At the beginning of the month, it looked as if baseball had a pennant race problem. With the exception of first place in the AL West, every other playoff position was secured by at least a five game lead. Included among those “safe” teams were the Red Sox and Braves, who each enjoyed a nine […]
Archive for the ‘Red Sox’ Category
Non-Contenders Continue to Vie for Draft-Related Consolations
Posted in Baseball, Draft, MLB, Red Sox on September 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Wild Cards Make Strange Bedfellows
Posted in Baseball, MLB, Red Sox, Yankees, tagged Tampa Rays on September 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
When it comes to strange bedfellows, politics has nothing on the 2011 American League playoff race. With only 10 games left, the Yankees sit comfortably atop the A.L. East. Barring a historic collapse, the team is all but assured of making the post season and nearly as likely to be entering October as a division […]
Should Team Record in a Pitcher’s Starts Be MVP Criterion?
Posted in Baseball, MLB, Red Sox, Yankees, tagged Detroit Tigers, Justin Verlander on September 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Justin Verlander continued his late season run of dominance by recording his 12th consecutive victory in Sunday’s 3-0 triumph over the Athletics. During that span, the Tigers’ right hander has compiled half of his league leading 24 victories, the highest total by an American League pitcher since Bob Welch won 27 games in 1990. Even […]
Does Success in September Carry Into October?
Posted in Baseball, MLB, Red Sox, Yankees on September 13, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The Red Sox’ bandwagon has slowly begun to empty as the team struggles through a nightmarish stretch during which it has lost six games to Tampa in the standings. Fortunately, those abandoning the Boston ship have found passage on the Tigers’ pennant drive. Over the last three weeks, Detroit has won 16 of 20 games […]
Aces Up: Yanks’ Offense Lagging Against Elite Starters
Posted in Baseball, MLB, Red Sox, Yankees, tagged Detroit Tigers, Felix Hernandez on September 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The Yankees won’t be catching any breaks on their final West Coast trip. One day after being stifled by Jered Weaver, the Yankees will have to contend with the Angels’ co-ace Dan Haren. Then, on Monday, Felix Hernandez will be waiting for them in Seattle. What’s more, the Yankees shouldn’t expect much of a reprieve […]
WAR Is Not the New RBI (but It Has Its Own Flaws)
Posted in Baseball, MLB, Red Sox, sabermetrics, Yankees on September 6, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Is WAR the new RBI? That was the question asked in a thought provoking post at IIATMS, which is sure to draw a new battle line in the statistical debate over the value of composite metrics. At the heart of author’s argument is the suggestion that WAR, like RBIs, is context-based because so many elements […]
If John Lackey Is Having a Terrible Season and You Know It, Clap Your Hands
Posted in Baseball, MLB, Red Sox, Yankees, tagged AJ Burnett, John Lackey on September 5, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Maybe the grass isn’t always greener on the other side? While Yankees’ fans have been lamenting the historically poor performance of A.J. Burnett, Red Sox Nation has been home to an even bigger bust, both in terms of performance on the field and zeros on the pay check. Following his latest meltdown against the Texas […]