Comments on: Joe Torre: Secret Agent of the Boston Red Sox http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/ Media, Baseball, Boston, the Red Sox, Music, Literature, and Mnookins Fri, 16 May 2008 19:12:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 by: The Feeding the Monster Blog — In which the author discusses Boston, the Red Sox, the media, and very occasionally popular music. » Dear Mariano - I’m doing everything I can to work you into the ground. Love, Joe. http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-148283 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:36:11 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-148283 [...] Now, I know I’ve been harping on Joe Torre’s bullpen use all season. But I’ve had good reason. (All of this raises a question: why aren’t we reading any of this info in our daily sports sections? Just wondering.) [...] […] Now, I know I’ve been harping on Joe Torre’s bullpen use all season. But I’ve had good reason. (All of this raises a question: why aren’t we reading any of this info in our daily sports sections? Just wondering.) […]

]]> by: The Feeding the Monster Blog — In which the author discusses Boston, the Red Sox, the media, and very occasionally popular music. » With 64 games remaining…it’s coming down to the wire http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-110309 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:25:59 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-110309 [...] Red Sox, Yankees, Sports reporters, 2007 season by Seth Mnookin @ 11:33 am Digg Del.icio.us Subscribe to RSS Feed So: there are 64 games left in the season, the Sox are within a whisker of having the best recordin baseball (.602 winning percentage vs the Tigers’ .604), they’re 7.5 games up on the Yankees, they’re fourth in the AL in runs scored, 3rd in OPS, and 2nd in OBP. Their pitching staff has the second best ERA, the second most K’s, and the second best batting average against. All of that’s good news, and (and yes, this has already become a very tired refrain) if anyone told any of you during spring training this is what the baseball universe would look like with a little more than a week left in July, you’d be ecstatic. If I was a betting man (note: I am a betting man), I’d put good money down on Boston to win the AL East. But since bloggers and sportswriters alike need something with which to occupy their time (and space, whether that be virtual or actual), let’s break down some numbers. Since the beginning of June, the Sox have been a .500 team (on the dot, actually, with a 23-23 record); during that same period, the Yankees have been a .640 team. That’s a good stretch of time; if those numbers were to hold for the remainder of the year, the Yankees, with 93 wins, would win the division by 2 games. But wait! If you go back and count off 64 games (the number of games actually remaining in the season) and replicated those patterns, you’d end up with the Sox winning the East by…7.5 games, since both teams have put up 36-28 record in that time. And certainly you’d be more likely to expect the Sox to play at something closer to a .600 clip than a .500 clip, right? Because, really, how many good baseball teams play .500 ball for months on end? How about the ‘04 Boston Red Sox? (You had to have seen that coming.) Before running away with the, er, Wild Card in August, the Sox had a three month stretch — May through July — in which they played .500 ball (.506, actually; they were 41-40). All of this still leaves me without any discernible point. Fear not; I actually have several. 1. It’s patently ridiculous for sportswriters to declare in May (or June, or July) that a race is “over” unless it’s actually, mathematically over. Nevertheless, that’s what lots of people were doing, from the folks over at “Baseball Tonight” to almost every newspaper in the greater New England area. (That tendency is excusable; it takes someone with a true dedication to stupidity to posit the opposite.) 2. The Yankees were never, ever as bad as they looked. They have a scary offense — as shown by the fact that they’re leading the AL in plenty of offensive categories. And their pitching staff is good enough to carry them along: Clemens-Mussina-Pettitte circa 2007 is a far cry from Clemens-Mussina-Pettitte circa 2003, but it’s not awful; throw in Wang and the potentially terrifying Phil Hughes and you’ve got yourself a rotation. 3. Inre #2: It is time once again to praise Joe Torre’s bullpen management. If — and this is an enormous if, obviously — the Bombers do make it to the playoffs, the combo of aging starting pitchers and a bullpen full of dead-arm relievers is going to be a big problem. All of this, I suspect, will make for a fun couple of months. If I was being forced to guess (note: I do not need to be forced to guess), I say Boston’s division lead will be as low as 4 games and that they’ll ultimately end up winning the East by somewhere between 6 and 8. Oh, and I’d also guess that New York won’t be in the playoffs, A-Rod won’t be in the Bronx come next spring, and Joe Torre will wish he’d retired a year earlier. [...] […] Red Sox, Yankees, Sports reporters, 2007 season by Seth Mnookin @ 11:33 am Digg Del.icio.us Subscribe to RSS Feed So: there are 64 games left in the season, the Sox are within a whisker of having the best recordin baseball (.602 winning percentage vs the Tigers’ .604), they’re 7.5 games up on the Yankees, they’re fourth in the AL in runs scored, 3rd in OPS, and 2nd in OBP. Their pitching staff has the second best ERA, the second most K’s, and the second best batting average against. All of that’s good news, and (and yes, this has already become a very tired refrain) if anyone told any of you during spring training this is what the baseball universe would look like with a little more than a week left in July, you’d be ecstatic. If I was a betting man (note: I am a betting man), I’d put good money down on Boston to win the AL East. But since bloggers and sportswriters alike need something with which to occupy their time (and space, whether that be virtual or actual), let’s break down some numbers. Since the beginning of June, the Sox have been a .500 team (on the dot, actually, with a 23-23 record); during that same period, the Yankees have been a .640 team. That’s a good stretch of time; if those numbers were to hold for the remainder of the year, the Yankees, with 93 wins, would win the division by 2 games. But wait! If you go back and count off 64 games (the number of games actually remaining in the season) and replicated those patterns, you’d end up with the Sox winning the East by…7.5 games, since both teams have put up 36-28 record in that time. And certainly you’d be more likely to expect the Sox to play at something closer to a .600 clip than a .500 clip, right? Because, really, how many good baseball teams play .500 ball for months on end? How about the ‘04 Boston Red Sox? (You had to have seen that coming.) Before running away with the, er, Wild Card in August, the Sox had a three month stretch — May through July — in which they played .500 ball (.506, actually; they were 41-40). All of this still leaves me without any discernible point. Fear not; I actually have several. 1. It’s patently ridiculous for sportswriters to declare in May (or June, or July) that a race is “over” unless it’s actually, mathematically over. Nevertheless, that’s what lots of people were doing, from the folks over at “Baseball Tonight” to almost every newspaper in the greater New England area. (That tendency is excusable; it takes someone with a true dedication to stupidity to posit the opposite.) 2. The Yankees were never, ever as bad as they looked. They have a scary offense — as shown by the fact that they’re leading the AL in plenty of offensive categories. And their pitching staff is good enough to carry them along: Clemens-Mussina-Pettitte circa 2007 is a far cry from Clemens-Mussina-Pettitte circa 2003, but it’s not awful; throw in Wang and the potentially terrifying Phil Hughes and you’ve got yourself a rotation. 3. Inre #2: It is time once again to praise Joe Torre’s bullpen management. If — and this is an enormous if, obviously — the Bombers do make it to the playoffs, the combo of aging starting pitchers and a bullpen full of dead-arm relievers is going to be a big problem. All of this, I suspect, will make for a fun couple of months. If I was being forced to guess (note: I do not need to be forced to guess), I say Boston’s division lead will be as low as 4 games and that they’ll ultimately end up winning the East by somewhere between 6 and 8. Oh, and I’d also guess that New York won’t be in the playoffs, A-Rod won’t be in the Bronx come next spring, and Joe Torre will wish he’d retired a year earlier. […]

]]> by: carbo75 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-86239 Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:41:11 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-86239 I'm sure everyone noticed that Mr. Chass, referencing his Yanks-could-catch-Boston column of a month or so ago, has conceded that, gee, apparently he was wrong about that Fourth of July thing -- and now devotes 918 words to his insightful theory that the Yankees wouldn't be so bad if they played better. ... Anyway, in his listing of Red Sox flaws, he includes Julian Tavarez's losing record. ... Evidently in his tireless research he failed to notice this: Tavarez, first while Beckett was disabled, and now while Schilling is on the shelf ... May 17 vs. Detroit: 7 IP, 1 ER May 22 @ New York: 5.2 IP, 2 ER May 27 @ Texas: 5.2 IP, 4 ER June 4 @ Oakland: 5.2 IP, 3 ER June 9 @ Arizona: 6 IP, 3 ER June 15 vs. San Francisco: 7 IP, 2 ER June 20 @ Atlanta: 7 IP, 0 ER June 25 @ Seattle: 4.1 IP, 6 ER July 1 vs. Texas: 5.2 IP, 2 ER Which translates to a 3.83 ERA over his last 9 starts, in which he has pitched into the 6th inning or beyond 8 times. Thanks again, Murray. I’m sure everyone noticed that Mr. Chass, referencing his Yanks-could-catch-Boston column of a month or so ago, has conceded that, gee, apparently he was wrong about that Fourth of July thing — and now devotes 918 words to his insightful theory that the Yankees wouldn’t be so bad if they played better. … Anyway, in his listing of Red Sox flaws, he includes Julian Tavarez’s losing record. … Evidently in his tireless research he failed to notice this:

Tavarez, first while Beckett was disabled, and now while Schilling is on the shelf …

May 17 vs. Detroit: 7 IP, 1 ER
May 22 @ New York: 5.2 IP, 2 ER
May 27 @ Texas: 5.2 IP, 4 ER
June 4 @ Oakland: 5.2 IP, 3 ER
June 9 @ Arizona: 6 IP, 3 ER
June 15 vs. San Francisco: 7 IP, 2 ER
June 20 @ Atlanta: 7 IP, 0 ER
June 25 @ Seattle: 4.1 IP, 6 ER
July 1 vs. Texas: 5.2 IP, 2 ER

Which translates to a 3.83 ERA over his last 9 starts, in which he has pitched into the 6th inning or beyond 8 times.

Thanks again, Murray.

]]> by: johnw http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-81691 Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:32:15 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-81691 Having previously defended Torre... and I still maintain that the biggest problem is roster construction, not bullpen usage... I do have to wonder why the hell he used Scott Proctor to close out Sunday's 11-5 loss to Oakland. Maybe he's got a case of Hargrove's Disease coming on. Having previously defended Torre… and I still maintain that the biggest problem is roster construction, not bullpen usage… I do have to wonder why the hell he used Scott Proctor to close out Sunday’s 11-5 loss to Oakland. Maybe he’s got a case of Hargrove’s Disease coming on.

]]> by: miles44 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-79519 Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:19:32 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-79519 Until May 30, Rivera had never pitched more than 1.0 inning. Since May 30, Rivera has pitched FOUR games of more than 1.0 inning. Until May 30, Rivera had never pitched more than 1.0 inning.

Since May 30, Rivera has pitched FOUR games of more than 1.0 inning.

]]> by: phenweigh http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-78081 Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:42:28 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-78081 If Torre is riding his pen too much by going to an early hook, then it should show up in starter/reliever ERA splits. The Yankee starters have a team ERA of 4.65 vs a league starter ERA of 4.58, somewhat below average. The relief corps has a team ERA of 3.97 vs a league reliever ERA of 4.21, somewhat better than average and clearly better than what the starters are posting. Every manager has to find the proper balance between win today and win tomorrow. When your team is expected to make the playoffs, and is floundering around .500, win today must become more important. So maybe Joe isn't so stupid. If Torre is riding his pen too much by going to an early hook, then it should show up in starter/reliever ERA splits. The Yankee starters have a team ERA of 4.65 vs a league starter ERA of 4.58, somewhat below average. The relief corps has a team ERA of 3.97 vs a league reliever ERA of 4.21, somewhat better than average and clearly better than what the starters are posting.

Every manager has to find the proper balance between win today and win tomorrow. When your team is expected to make the playoffs, and is floundering around .500, win today must become more important. So maybe Joe isn’t so stupid.

]]> by: Gee http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-77123 Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:04:43 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/06/25/joe-torre-secret-agent-of-the-boston-red-sox/#comment-77123 I tuned in the other night on the O's-Yanks game. The Orioles were up 4-0 in the eighth. I repeat, eighth. I repeat, Yanks down by four. Rivera was pitching. I can't see any sane purpose to using Rivera there. It convinced me Torre has finally, irretrievably, gone over the edge. I tuned in the other night on the O’s-Yanks game. The Orioles were up 4-0 in the eighth. I repeat, eighth. I repeat, Yanks down by four.

Rivera was pitching.

I can’t see any sane purpose to using Rivera there. It convinced me Torre has finally, irretrievably, gone over the edge.

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