"The Vulture"
Al Newman commented that Juan Rincon had been given the nickname "The Vulture." Last night, he proved it an appropriate nickname again. It also proves in my mind that there is a very overrated statistic that too many people use in evaluating how a pitcher does. Let me explain, and bear with me.
Last night, Kyle Lohse started for the Twins and gave them 6 quality innings. Despite giving up 7 hits and 2 walks, Lohse held the Blue Jays to just one run. Aaron Fultz pitched a scoreless 7th inning. Before last night, JC Romero had not given up a run on the season. Last night, he got two outs in the 8th, but gave up four hits. Juan Rincon came in and gave up a bloop single to score the Jays fourth run of the inning (all charged to Romero), which tied the game at 5. Rincon then got the next batter out to end the top of the 8th.
The Twins offense proceeded to score four runs of their own in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a 9-5 lead into the 9th. Joe Nathan closed the game out, and the Twins won.
So, which pitcher gets the "Win" for the game? Juan Rincon.
Why?
He got the last out of the inning when the game was still tied. The
next half inning, the Twins went ahead. Kyle Lohse pitches 6
quality innings and gets, a no decision. Hence the Rincon nickname
"The Vulture" stealing the "Win" statistic. Sometimes the
statistics of baseball are not fair, or maybe even don't mean a lot.
Juan Rincon is now 4-0 and his wins have all come in similar
fashion. Just look at that smirk on his picture on espn.com! It's
like, "Yeah, I'll take that win!! Ha! Ha!"
If you receive Lee Sinnis' ATM Reports, each week you receive a group of 8 or so e-mails showing different statistics. If you look at the pitching leaders e-mails, the first stat shown is "Wins." Yes, the parentheses are included. At one time, Lee added (paraphrasing because I don't have an example anymore) "the pitcher who was in the game when the offense gave the team the lead."
Honestly, I have no problem with Rincon getting this win. However, think about it this way. What if the Twins had left Romero in to complete the 8th inning. Say he gave up the bloop single that tied the game and then got the third out. He gives up four runs, costs the team a big lead, but gets that inning's third out. The Twins score their runs in the bottom of the inning. JC Romero picks up the Win. It isn't fair. (Similarly, is it fair that a pitcher gets the "Loss" in a 1-0 decision because of an unearned run and his teams inability to score a run?)
I guess I look at it this way. On an individual game, I will take the guy who gets the "Win" in a 6-4 victory. However, I will probably appreciate the pitching performance of that pitcher who took the 1-0 "Loss" even more. At the end of the year, when I have to decide who I want to sign, or re-sign, I, as a general manager, would look at a lot more than the number of "Wins" a player has.
And that is a reason why all statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt. I'm not saying that the "Win" statistic is meaningless. Not at all. Big picture, the win is the reason for playing the game, right? Obviously Juan Rincon is a good pitcher, and that is why he was brought into that situation. I think that the "Win" stat is more important for a starting pitcher. Before last night's loss, Kenny Rogers was 3-0 with an ERA around 4.00. Would you say that he is a better pitcher than someone who is 1-2 with a 1.04 ERA? Not necessarily. However, it is unfair to say that Rogers doesn't deserve the wins. He is a cagy veteran who understands his role is to keep his team in the lead and give them a chance to win.
Kyle Lohse's performance is another example of why other stats are not the only thing to look at. Again, he gave up 7 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings. For the game, his WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning) is 1.50. That is not a great WHIP at all. What it shows me though is that, despite giving up baserunners, he pitched well enough to work out of some tough situations. In those 6 innings, he only struck out one hitter. That is a K rate of just 1.5 per 9 innings. Normally, a good strikeout rate is one over 6 per 9 innings. But despite not getting strikeouts, Lohse got enough outs. For the game, Lohse's ERA would have been just 1.50, which is very good.
So, through all these ramblings, what am I trying to say? I don't know. I'm just rambling. But if I did have a point, it would be this: All stats need to be evaluated in conjunction with other information. A scout, or GM, or manager, or even a baseball fan can not just look at "Wins", or "WHIP", or "ERA", or K/9 IP, or BB/K, or any single stat by itself. All told, it is all of these numbers or statistics that make up what the player is.
Likewise, not all .320 hitters are alike. Not all 40 HR hitters are the same. You can't compare power hitters (or pitchers) to speed hitters (or finesse pitchers). That is the beauty of the game of baseball. That's what makes it so fun to watch. A hitter batting .062 can get a big hit off of Eric Gagne to win a game. It makes every pitch interesting.
What do you think about all this? Any comments, please e-mail me.
By the way...
Jacque Jones and Cristian Guzman each had two hits on the game. Shannon Stewart was 2-4 with a walk and 2 RBI. Corey Koskie hit his 4th home run of the season. Mike Ryan, pinch hitting for Nick Punto in the 9th inning singled in the winning run.
The White Sox and Tigers each won their games yesterday. The Twins, at 14-7, have a 1.5 game lead on the White Sox and a 2 game lead over the Tigers. Of course, with 141 games left to go, those numbers don't mean a whole lot yet!
The Twins have an off day today before starting a three-game series against the Anaheim Angels in the Dome on Friday night. I will be in attendance at the Friday night game. I am looking forward to being at a game!!
So there you have it, more of my thoughts on statistics and the Twins. Do you have any questions or comments on any of them? Please feel free to e-mail me.
ROCHESTER REPORT - Last night, the Redwings lost to Buffalo 6-5. On a positive note, Justin Morneau was back in uniform and went 3-5 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI. Every other Redwings starter had exactly one hit. Jason Bartlett and Brian Simmons each had a double. Peter Munro started for Rochester and struggled. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up 8 hits and 2 walks. He gave up 5 runs, although just 3 were earned. Today, the Redwings finish their series with Buffalo before starting a weekend series at Syracuse.
NEW BRITAIN REPORT - The Rockcats defeated Erie, 7-5 last night. 1B Garrett Jones went 3-3 with 2 RBI. LF BJ Garbe went 2-4 with a double, three runs and an RBI. 2B Luis Maza was 2-4 with a double and a homer. C Gabby Torres went 2-4. Jim Abbott started for New Britain and went 6 innings. He gave up five hits, 2 walks and 4 runs. He struck out two. The Rockcats now begin a four-game home series against Reading.
FT. MYERS REPORT - The Miracle got shut out again! Last night, they lost to Brevard County 2-0. 1B Danny Matienzo had two of the teams four base hits. Jeff Randazzo fell to 0-4, although he did not pitch poorly. In 6 1/3 innings, he gave up six hits and two walks for 1 run. He struck out 4. Ft. Myers plays today against Brevard County again before starting a weekend set at Sarasota.
QUAD CITIES REPORT - The Swing had a day off. They start a four-game weekend series against Burlington.
Any questions or comments, e-mail me.
Well, I was right. John Stevens was eliminated from the American Idol competition last night. It was really about time. Granted, he's young and he can sing, albeit just one way, but he really just is nowhere near the class of the others advancing to perform next week.
He was joined in the Bottom 3 by Jasmine Trias and George Huff. Jasmine was sent back to safety, and George was sweating, but if anyone other than John Stevens was eliminated, it would have been wrong.
What do you think about the show? Was the right person eliminated? E-mail me.
This past week, The Bachelor, Jesse Palmer, went from backing up Kerry Collins to likely backing up Eli Manning. Apparently the Giants coaching staff is no happy that he decided to do this show. Apparently they think that he should spent every waking hour of his offseason in the playbook. Uggh!
Tara
may have been rude at the end, but she is still my favorite. I heart
her! I heart her a lot! Well, her and Mandy Jaye. If he picks
either, he is smart... and LUCKY! It was cool when Jenny came back
and how Trish tried to make everything better. Jesse got rid of two
more ladies last night and is now down to just four remaining. Looks
like next week, he'll be visiting all four's families. That is
always one of the more interesting episodes for me. It's getting
down to the wire. It'll only get better.
Tonight, my parents will be put into the Perham (MN) Hall of Fame. They'd probably be too embarrassed if I wrote too much about it here, so I won't. But, I think that whoever selected them made a great choice. The honor is very deserved as both have done a lot for their community over the last 25 or more years as educators and leaders. And hey, they're my parents, I can write about them, right?
That is is for today. Lots of stuff, but I hope you find it all interesting. If you have any ideas for topics, or have any questions or comments, please e-mail me.
That is is for today. Lots of stuff, but I hope you find it all interesting. If you have any ideas for topics, or have any questions or comments, please e-mail me.