W L PCT GB RS RA DIF EXPWLThe EXPWL is each team's expected record, based on their runs scored and runs allowed.
Boston 57 40 .588 --- 495 396 +99 58-39
Tampa Bay 55 39 .585 0.5 433 387 +46 52-42
New York 50 45 .526 6.0 436 412 +24 50-45
Toronto 47 48 .495 9.0 399 376 +23 50-45
Baltimore 45 48 .484 10.0 439 449 -10 46-47
Tampa Bay has been a tad lucky so far, outperforming their Pythag by three games. Based on how everyone has played, the Red Sox "should" have a 4.5-game lead, with the Blue Jays and Yankees both 7 GB.
34 comments:
Did you know your post about the missed call on Lugo at first was linked by Dirt Dogs?
I think BDD linked to Jeff Goldberg's blog at the Hartford Courant, which had a comment linking to me. (Maybe there was a direct link; I have had a few of those before.)
It's direct -- the link titled "Take a Look" under Buchholz's picture.
That's funny. When I looked at that last night, I thought it was all one link (Courant). I didn't even know JoS was there! Thanks!
Whoa - more visits today than all of yesterday!
Well, the photo you posted is certainly very illustrative of the event!
Good press.
That is awesome about the blog. We are all famous now. I wish I said something wittier on there.
Are your standings current as of the rays loss today? wait did they lose today?
You bet yr ass they lost.
Those are the standings at the Break.
oops i read the standings backwards. I though you had tampa up by .5 like this morning. I knew they would falter and show their true sub-par colors. I will worry if they can string together 2 good months after the break.
Bobby Kielty was granted his release...
FIRST PLACE BABY!!!!
I just finished listening to the archived game. I've been avoiding this place until it was over.
What a dull game! But what beee-yoo-tee-full standings.
We are all famous now.
Speak for yourself - Allan's been famous for a long time.
yes laura sorry. If it were not for Allan then we would all just be random people across the country. He made it and then brought us all together. I love allan. I will not dump Jacoby for him though.
I love allan. I will not dump Jacoby for him though.
Me too. And me neither.
Speak for yourself - Allan's been famous for a long time.
If that's true, then being famous is greatly overrated.
Me too. And me neither.
Being second fiddle isn't so bad. Can I go to World Series games with you guys as a third (fourth?) wheel?
Can I go to World Series games with you guys as a third (fourth?) wheel?
I'll ask Lyndon for an extra ticket.
At the Stadium, I once told some idiot in the women's room that my NY earrings - obvious pieces of crap they sell at the souvenir store - were from a player. She definitely believed me.
I hope for her sake she re-thought it later and realized I was bullshitting!
So here's a question from my Mom:
Who's the team's best pitcher going into the break? Is it Dice-K with his gaudy 10-1 record, his high pitch counts and his penchant for walking people? Is it Beckett, the supposed staff ace, who always seem to struggle early? Is it Lester, who has piched the most great games? Is it Wakefield, who has been the most consistently good for almost two months?
I really don't know the answer, but I can't remember a time when the team had four pitchers having a good first half who could legitimately claim the title.
And they said the Sox starting rotation would be thin without Schilling...
ERA+ says Dice, easily:
Dice 152
Lester 128
Wakefield 120
Masterson 118
Beckett 110
Colon 106
Buchholz 76
Pauley 42
That's everyone who has started a game. Today's stats not included.
Actually, that's their ERA+ stats for the first "half", which is not really the question being asked
Who's the team's best pitcher going into the break?
Wakefield's last 9 starts: 2.13.
63.1 IP
39 H
17 BB
48 K
.176/.238/.299
Thanks for the answers(s) Allan...and you know, I bet most media types would say "Lester."
Dice-K pitches the ugliest great games I'm ever seen. Did I read that he hasn't given up a hit with the bases loaded yet this season?
And nobody ever likes to give Wakefield credit. What a streak of deep, strong performances. Let's hope he doesn't balance it off with an epic slump, as he has done in the past.
I'll bet more out-of-Boston media types would say Dice than Lester, based purely on his record.
Batters against Dice with bases loaded this year: 0-for-9, with 1 BB.
As you know, BR is your friend.
HH will get back to goodness.
Jack, I love that your mom asked that question!
I am going with Wakefield simply because I think the guy gets too little credit and has gotten almost no run support when he has pitched. I know he is old, lacks speed and pizazz, but the guy has been the most consistent over the last month. Also, I am a sentimental fool!
Amy, my Mom (now 88 years old) has been my Sox pal since she meticulously scored Billy Rohr's near no-no against the Yankees in April of '67, waiting for me to get home from school.
I don't think one needs to apply sentiment to give Wake his due. His age is used against him by critics, but in terms his performance, I don't see that it's had any effect, other than stopping him from doing the 'tween start relief jobs he used to do. Would we know how old Wake was if we didn't know how old he was? Or as Satchel Paige used to say, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?"
Allan, there's still an amazing amount of anti-Dice-K bias out there: it comes up a lot on the radio, like on the Dibble and Kennedy show. I never hear him being referred to as one of the top starters in the league, while pitchers like Shields are talked about like they were Pedro. The theme still is that last year Matsusaka was a disappointment, and that the Sox paid too much for him, and that he's just a good pitcher when he was supposed to be a super-pitcher. Personally, I see some anti-Japanese bias there, anti-check-book baseball sentiment, jeolousy of Sox resources and acumen from baseball management types and plain old selective observation. Clearly Dice-K's signing has turned out to be a very good deal, especially compared to Zito, Santana and many others. He was learning the culture, the language, the league and the hitters last season, and did a terrific job, all things considered. He's been even better this year, obviously.
People started by pooh-poohing the "gyroball", and it ended up making them discount the pitcher.
I never listen to sports radio, so thanks for that. I'm not surprised. Even if Dice was totally on his game all the time, he could not match the hype -- which expected him to put up a 9-3-1-1-12 line every start.
Don and Jerry were praising him the other day for getting strike 1 to so many hitters, but he was also going to 3 balls and full counts on a lot of them too, so strike 1 didn't seem like that big a deal.
He can't keep up his Houdini act all year, so I hope his walks get under control.
Every time I type it in before a start, his high ERA+ shocks the hell out of me.
Dibble and Kennedy?
Man, what a glutton for punishment. Brutal. And with about 2% actual baseball analysis!
You're absolutely right: I shouldn't listen.
It's residual Kennedy hatred, as I blame him for alienating Vaughn and maybe even Rocket from the Sox. Lately he has been bitterly reminiscing about his managing days, bragging about his record (no team he managed finshed worse than 1st or second, he points out regularly), citing his skill at getting the slow-starting 1996 Sox back on track, and bashing Dan Duquette. Clearly, it kills him that nobody wants him to manage. Both he and Dibble regularly push the Dodgers and Yankees, gush over A-Rod, and cite erroneous facts, get players wrong, and pass along misinformation.
I just hate the guy (great on-field manager,terrible organization manager, egomaniac with a chip on his shoulder) and need to be reminded how much, I guess.
Jack, that's great about your mother! How lucky you are to have that bond to share with her.
Glad someone else shares my appreciation of Wakefield.
Amy: she also sat with me in the Fenway grandstands when Loooie shut out the Reds in Game 1 of the '75 Series and when the Reds squeeked out a win in Game #7. She used to watch Ted and Johnny and Dom and Bobby in the 40's.
But she never could come close to pronouncing Garciaparra right. And still can't!
Jack, does she say it with a Boston accent? Gah-ciah-parrah?
She tries! But it usually comes out "Gah-Sparrah."
You should have heard her version of Jackie Gutierrez! And she won't even attempt "Matsusaka."
There is a reason everyone calls him DiceK (and spells it that way)!
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