Amen, Hoot.

Agrees.

1988 NLCS/WS stats:

6 G, 5 GS, 3-0, 3CG, 2 SHO, 1 SV, 42.2 IP, 1.06 ERA, 32K, 13BB, 1.01 WHIP, 0 HR

And the kicker: he went 3-3, 2 2B, RBI, R in the WS

But they're getting paid in gum.

Because when you get paid more, it makes your tendons stronger.

A pitcher can pitch on that little rest. But pitching is, really honestly, damaging to a pitcher's body. Sandy Koufax wasn't kidding.

Incoming Retro Telegraph being read aloud gag just in from the Department of Beating A Tired Joke To Death...

If you (stop) have a three day refractory period (stop) maybe you should consider catching (no really, stop)

I think he's off by more than an order of magnitude. Also several inches on the mound.

bighasbeen: Agrees.

1988 NLCS/WS stats:

Hershiser was insane back in his day. I started watching baseball back when Cleveland had it's mid-90's heyday, and he sticks out in my mind.

Three days? Criminy, someone take his porn away!

GAT_00: bighasbeen: Agrees.

1988 NLCS/WS stats:

Hershiser was insane back in his day. I started watching baseball back when Cleveland had it's mid-90's heyday, and he sticks out in my mind.

His game 2 in the '88 WS was everything I ever wanted to be as a baseball player when I was a kid. CG 3-hit shutout and 3-3 batting. Did it all that game.

Obdicut: Because when you get paid more, it makes your tendons stronger.

A pitcher can pitch on that little rest. But pitching is, really honestly, damaging to a pitcher's body. Sandy Koufax wasn't kidding.

The right combination of body type and mechanics can save your arm. I hate to say anything to contradict a HOF like Gibson, but a lot of the pitches that pitchers throw today (sinker, splitter, etc) are much harder on the arm than the traditional trifecta of fastball/curve/change. Even the slider can be hell on your arm if you aren't throwing it properly.

Hershiser serves as a case in point of this: the sinker doomed his shoulder for a few years and really cut his career short.

bighasbeen: The right combination of body type and mechanics can save your arm.

Definitely-- which is what Koufax says. He tries to teach pitchers these days to notice the kinisthetics of their throw, to really understand where it's putting strain. He's not going to contradict them if they want to sacrifice their bodies, but he's trying to get them to at least think about long-term consequences.

Obdicut: bighasbeen: The right combination of body type and mechanics can save your arm.

Definitely-- which is what Koufax says. He tries to teach pitchers these days to notice the kinisthetics of their throw, to really understand where it's putting strain. He's not going to contradict them if they want to sacrifice their bodies, but he's trying to get them to at least think about long-term consequences.

I, and many others, have always said: you want to pitch for a long, long time? Watch Nolan Ryan. Copy that and hit the leg press. However, some allowance must be made for individual body types. The other thing is you don't want to mess too much with a delivery after someone is 20 or 21. Their muscles and tendons are used to throwing a certain way and if too drastic of a change is made it can lead to injury PDQ.

A week? LOL

You tell 'em, Bob.

"I ain't afraid of no Gibson"

I don't think "can't" is the problem, most managers aren't willing to take the risk of a pitcher that may not be 100%, though. Particularly if the bullpen is not up to snuff...

Not taking anything away from his performances, but Gibson has been the angry old man of baseball for quite a long time, and there is also that apples and oranges thing.

DNRTFA however I will say that the Phillies lost this series when Cliff Lee was held out of Game 4. As a Yankee fan, it pleased me. As a sports fan, I was very confused that Lee didn't act like a competitor and at least talk a big game about how he wanted to but the manager wouldn't let him.

Something I don't understand, maybe someone can shed some light on this: Why are the majors using 4+ pitchers a game? I understand the concept of a closer, but to have some guy come in to pitch 2 outs in the 6th inning is a little absurd to me. Do these guys need to be coddled that much?

I don't understand. Why would Andy pettite say that about himself after pitching on 3 days rest?

/dnrtfa
//is it still a troll if I admit it?

God I love Bob Gibson.

NYCNative: DNRTFA however I will say that the Phillies lost this series when Cliff Lee was held out of Game 4. As a Yankee fan, it pleased me. As a sports fan, I was very confused that Lee didn't act like a competitor and at least talk a big game about how he wanted to but the manager wouldn't let him.

This.

/It's thw WS forG-d's sake!
//And he's your best pitcher.

Comic Book Guy: Something I don't understand, maybe someone can shed some light on this: Why are the majors using 4+ pitchers a game? I understand the concept of a closer, but to have some guy come in to pitch 2 outs in the 6th inning is a little absurd to me. Do these guys need to be coddled that much?

Not a matter of being coddled too much. Baseball is a game of percentages. If you know that bringing in a lefty for two batters will increase your odds by 10% of getting through those two batters without allowing a run, why wouldn't you?

Comic Book Guy: I understand the concept of a closer, but to have some guy come in to pitch 2 outs in the 6th inning is a little absurd to me. Do these guys need to be coddled that much?

As said before, it's not a coddling thing. Not every starter has enough stuff or guile to show batters a different look every time. If a batter sees Pettitte twice, then Joba or Marte, then Rivera...that's a lot for a batter to get their heads around.

TFA: Johnny Damon's two steals at once for the Yankees on Sunday night was nothing compared to what the Cardinals' Vince Coleman and Willie McGee pulled off in the first inning Aug. 1, 1985, at Wrigley Field.

With Coleman at second and McGee at first, the two lit out on a double steal with Scott Sanderson pitching. Coleman beat catcher Jody Davis' throw to third but overslid the bag after touching it. Since third baseman Ron Cey had the ball in his hand, Coleman decided going back to third had no virtue and set sail for home.

A rundown ensued, with McGee trailing the play. Sanderson and Davis ultimately got themselves out of position and Cey, nicknamed the Penguin, ended up futilely chasing Coleman to a now unoccupied home plate. McGee wound up at third.

"I knew I couldn't get back to the bag," Coleman said then. "I was still in no-man's land. So my reaction was to go to the next base."

After conferring by phone with Seymour Siwoff of the Elias Sports Bureau, official scorer Randy Minkoff awarded each runner two steals.


I greatly approve the St. Louis reporter's doing the legwork needed to work in an amusing anecdote at the expense of the Cubs.

Making $8m a week is part of the reason their arms are protected so much...which, I guess, is kinda odd because they are limited in innings all through HS, college, minors, early in their career to a point that they sometimes never develop proper arm strength (see Joba-rules)