Still Americas Pastime

Related to the save, the hold is another statistic that relievers hunger for.  Because it is not an official MLB statistic, there are a few different definitions of a hold.  This makes them confusing.  In fact, that’s part of the reason I made this post, so I’d know for sure what they were and how to earn them.

Here’s what made the most sense to me, and since it’s not an official statistic, what I say goes on this site.

1) The pitcher needs to qualify for a save.  To recap this means he entered in relief with his team in the lead and pitched at least 1/3 of an inning (with the tying run on base, at-bat, or on deck), 1 inning (if winning by 1-3 runs), or 3 innings (any lead).

2) The pitcher DOES NOT finish the game after this.  You can not earn a hold and a save in the same game.

This allows for some interesting situations. 

A pitcher can get a hold and a loss in the same game.  How?  Here’s one example

A pitcher (Reliever A) comes in to a game with the tying run on first, nobody out.  He gets the next batter to ground into a double play.  The next batter hits a double.  The batter after that hits a single.  With runners on the corners, the manager brings in Reliever B.  Reliever A has earned a save (at least 1/3 of an inning with the tying run on base).  Reliever B gives up a hit and both runners score.  Because the runners were Reliever A’s responsibility, he gets the loss.

More than one pitcher can earn a hold in a game.

This is different from the win, loss, and save, as only one of each of them is awarded per game.

The save is one of the sexiest stats in the game today.  Closers get paid millions of dollars to pitch for one inning.  And they don’t pitch every day, usually they only pitch when a save situation exists.

The save was first used as an official statistic during the 1969 season.  The save is a way to give credit to a pitcher for not relinquishing the lead he inherited when he entered the game.  To be eligible for a save a pitcher must come into the game to relieve another pitcher while his team has the lead, and he must finish the game.  Thus, only one save can be awarded per game.

There are three ways to record a save.  The most common is to pitch at least one inning when your team is winning by three runs or less.  When the closer comes into the game in the ninth to shut down the other team, this is the situation.

Another way to pick up a save is to pitch at least three innings.  In this situation, it doesn’t matter how much of a lead the team has.  But remember, a pitcher has to finish the game.  Also, if the pitcher is the winning pitcher of record, he is not eligible for a save.

The final way for a pitcher to record a save is to come into a ballgame when the tying run is on base, at-bat, or on deck.  It doesn’t matter if the pitcher only gets one out, he still gets a save.  Thus it’s possible to get a save on one pitch.

Welcome to Part Two of my case against the Designated Hitter (you can find Part One here).  Convinced yet?  If you are, continue reading to get plenty of arguments to use against those heretics trying to defend the DH.  If you aren’t, we’re going to get past the gut-feeling, emotional arguments used in Pt. 1 and move onto some statistical arguments.

The DH allows players to inflate their offensive statistics.

Stats and records are very important to baseball players and, perhaps even more so, baseball fans.  It was decided to place an asterisk (*) next to Roger Maris’s single season home run record because the season was seven games longer than when the Babe set the record.  Numerous people want an asterisk (some want a syringe) next to Barry Bonds’ career home run record.

In light of this, it’s surprising that more people aren’t upset about the DH.  20 players (out of 53) have made it into the top ten all time in offensive categories have spent time as a DH.  6 of these 20 players have spent 324 games as a DH.  Why 324?  Because that’s the equivalent of 2 full seasons.  This eliminates people who have DH’d only in inter-league play or just a few games a season.

So there are 6 players who probably wouldn’t have made it to these plateaus as an everyday player, either because they physically can’t play everyday or because their defense makes them too much of a liability to start.  This number is likely to grow, as the DH has only been used by the American League for 26 years (counting 2009).

Why should players who really weren’t an everyday player be able to pass the greats who played the game every day in the field, the way it was meant to be played?

Note:  The offensive categories I looked at were: Hits, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, Batting Average, Slugging Percentage, Walks, Runs, RBI, and Stolen Bases.

The All-Star Game seems like a natural time to give you an update on my Fantasy Baseball Team.  I seem to be doing pretty well, even though I didn’t check on my team very much between the beginning of May and now.

I’m currently in 3rd place.  To be honest, I have to place most of the credit with my draft and the few moves I made in the first few weeks.

In the first few weeks I picked up/dropped 18 (9 signed, 9 to free agency) players and made a trade.  Haven’t really done anything since then.

There are a few things I need to improve on.  By not paying enough attention to news around the league, I missed a opportunity to make some moves.  For example, both Brian McCann and Joey Votto spent time on the DL and by the time I reacted, I had probably missed about 20 games of production from the two of them.

Also, until this post, I had not yet put Edison Volquez (hasn’t pitched since June 1st) and Jake Peavy (hasn’t pitched since June 8th) on the DL.  Since I’m only 5.5 points out of 2nd place and if I had picked up pitchers to get me 5 wins and around 60 strikeouts during the time they were out (quite possible) I’d be much closer, roughly 2 points out.

Obviously injuries happen and to step up my game I need to stay on top of them.

Now it’s time for the game to start.  This section will deal with how to record results when the bases are empty and the batter makes an out.

Let’s be honest.  Even the best ballplayers make outs more often then they reach base. 

Perhaps the most embarrassing way to get out is to strike out.  Or at least people used to be embarrassed by striking out, but that’s best saved for another post.  There are actually a number of ways that you record a strikeout, and which one you use is dependent upon how the person strikes out.

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