Category: Postseason

Champaign native Matt Herges

Last night’s Wild Card tiebreaker between the Padres and the Rockies had no shortage of controversial calls.  Of course, once I decided to call it a night was when the real fireworks happened so I missed Holliday’s play at the plate. 

I did see the video countless times and I saw what I saw.  This will make my friend Todd, the umpire happy but as a general.rule, I generally give the umpire the benefit of the doubt.  It’s easy for me to make a call after watching a crappy video taken from considerable distance.  Let’s face it, the man in blue is (hopefully) right on the play and probably saw something I didn’t. 

And in the words of Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem, “It ain’t nothin’ till i call it.”

The town of Champaign has rights to be proud of their homeboy Matt Herges for his performance last night.  The Colorado reliever pitched 3 scoreless innings allowing only one hit.  Herges was a solid reliever from 2000-2003 but until this year he has not found his groove and has bounced from team to team.  In 2007, he has been lights out for Colorado with a 5-1 record and a 2.96 ERA.  It’s good to see a local make it to the postseason. 

One last thing… Will Tulowitzki’s 4 for 7 performance be enough to propel him to rookie of year?  Will it be enough to eclipse the power of Braun?

St Louis’ David Eckstein received the WS MVP award, deservedly so, after playing a big part in the last wins. For the series, Eck batted .364 with 4 rbis and 3 rbis.

I did a quick check and Eckstein was the first leadoff man to win the World Series MVP in 30 years. The last leadoff man to win the WS MVP was Pete Rose in 1975.

Rose, who played third base for Cincinnati back then, hit .370 (10 for 27) with a double and a triple with 3 runs and 2 rbis. He also walked 5 times.

Cincinnati took 4 of 7 from Boston that year.

Bottom of the 4th, Justin Verlander commits the 5th error by a Detroit pitcher this series. That was key to a 2-run inning which gives the Cards a 3-2 lead. The game is far from over but the Tigers don’t need to give them any help.

Which brings me to a related point. So many times I hear people lament that unearned runs that stem from pitchers’ errors should count against their ERA.

No, No, and again no!

These misguided fans are looking at the issue from the perspective that baseball statistics exist to reward or punish players. To glorify or demean them. That is not why they exist in my opinion.

Baseball statistics exist to qualify and quantify, the best that they can, the reality that we call baseball. They are not perfect, of course. But they give us a hint of what a player has done and what he might do in the future.

For the current example, the ERA, it is a representation of how well a pitcher pitches. More to the point, how many (or how few) runs he allows regardless of his team’s fielding. And yes, his team’s fielding includes him, too. I don’t want to factor his fielding in with his ERA. That would skew his stats.

There. Got THAT off my chest.

Here in Urbana, it’s been cold and rainy, no doubt the same system that was affecting St Louis. Word has it that the game is on tonight though. I can’t remember a postseason where the weather played such a factor. Unless you consider the 1989 World Series which wasn’t really weather.

Do you think Smokin’ Jim is going to call for some pitching fielding practice before tonight’s game? He should. The four errors by the Tigers’ pitching staff are the most by any WS pitching staff.

To the Cardinals’ credit, they are winning without the bat of Albert Pujols. Mad props to shortstop David Eckstein who had 4 hits and 2 key rbis. That’s not to say that Albert hasn’t had an effect. By intentionally walking or pitching around him, the Tigers are avoiding the big hit but at the same time are putting additional runners on base for Cardinals hitters. Albert has one hit (a homer) but has scored 3 times.

Tonight, Detroit’s backs are against the wall. They do have Verlander going so they have a chance assuming he’s boned up on his fielding. Weaver has a 2.91 for the postseason but only a 2-2 record to show for it.

Play Ball!

Hey Kenny, here’s a guide for you:

I’m not going to feed into the media frenzy of “Was he cheating?” “Was it pine tar?”. I think Fox and ESPN are doing a fine job of that.

Personally, I thought LaRussa handled it pretty well. From all reports, it sounded like he informed the men in blue so that there wouldn’t be any question in the matter. No complaints, no accusations. Either he knew it was just some dirt and just wanted to spare the game from any useless controversy or he figured the way his team was hitting yesterday, it really didn’t matter.

Controversy aside, Rogers has been lights out all postseason. He’s close to setting the all-time record for scoreless innings in a single postseason.

Of course, it should be noted that for Mathewson and Burdette, “postseason” meant World Series.

And finally Kenny, I usually have my kids sing their ABC’s when they wash their hands. That makes sure they wash them long enough. Just a tip.