"Baseball is like church, many attend, but few understand." - Wes Westrum
Keywords: Boston Red Sox, baseball statistics, statheads, OPS, Boston Dirt Dogs
The Sox, who have played the fewest games of any team at home, won their fourth in a row behind Matt Clement (4-0), downing Seattle and old friend Jamie Moyer. Clement worked seven strong innings allowing jut one run, with yet another quality start.
"Good pitching always stops good hitting, and vice versa." - Yogi Berra
The Sox pounded out ten hits en route to the victory, which denied Moyer his 131st victory in a Mariner uniform which would have tied him with Randy Johnson. Traded in 1996, Moyer came into the season at 192-145 for his career, including two twenty game seasons with Seattle. He won two games in the ALDS against Cleveland in 2001, has been in the top 4 in winning percentage four times, and his 'similarity scores' equate with such luminaries as Dave Stewart, Orel Hershiser, Frank Viola, Rick Sutcliffe, and David Wells. He is 8th among active players with 196 wins. In other words, the Sox beat an outstanding pitcher.
Despite the fact that only three regulars in the lineup are hitting .300 and the Sox OPS is less than .800, the team is still second in runs scored in the American League, although first in on base percentage at .360.
On the hill, the Sox are 4th in starters ERA (4.08) and sixth overall (4.12). The White Sox league the lead in ERA at 2.94.
Red Sox memories for the 'old timers' out there. A few games always stand out in your sports 'corporate memory', for better or worse. Maybe we've moved into the 'better' category.
Game 1, 1975 World Series. El Tiante and an undermanned Sox team, minus Jim Rice, stop the Big Red Machine 5-4 at Fenway Park.
Game 6, 1975 World Series. So many memories. Fisk's homer, Carbo's homer, Evans' phenomenal catch against Joe Morgan, Denny Doyle being thrown out at home by George Foster.
Billy Rohr's 1-hitter at Yankee Stadium in 1967, no-hitter into the ninth, saved by Yaz's miraculous over-the-shoulder, diving catch of a Tom Tresh bomb in cavernous left field.
The pennant winning 1967 game won by Gentleman Jim Lonborg. My dad always called him 'Lumbago'. Lonborg started the rally with a bunt single starting the sixth, Yaz singled with the bases loaded to tie the score, and everything fell into place. The Sox won a lot of converts that season, the season that remade the franchise, going from 9th to first.
Sitting in the bleachers as a young guy, I remember two 'old timers' describing Sixto Lezcano (Brewers outfielder) as 'the young punk', which I thought a term of respect for a worthy opponent. Lezcano peaked out with an OPS of .987 (2nd) with 28 homers and he had at least ten outfield assists seven times. So he was a pretty good player that the kids out there never heard of. I wonder where he is now. You gotta love the Internet.
http://www.sixtolezcano.com/
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