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JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Matsuzaka clobbered but Red Sox beat Rays to stay alive in ALCS

Sports Oct. 17, 2008 - 03:54PM JST ( 12 )

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12 Comments

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AltriaOct. 17, 2008 - 04:18PM JST

Wow, I thought it was all over.

The Rays were a bit sloppy pitching Ballfour in the 7th.
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meanmuthaOct. 17, 2008 - 04:21PM JST

high five boys! Cheers Boston!
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helloklittyOct. 17, 2008 - 07:31PM JST

The Rays were a bit sloppy pitching Ballfour in the 7th.

Balfour: 82 k's in 58 innings. Without even checking, I'd guess he's in the top five or better in K's per 9 innings. ERA: 1.54; WHIP: .89 - two more indications of his awesomeness.

Please clarify what you mean by "The Rays were a bit sloppy pitching Ballfour (sic)" because I don't think you can find much better. What a great comeback he's made, too, after elbow surgery. He'll be getting a tidy sum on his next contract.
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hoserfellaOct. 18, 2008 - 01:58PM JST

hellokitty, if you actually followed baseball instead of throwing out random stats, you'd know that Balfour had been hit hard already and Boston's Ortiz was due up. Ortiz hits left while Balfour is a righty. Its Baseball 101. You bring in a lefty to face a lefty. Madden didnt and paid the price.
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nigelboyOct. 18, 2008 - 02:13PM JST

hellokitty, if you actually followed baseball instead of throwing out random stats, you'd know that Balfour had been hit hard already and Boston's Ortiz was due up. Ortiz hits left while Balfour is a righty. Its Baseball 101. You bring in a lefty to face a lefty. Madden didnt and paid the price.

Hindsight is 20/20. Balfour faired better against the lefties than righties this season coupled with the fact that Ortiz was struggling and the next two batters were righty in Youk and Bay.

Also, J.D. Drew got a game winning hit against the lefty in Howell so go figure.
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helloklittyOct. 18, 2008 - 05:49PM JST

Balfour is the best the Rays have out of the pen. He'll be making over $10 million next year.

Following baseball has nothing to do with knowing that Balfour had been hit hard in this game. Ortiz was 1-17 before this game, I believe. Not exactly his old self without Manny, is he? He came up clutch this time, though.

These are the key statistics: Balfour vs. lefties: .120 batting average against; obp against: .194; ops against: .362. That is utter and complete domination. Righties batted .159/.260/.534 against him. So much for your baseball 101 argument. An innovative manager such as Maddon, who keeps the Sartre quote "Integrity has no need of rules," is not going to be bound by righty-righty, lefty-lefty pitching rules. You'd know that if you followed baseball.

Balfour left with a three-run lead. He had a bad outing, but they were still leading the game. Not a sloppy decision. Nobody is right all the time. You can bet he'll be out there again, swearing up a storm, especially if the game is on the line. You know he says the F-word every time the batter swings and misses, right?

Please define "random" stats. And "sloppy". You need to justify your opinions with something of substance. As Maddon would say, "Discipline yourself so no one else has to."
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nigelboyOct. 18, 2008 - 06:03PM JST

I also want to add that before Papi's homerun, the Rays were up 7-1 with two runners on base, 2 outs with two righties coming up after him in the bottom of the 7th. This is not a situation where you start changing pitchers for "match-ups"

Gotta agree with helloklitty on this one.
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isthistheendOct. 18, 2008 - 06:37PM JST

I was watching this at a golf range, where I spend alot of time (and money) these days to keep myself this side of heaven, and alot of ancient geezers were glued in front of the big screen. I took a break to see the final heroics, and since I played the game since my youth, I could tell the pitcher was going to give up something to Drew after the batter before him kept getting high fastballs to foul off (3 or four in a row). I commented, "the batters tiring out the pitcher." The head geezer without so much as a gaze blurted out, "the pitcher isn't tired (we're speaking in Japanese mind you). Then Drew came up and we know the rest. As soon as the game was concluded, the geezer stood up to get the controls and switch the channel to the Jpn golf being played in Kyushu. I don't know what to tell you, but it was like watching a foreign game in a foreign land with a foreign audience, which it was. But the geezers all felt they knew more about the game than the one foreigner who is probably not welcome at the range by the other participants (jealousy?/envy/you name it). But I am welcomed by the managment as I contribute as much as any other customer. Point of this blog? Baseball is a game of international appeal, and not to be cornered by any one people. I'm sure Thenewfront will agree, in sentiment.
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isthistheendOct. 18, 2008 - 06:40PM JST

And the second point is, the same game, be it baseball, soccer, football, swimming, softball is viewed differently by people of different countries, each thinking they have the real insight into the game. But that's exactly why it has global appeal. Everyone reads their own thinking into the action. There is often times many different ways to interpret the action.
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helloklittyOct. 18, 2008 - 11:37PM JST

I'd have to agree with the Japanese guy - the pitcher was not likely to be tired after throwing, what, 20 pitches? He was a reliever, right? Unless, he had pitched the night before...
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hoserfellaOct. 19, 2008 - 12:43AM JST

hellokitty-admit it. You are a Brit who recently took up the game? an Aussie perhaps? Ive seen this trend so many times before; a newbie picks up the game and decides that regular season stats + salary = performance. Hmm... Balfour's potential contract for next year coupled with his WHIP didnt guarantee victory? Whats going on?? My friend, stick to soccer or at least spend a few years learning the game before you start to pontificate...