His stats were pretty solid, but Petit's value this year cannot be quantified by stats alone. He's been a true swingman. He was the stop gap after Cain went down and before Peavy arrived. He then moved into Lincecum's spot and had many good, some near dominant starts down the stretch. He's also been very good out of the pen, as evidenced by last night and by setting what IMO is one of the most impressive pitching records (retired 47 batters in a row) earlier in the season.
The level of insurance and flexibility Petit gives Boch is invaluable. In the right circumstances (starter goes down to injury/innefectiveness, or gets knocked out early in a key game), I think a swing man can be one of the most valuable pitchers on a staff.. defintiely more so than a specialist or closer.
Re- lucky shirts, I'm with you Ooo-ribay! When younger, I hit my growth spurt at 13 (hit 6' 1" and never grew since), which allowed me to use the same lucky shirt in every baseball and football game I played through age 18. Still have it, holes and all. Travelling again this week and bringing "Torture" with me every step of the way... then hopefully having some home WS games I can wear it to when we get back.
