Some Encouraging Words

Sent along by Jay from his girlfriend, Elissa (who happens to be a Mets fan):

Look at the picture on the right. This is the starting pitcher you're going up against...unless you are an 80 year old overweight man, Pedro can't hurt you.  That should make you feel a little better ;-)

Thanks Elissa! If that's not encouragement enough, how about a little "Who's Your Daddy?" for Pedro:

Charlie Manuel Hoping the Yankees Are Not, In Fact, Pedro's Daddy

Charlie Manuel seems like a nice guy. He's probably someones grandfather, or at least he looks like it. He's at least someone's uncle. But I'm pretty sure that no one gave Uncle Charlie the memo that the Yankees are Pedro's daddy.

Listen, Pedro has been great so far this playoffs for the Phillies. Like vintage Pedro great. But the teams he were facing were the same ones who couldn't hit John Smoltz or Brad Penny after the Yankees roughed them up in the American League. This is the Big Boys League. Pedro hasn't played in the Big Boys League in a long time.

Well how about success in the playoffs against the Yankees? That must be it, right? Wrong. According to MLB.com, Pedro is 1-2 with a 4.72 ERA in six postseason appearances against the Yankees, and is 0-2 with a 5.93 ERA in his past five. And one of those appearances, pictured on the right, was the Grady Little debacle in the 2003 ALCS. Do we think Pedro, 6 years later is better equipped to deal with a better Yankees lineup? 

Ok, ok...so maybe Pedro doesn't pitch so well in the hitters friendly Citizens Bank Park? Wrong again! Martinez went 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in five regular season starts at Citizens Bank Park, compared with 3-1 with a 5.66 ERA in four starts on the road. I know it's a small sample size, but that doesn't bode well in the ballpark that was dubbed "Coors Field East".

Does Manuel think a righty in a cold Yankee Stadium (Pedro's last start which is supposedly the basis of this was in 80 degree weather) is better equipped to deal with the short porch in right than a lefty who pitched in cold weather guiding his team to the World Series last year? Does Manuel have that little faith in Cole Hamels that if he goes to Cliff Lee on short rest he only wants him to start once in the World Series? Does Charlie Manuel secretly hold a grudge against Pedro for single-handedly beating the Indians--a team he was the hitting coach for--in the 1999 ALDS and want to embarrass him on baseball's biggest stage like he embarrassed Manuel a decade before? Is this a publicity stunt on the level of Balloon Boy?

Who knows Manuel's reasoning (I tried to listen but I really can't understand when he talks), but one thing is for certain: the New Yankee Stadium--like the Old Yankees Stadium--will be reigning down "Who's Your Daddy?" chants on Pedro Martinez on Thursday night.


And hey again, idiot Mets fans (yes, you), I know it'll be like your wife cheating on you, but you're welcome to watch along and see the Phillies and Pedro both lose at once. How sweet would that be for you?

MLB's Best of the Decade: Pitchers

A little while back, we looked at the best hitters of the decade. Now, let's look at the top pitchers in every category, courtesy of Baseball-Reference's Play Index (all averages min 700 innings) :

• Decisions - Livan Hernandez (252), Javier Vazquez (243), Barry Zito (239), Andy Pettitte (236), Greg Maddux (235)

• W - Pettitte (148), Randy Johnson (143), Jamie Moyer (140), Roy Hallady (138), Tim Hudson/Roy Oswalt (137)

• L - Livan (124), Vazquez (115), Jeff Suppan (109), Jeff Weaver (106), Zito (106)

• SV - Mariano Rivera (397), Trevor Hoffman (362), Jason Isringhausen (284), Billy Wagner (284), Francisco Cordero (250)

• W-L% - Pedro Martinez (.691), Roger Clemens (.682), Johan Santana (.670), Halladay (.667), Oswalt (.662)

• Games - David Weathers (712), LaTroy Hawkins (652), Rivera (649), Alan Embree (642), Kyle Farnsworth (626)

• Starts - Livan (331), Vazquez (326), Suppan (319), Zito (319), Moyer (315)

• CG - Halladay (46), Livan (36), Big Unit (32), CC Sabathia (28), Curt Schilling (26)

• SHO - Halladay (13), Big Unit (12), Hudson (11), Sabathia (11), Chris Carpenter/Mark Mulder (10)

• Games Finished - Rivera (587), Wagner (465), Hoffman (464), Izzy (447), Cordero (425)

• IP - Livan (2195), Vazquez (2157), Buehrle (2055), Zito (1993.2), Moyer (1980.1)

• ERA - Rivera (2.09), Pedro (3.00), Johan (3.12), Oswalt (3.23), John Smoltz (3.24)

• ERA+ - Rivera (214), Pedro (152), Johan (143), Brandon Webb (142), Big Unit (137)

• SO - Big Unit (2180), Vazquez (1992), Johan (1733), Pedro (1618), Sabathia (1587)

• BB/9 - Brad Radke (1.36), David Wells (1.40), Maddux (1.43), Schilling (1.47), Jon Lieber (1.50), Josh Towers (1.51)

• HR/9 - Rivera (0.48), Webb (0.63), Julian Tavarez (0.66), Halladay (0.73), Hudson (0.73), Derek Lowe/Carlos Zambrano (0.73)

• SO/9 - Big Unit (10.42), Kerry Wood (10.05), Pedro (9.95), Rich Harden (9.35), Scott Kazmir (9.33)

• H/9 - Rivera (6.92), Wood (7.14), Pedro (7.16), Harden (7.20), Chris Young (7.43)

• WHIP - Rivera (0.962), Pedro (1.034), Johan (1.113), Big Unit (1.114), Schilling (1.129)

• K/BB - Schilling (6.01), Rivera (4.88), Pedro (4.64), Big Unit (4.50), Smoltz (4.26), Mike Mussina (4.09)

• SB% - Krik Reuter (0.27), Carpenter (0.37), Mike Maroth (0.38), Bartolo Colon (0.39), Buehrle (0.41)

• Pickoffs - Buehrle (66), Pettitte (45), Doug Davis (43), Mark Mulder (36), Brian Anderson (34)

• GIDP - Buehrle (240), Livan (218), Jon Garland (215), Lowe (214), Suppan (208)

• BAA - Rivera (.210), Pedro (.216), Wood (.219), Harden (.220), Chris Young (.222), Johan (.225)

• OBP against - Rivera (.256), Pedro (.273), Johan (.281), Schilling (.284), Big Unit (.288)

• SLG against - Rivera (.285), Harden (.342), Pedro (.344), Zambrano (.351), Webb (.352)

• OPS against - Rivera (.541), Pedro (.617), Harden (.647), Santana (.649), Clemens (.659)

• OPS+ against - Rivera (56), Pedro (65), Webb (73), Clemens (73), Schilling (76)

• Avg. Game Score - Pedro (61), Santana (60), Big Unit (59), Schilling (58), Clemens (57)

• Quality Starts - Vazquez (192), Zito (192), Buehrle (189), Big Unit (187), Oswalt (185)

• Quality Start % - Oswalt (.683), Webb (.672), Johan (.667), Big Unit (.665), Pedro (.659)

• Pitches/start - Zambrano (106.0), Livan (105.7), Justin Verlander (105.7), Al Leiter (105.6), Jason Schmidt (105.1)

• Strike % - Schilling (.694), Wells (.686), Rivera (.685), Paul Byrd (.684), Brad Radke (.684)

• Franchises Played For - Rick White (11), Bruce Chen (10), Dennys Reyes (9), Julian Tavarez (9), Ron Villone (9)

• 20-win seasons - Schilling (3), Oswalt (2), Halladay (2), Colon (2), Moyer (2), Big Unit (2)

• 200-K seasons - Johan (5), Vazquez (5), Pedro (5), Big Unit (5), Jake Peavy/Halladay/Wood/Schilling (3)

• Sub-3.00 ERA (qualified for ERA title) - Johan (4), Peavy (4), Pedro (4), Big Unit (4), Halladay (3)

• Cy Young Awards - Big Unit (3), Clemens (2), Johan (2), many tied at 1
  

So who is the best pitcher of the decade? I lowered the innings limit to 700 to get a lot more people involved, but also to show how great Mariano Rivera is compared to his peers. His averages should be higher only pitching one inning, but he was great this past decade. He's my vote but there are some other great candidates.

What about The Big Unit? He won the most Cy Young's this decade and had the second most wins and most Ks this decade. He also had a second place finish in 2004.

Or is it Roger Clemens who ended the decade on a bad note but pitched unbelievably earlier on and pitched in 4 World Series this decade?

Or is it Johan Santana or Pedro Martinez who you saw near the top of almost all the major categories? Pedro finished second in the Cy voting in 2002, third in 2003 and 4th in 2004 and came 5th in the AL MVP voting in 2000. Johan finished 3rd in 2005 and 2008 and had a 5th and 7th places finish.

Or maybe Javier Vazquez (consistency with double digit wins every season) or Andy Pettitte (overall wins) or Curt Schilling (early decade dominance with Red Sox and D-backs) or Roy Halladay (late decade dominance with a Cy and a 3rd, 5th and 2nd place finish) or the forgotten about Roy Oswalt (5 top-5 Cy finishes) or Mark Buerhle (quietly put up a very nice decade)?

I'll put up the choices and you can vote in the poll to the right. When you vote, let us know who you voted for and why in the comments. I'll reveal the answers once the poll is closed

Just Like It Always Is

The Yankees failing against a no-name and succeeding against a potential Hall of Famer is nothing new. They made Pedro their daddy, they beat up Trevor Hoffman in 1998, and they never let the Oakland A's trio pitch past them in the ALDS. But they've been horrible against rookies or other pitchers they haven't really seen. My theory is that they're intelligent bunch of ballplayers who spend a lot of time reading scouting reports and guessing and when they don't guess correctly, they have a rough day.

So when I heard the prognosticators say it was really important to win on Saturday because Santana was pitching on Sunday, I knew that was ridiculous. And so it occured. They couldn't touch Fernando Nieve and they couldn't seem to miss against Johan Santana.

The key play to this game was the two out hit that Francisco Cervelli had against Johan Santana to get the Yankees going. And once he got that hit, the Yankees never looked back. Cervelli has been a pleasant surprise for this team and once again showed that he can be a good catcher as well, guiding AJ Burnett to his best game in a LONG time.

Hopefully this game will help this team break out and start winning some games. You never say they need to sweep, but with the MLB-worst Washington Nationals in town, they need to continue what they started today.

And those who were worried the Yankees can't win in this ballpark should realize that they've now won 14 of 19 and look pretty comfortable there. It wasn't the prettiest way to do it, but this was another series win for the Yanks.