good run support. [Did you know that Aaron Sele won 69 games between 1998 and 2001 with the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners? His ERA during those four seasons was 4.27]<br/><br/>The 2000 A's had a hard fought 5 game series against the Yankees, who eventually won the World Series . It could've gone either way, but one interesting statistical observation emerges: the A's hit 239 home runs during the 2000 season. Well more than 1 a game. And against the Yankees in that series? They hit 2 total. No homers from Giambi (43 on the season), Tejada (30), Grieve (27), Chavez (26), or Stairs (21). Throw the other run producer for that team into the picture, Terrence Long, and they went a combined 24 for 100 against the Yankees (.240).<br/><br/>Outside of an 11 run outburst against the Yankees in game 4 (when they pummeled Clemens), the A's offense never scored more than 5 runs in any game.<br/><br/>So can a great offense collapse in a 5 game series? Of course. In a short series, anything can happen. And to be completely trite, the regular season means nothing.

Look at recent Yankee teams — many entering the playoffs with the best record in the league — and their respective fates.

The 2002 Yankees, whom I mention in my post, lead the league in scoring.

Which is irrelevant when your pitching staff allows 31 runs in 4 games, as the Yankees did in losing to the eventual World Series winner, the Angels. Pettitte, Mussina and Wells were all knocked out before the start of the 6th inning.

One can make the case that the 2003 Red Sox were done in by a vengeful God or Grady Little. I leave them out of this picture.

The 2000 White Sox had the best record in the American League. And they got swept by the wildcard winner, the Seattle Mariners. The White Sox were held to 7 runs over 3 games in that series. Outside of getting to Freddy Garcia in the opener (and eventually losing that game because of Keith Foulke), they were shut down. By Paul Abbott of all people, who won 43 games his entire career, and Aaron Sele — who was actually a decent pitcher at this stage of his career, but always very hittable. Sele was an All Star in 2000, but he had a 4.51 ERA and allowed more than a hit an inning — he was definitely a beneficiary of good run support. [Did you know that Aaron Sele won 69 games between 1998 and 2001 with the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners? His ERA during those four seasons was 4.27]

The 2000 A’s had a hard fought 5 game series against the Yankees, who eventually won the World Series . It could’ve gone either way, but one interesting statistical observation emerges: the A’s hit 239 home runs during the 2000 season. Well more than 1 a game. And against the Yankees in that series? They hit 2 total. No homers from Giambi (43 on the season), Tejada (30), Grieve (27), Chavez (26), or Stairs (21). Throw the other run producer for that team into the picture, Terrence Long, and they went a combined 24 for 100 against the Yankees (.240).

Outside of an 11 run outburst against the Yankees in game 4 (when they pummeled Clemens), the A’s offense never scored more than 5 runs in any game.

So can a great offense collapse in a 5 game series? Of course.

]]> By: Thermocaster http://www.thermocaster.com/2007/09/12/rbi-baseball/#comment-6 Thermocaster Thu, 13 Sep 2007 01:31:00 +0000 http://www.thermocaster.com/2007/09/12/rbi-baseball/#comment-6 The big question for the Yankees is still whether they'll be able to sustain this offensive juggernaut in the playoffs. Am I mistaken, or would the Pinstripes be matched up against the Angels if the playoffs started today?<br/><br/>One other thing to note...of those other teams that you listed with multiple 90+ RBI men, I don't believe any of them made the World Series (or did I miss someone?) The big question for the Yankees is still whether they’ll be able to sustain this offensive juggernaut in the playoffs. Am I mistaken, or would the Pinstripes be matched up against the Angels if the playoffs started today?

One other thing to note…of those other teams that you listed with multiple 90+ RBI men, I don’t believe any of them made the World Series (or did I miss someone?)

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