Comments on: Perfection

By: Alireza

Alireza — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:01:01 +0000

When people talk about “stuff” they forget that good or great “stuff” doesn’t always mean high velocity and/or strike outs. Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine both had great “stuff” but didn’t throw hard. Movement is a huge part of the “stuff” factor.

By: colbyjack

colbyjack — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:50:28 +0000

Where can I find a plot of all the pitches he threw that were called balls/strikes? I’m just curious to see how much help he did or didn’t get from the homeplate umpire.

By: HRKing626

HRKing626 — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:45:54 +0000

Well, not overrated, but the credit for it is WRONGFULLY given directly and (most times) completely to the pitcher, which is bullshizm, in my humble.

For a perfect game to happen, EVERYBODY HAS TO BE PERFECT, not just the pitcher. Keeping all 27 batters from reaching base is hardly all on the pitcher, and it shouldn’t take great plays like Wise’s for the other guys to get due credit. Buehrle only struck out 6, so his teammates had to assist on 21 of those 27 outs, NOT TO MENTION, the catcher Castro had never even caught Buehrle before.

Of course it’s a great accomplishment for a pitcher, but he’s got one guy in front of him and 7 guys behind him that do plenty to achieve The Perfect Game. While I agree the pitcher undoubtedly has the largest part in it, he’s not the only one making plays and he’s not the only one dealing with the pressure, especially when the ball is put in play. Nobody wants to be the goat that screws up a no-no or perfect game, and it takes focus from everyone on the field to get it done.

It’s a huge team accomplishment that is portrayed as an individual accomplishment. The catcher has to catch every ball not tip-fouled, popped up into his range, or put into play, and the 7 guys behind the pitcher have to make every throw and grab count (21 times, give or take, in the case of the Sox).

A whole helluva lot has to happen to complete a perfect game and although it begins with the cat on the bump, I think it ends with the 8 guys around him.

I don’t agree with the fact that it’s interpreted as a one-man accomplishment. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As an individual accomplishment? Overrated
As a team accomplishment? Severely underrated

By: Stealfirstbase

Stealfirstbase — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:32:43 +0000

Actually, FIP isn’t a projection system. It’s just a way of estimating a pitcher’s ERA based on their peripheral stats. It has a utility, a limited utility, and the fact that it consistently missed Buehrle suggests that there are some flaws in the underlying assumption of FIP. Namely, batted balls are out of a pitchers control.

No, what Buehrle’s performance really obliterates, year after year after year without fail, are projection systems like PECOTA. And the writers at BP admit that they fail on Buehrle annually. PECOTA hates him, thinks he’s a collapse risk every year, and every single year (with the exception on 2006) he beats their projected ERA by .5 to 1 run.

So Buehrle really does destroy projection systems. And he’s all the more fun to watch for it.

By: joser

joser — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:23:46 +0000

I’m pretty sure they were all kidding, since Dave pointed out in the piece why it was so low.

And so many people in the media still hate us without needing more reasons. But they’re old, and progress marches on.

By: joser

joser — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:18:04 +0000

but the gushing that Olney and Vina were doing on Sportscenter about his stuff was embarrassing.

Well, there’s your problem. Stop listening to those guys. I discovered from watching in bars that SportsCenter is much better with the sound off.

By: joser

joser — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:13:16 +0000

Who was calling him “the best in baseball”? But then, putting words in other people’s mouths and then refuting them is how to look smart on the internet. Oh, wait, no it isn’t.

Oh, and you should learn to use a better stat than ERA when making your argument — especially on this site. (We’ll leave your somewhat disturbing passion towards Roger Clemens for another post)

By: Just a poster

Just a poster — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:34:07 +0000

Congratualtions Mark Buehrle. Whatever you did the rest of your career beeing seperate, a perfect game is quite a feat.

By: Rob in CT

Rob in CT — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:53:30 +0000

Minor quibble. It hurts to access the ‘ole memory banks on this one, but as I recall Everett’s bloop landed in shallow LCF, and frankly nobody was anywhere near it. Clean single. No amount of Jeter (not Knobby) playing back would’ve changed it. I fantastic defensive left fielder probably doesn’t catch it.

Such was Mike Mussina’s luck. He was utterly dominant that day.

By: jkupka

jkupka — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:22:15 +0000

Buerhle is the real deal. The only time i can recal him missing a start was two years ago when a comebacker bruised his bone something purple. He didn’t even miss the start, just had it postponed. The guy is good for 25+ quality starts a year and has a sub four era in an AL jokepark. I’m a die hard sox fan and have enjoyed watching him at home openers for the past decade. The best part is, given his rubber arm, he can probably pitch till 40. Big ups 56. Your era plus is better than Peavy, and so is your durability. recognize.