Wednesday game notes (such sweet sorrow edition)

@Athletics 12, Rangers 5: The turnabout’s complete. Call it comeback or collapse, the AL West is draped in gold and green. Trailing Texas by 9 at the Break, and by 4 with 6 to play after a split in Arlington, Oakland won out, while the mighty Rangers — two-time AL champs, preseason favorites, alone in 1st from April 9 through October 1 — lost 5 of 6, and went 15-16 from September 1.

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Let’s Talk About Curt Schilling

Curt Schilling

Curt Schilling rates as the 16th best pitcher of all time, according to wWAR. (Photo via Wikipedia)

Last month, I asked you to talk about David Cone, a pitcher who my latest version of wWAR (weighted WAR) deems as Hall-worthy. What makes Cone unique is that he accumulated quite a bit of value in a limited amount of time. It’s not that he didn’t have a long career—it’s just that injuries limited the number of innings he threw.

For example, Cone ranks 50th all time in Wins Above Replacement but 40th all time in Wins Above Average. So, he didn’t last forever and pad his numbers, but he still provided value above average on par with many all-time greats.

Today I want to talk about somebody who is similar to Cone, but takes things to a whole new level.

Let’s talk about Curt Schilling.

Curt Schilling is a polarizing figure. There’s the bloody sock. There’s 38 Studios. There’s the outspokeness. There’s the postseason dominance.

DId I mention the bloody sock? Continue reading

Tuesday game notes (caught-on-the-fly edition)

I’m just gonna toss stuff up on the fly here, for whatever it’s worth.

Orioles 1, @Rays 0: The game’s lone run scored when Chris Davis extended his HR streak to 6 games, tying a franchise record set in July 1976 by Reggie JacksonMiguel Gonzalez kept Tampa off the board into the 7th, allowing 2 hits in his 3rd straight win and 4th straight Quality Start. But will it pull them even? Things are happening awfully fast up in the Bronx.

Saturday game notes (long division edition)

Tigers 6, @Twins 4 / Rays 10, @White Sox 4: Each Central challenger had their ace on the hill for the last time in the regular schedule. The veteran and reigning MVP left in the 8th with a 6-0 lead, allowing no ER for the 3rd time in his last 4 outings and collecting his 5th September win. The youngster had his worst and shortest start, departing in the 4th and charged with 5 ER. The Tigers came away with a 2-game lead.

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Ryan Vogelsong’s statistically odd 2011 and 2012

Ryan Vogelsong / USPRESSWIRE

Check out some of Ryan Vogelsong’s stats in 2011 and 2012:

Stat     2011     2012
G         30       30
IP       179.2    184.2
H        164      169
HR        15       17
BB        61       61
SO       139      151
WHIP       1.25     1.24

The numbers above are, for all intents and purposes, identical. But there’s one big difference: in 2011, he allowed 54 earned runs, whereas in 2012 he’s allowed 71. Those translate into seasonal ERAs of 2.71 (2011) and 3.46 (2012), and ERA+s of 129 in 2011 and 101 in 2012.

Why has a guy who has seemingly performed exactly the same on the mound allowed such different amounts of earned runs?

Let’s dig in to find out… Continue reading