First of all, I WOULDN'T bar injuries, because they always seem to be getting injured; maybe it WAS the fault of the recently canned Director Of Personal Enhancement (DOPE, for short). :aktion033 But let's examine that "pretty solid" 5: Wang has ONE good season, so why he is being penciled in as an automatic winner? Hughes has had one good START, not one good year; Pe-titty is definitely past his prime, not to mention prone to injury; Mussina's rep has definitely exceeded his accomplishments for several years, especially when it comes to postseason-in fact, it's not entirely coincidental that they've won zero championships since exactly the time that he arrived. Which leaves us with Clemens, about which I've already said my piece. Throw in the fact that more than a little evidence that Rivera isn't automatic anymore in general (and against the Red Sox in particular), and this team is anything but a lock to get into the playoffs, let alone win them...
Let's examine -
Wang - Legitimate number 1 stuff. Don't think you can argue that. One of the best sinkers in the game.
Mussina - Averages around 15 wins and 200 innings per year . See last year's numbers. Pretty much around his career averages. ( Has been a big playoff disappointment)
Pettitte - Yankees best pitcher this year . 31 wins and over 200 innings the last two years . A guy you want on the mound in the playoffs.
Clemens - Still better than 85-90% of the starting pitchers in MLB even at his age. Yes, his numbers will not be as good in the AL but he will give them innings and has the best offense in baseball behind him.
Hughes - Can every scout in baseball be wrong about this guy? Still not a bad number 5. How many times has his name came up in trade talks with the Yanks?
Rivera - This talk about him getting old and losing it is just silly.
Wang - Legitimate number 1 stuff. Don't think you can argue that. One of the best sinkers in the game.
Mussina - Averages around 15 wins and 200 innings per year . See last year's numbers. Pretty much around his career averages. ( Has been a big playoff disappointment)
Pettitte - Yankees best pitcher this year . 31 wins and over 200 innings the last two years . A guy you want on the mound in the playoffs.
Clemens - Still better than 85-90% of the starting pitchers in MLB even at his age. Yes, his numbers will not be as good in the AL but he will give them innings and has the best offense in baseball behind him.
Hughes - Can every scout in baseball be wrong about this guy? Still not a bad number 5. How many times has his name came up in trade talks with the Yanks?
Rivera - This talk about him getting old and losing it is just silly.
I have never been a huge Tim McCarver fan, but man was he great yesterday bashing Clemens. First he got on him for the "its not about the money quote". Then he followed that up by asking, "If Clemens just wants another ring, why has he not been pitching all year?" Its true, obviously him not being in uniform yet can only hurt the team.
It's perfectly clear what HE thought, I'm trying to figure out what YOU meant: you clearly think they WILL make the playoffs this year, proving him wrong, and you said he probably thought the same thing last year, which somebody who didn't know any better would have inferred that he was wrong last year, too: only Clemens DIDN'T make the playoffs, despite all of the hoopla and drama about his return, meaning that poster was right then...as he will be right this year, as well.
<<Why? Because YOU say so? He turns 38 this year and, once again, you exhibit an emperor-has-no-clothes attitude in pretending that such a player can't lose it. Maybe 1 player in 500 ends his career because he retired on top (Ha!), died, or had a career ending injury. The other 499 quit or get released because they decline, and Rivera is no different from anybody else. And when banjo hitters start turning on his fastball to hit 9th inning walkoffs, I sure that's just "silly", too...>>
For some reason, the phrase "lies, and damn statistics" comes to mind. For all his pretty stats, he went 7-6 last year, obviously paying big dividends for that half of a season of hard work. Maybe it was an "evening out" from his years in NY, where his results exceeded what might have expected from the 3.99 ERA he posted while there, maybe it was karma for giving the city of Houston and its officials a big cock tease in thinking he could get them back to the Series; maybe his teammates subconciously resented a "team player" who got permission to blow off the team in games where he wasn't slated to start. All I know is that he went 1-2 in September, with the team losing 3 of his 5 starts, and, when they, absolutely, postitively had to have him come up big on the next to last day to stave off elimination, he gave up 4 runs in 6 innings to seal their fate. I'm sure the Houston brass went to sleep each night saying, "Ahhhh, but he had a 2.33 ERA for the pivotal month." Yeah, right...
Inserting comments within the text doesn't seem to work on this site, so I only am shown as responding to Hughes. Let's try again:
Wang: I can and I do argue that he has "Legitimate number 1 stuff." He's had ONE year with an ERA under 4, and even in that year had more hits than innings pitched. The statement that he has one of the best sinkers in the game after that amount of time is ludicrous.
Mussina: Turns 38 this year, and, as you conceded, I get a warm and fuzzy feeling in my stomach when he takes the slab in a big game against a strong opponent.
Pettitte: Let's see, a 4.20 ERA, 14-13 record on a team that finished first, including 238 hits in 214 innings, and an increasing tendency towards getting injured. I guess I'm missing something...
Clemens: You don't know WHAT you're gonna get outta of Clemens, and neither does anybody else. What, are you gonna point to the enormous historical sample of 44 year old pitchers who've taken off 9 months and switched to the AL? Next case...
Rivera: Talk about a 37 year old pitcher with a lot of miles on him getting old is silly? Why, because YOU say so? It's amazing you would be caught writing such a thing in public. Maybe one athlete out of 500 stops playing because he quits at his peak (or dies). The other 499 quit or are released because they decline, and Rivera isn't any different from anybody else. I don't recall many banjo hitters turning on his fastball to hit come from behind, game winning walkoffs, as has already happened this year, but I'm sure it's "silly" to be concerned about THAT, too...
uppy: :nopityA: 
