Mr October....Cliff Lee 7-2 post season, 2.13 ERA....80 K's

[tedzan]

If guys like Allie Reynolds, Bob Turley, Sandy Koufax, and Bob Gibson pitched on 3-days rest during World Series play and were successful......
then why can't any of the current crop of pitchers do it ?



TED Z

[Peter_Spaeth]

3 days rest used to be the norm.

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by tedzan

If guys like Allie Reynolds, Bob Turley, Sandy Koufax, and Bob Gibson pitched on 3-days rest during World Series play and were successful......
then why can't any of the current crop of pitchers do it ?

TED Z

If a Toyota Prius can go more than 40 miles on a gallon of gas, why can't a Corvette, Hummer or Jet Ski?

If I can get grape juice from a grape, why can't I from an apple, orange or Jet Ski?

Seriously, no one is saying that none of the current crop of pitchers aren't suited to pitch on short rest, only that maybe Cliff Lee isn't. And my guess is his managers would be in a better position to know his limitations than would a baseball fan watching on TV somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Again, players/pitchers are individuals. The fact that Bob Turley could successfully pitch on three day's rest has absolutely no bearing on whether Cliff Lee can -- or should. That's like saying Denny McLain could drink six cases of pop in a single day, so why can't Justin Verlander?

[oldjudge]

I think that Lee's poor World Series performance will lower his price on the free agent market and provide the Yankees with a better opportunity to sign him (should they want to). I bet the Rangers are sorry now that they gave up all those young players to rent Lee for half a season. With Texas he was 4-6 in the regular season and 3-2 in the post season (0-2 in the World Series).

[Robextend]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

I bet the Rangers are sorry now that they gave up all those young players to rent Lee for half a season. With Texas he was 4-6 in the regular season and 3-2 in the post season (0-2 in the World Series).

I doubt the Rangers are or will be sorry because I think getting to the World Series is a pretty good accomplishment and Cliff Lee certainly helped to get them there. I also think in many of these kind of trades prospects become suspects. Smoak looks like he will be a nice player, but the jury is still out, and the Rangers seem to have a pretty good young first basemen themselves.

[barrysloate]

Game 4 featured an all rookie battery of Bumgarner and Posey- almost unheard of in a World Series- and all they do is shut out the Rangers. Now that's a story.

[Rickyy]

Originally Posted by Robextend

I doubt the Rangers are or will be sorry because I think getting to the World Series is a pretty good accomplishment and Cliff Lee certainly helped to get them there. I also think in many of these kind of trades prospects become suspects. Smoak looks like he will be a nice player, but the jury is still out, and the Rangers seem to have a pretty good young first basemen themselves.

I agree..I would have made that trade in a heartbeat too!

[tedzan]

Hey Rob

Your "convoluted comparisons" are hilarious....thanks for the chuckle.

And to this comment of yours......
"And my guess is his managers would be in a better position to know his limitations than would a baseball fan watching on TV
somewhere in Pennsylvania."

I have followed BB since 1947 and have a pretty darn good sense of what is possible. I translated this into 17 playing / managing
years at my workplace's Softball fast pitch league (we have many 1st place trophy's to show how successful my managing was).

Of course my managing experience doesn't in any way compare with professional BB like your playing days; however, you do not
know me....so, quit making your uninformed judgements.



TED Z

[Anthony S.]

God, I love the internet.

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by tedzan

I have followed BB since 1947 and have a pretty darn good sense of what is possible. I translated this into 17 playing / managing
years at my workplace's Softball fast pitch league (we have many 1st place trophy's to show how successful my managing was).

TED Z

Wow.

Just wow.

Edited to add: You got me, Ted. For a minute there, I actually thought you were serious. Good one.

[dstudeba]

Incredible, you can't make this stuff up.

[barrysloate]

Allow me to change the subject. Instead of harping on Lee (no, not Harper Lee), let me praise Tim Lincecum. A two time Cy Young winner by 25, two victories in the Giants first S.F. World Series, a countercultural figure...he's become a bit of a folk hero and I'm certain they idolize him in the Bay.

And how about Buster Posey? In mid-May he's playing minor league ball and waiting for his call up. On November 1, he's a nationally known athlete and a world champion.

There are many great stories here.

[oldjudge]

Ted-Was that A or B league?

[nolemmings]

Ted, I can't agree that Washington should have gone with Lee in Game 4, or that it would have made a difference. His mates got shut out on three hits in that game, offering even less support than they did last night. If the Texas bats can't get pumped to hit a rookie in a game they had to win, you can't blame that on the manager.

As for the three-day rest issue, I think your point is valid. You needn't go as far back as you did to show that the elite can go on short rest. Three of the most special World Series to me featured starters that went on three days rest--twice: 1987 (Viola), 1991 (Morris) and 2001 (Schilling). All were World Series MVPs. I may becoming an old fart, but that isn't exactly ancient history.

In some respects I think Lee could and perhaps should have asked for the ball in Game 4--maybe his sacrifice in trying something he had not done before would have sparked his team. Still, he was coming off of a pounding, and I've heard nothing to suggest that short rest could in any way benefit him (unlike those rare sinkerballers who seem to pitch better when they're tired). Besides and again, his fellow Rangers should not have needed heroic inspiration when facing a rookie pitcher down 2-1, and it was the bats that cost them this series (and maybe the bullpen, at least a little), not the manager.