Must have been his Mom..... Sox have put together a decent little run here and are closing in on .500, with zero contribution from Crawford, and little from Youkilis, Ellsbury... and, oh yeah, the catching position (saw something about that somewhere on line, I think).
On the catching thing, I don't think every aspect of the game can be boiled down to a sabermetric. At least, I hope not. It may be as simple as Beckett feeling more confident with Varitek behind the plate, leading him to believe more in his stuff and not thinking too much. Was watching the Mets game last night and the announcers were discussing Mike Pelfrey and Henry Blanco, his catcher last year. Blanco actually called Pelfrey this week and told him to think less and just pitch what the catcher calls for. He said that is what Pelfrey needs to do. End result? Pelfrey allows one run in 7 innings, his best performance of the year, against the D-backs. Who, interestingly enough, now have Henry Blanco sitting on their bench. Wonder how Kirk Gibson likes that?? Dan D Central NJ USA ________________________________ From: Steve Gendron <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Sat, April 23, 2011 12:41:54 PM Subject: RE: Tek must go Did you happen to see the woman sitting in those field level seats behind the plate pointing at the ball? “ Hey Jarod, it’s over here!” From:[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Matt & Olga McSorley Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 1:09 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Tek must go Watching the 8th inning tonight, I have one thought: Salty is worse behind the plate than I thought. I've never seen a catcher lose sight of a ball that went directly through him and back to the backstop. And he allowed a 37-year-old man to score from second on it. Not optimistic about him at all. -- Matt ________________________________ From:Tom Salemi <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Fri, April 22, 2011 9:13:09 PM Subject: Re: Tek must go Oh I'll give him a chance. No choice really. On Apr 22, 2011 7:09 PM, "Steve Ouellette" <[email protected]> wrote: > All I'm saying is give the guy a fair chance. He's no sure thing, but > he could be good. I don't consider 36 AB a fair chance. > > I told you Jeremy Giambi was going to be good once too, and what happened >there? > > Steve O > > > On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 7:05 PM, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: >> I actually think Beckett indicated Tek is his preferred catcher but I'm not >> sure. BUT you're talking about a much younger Beckett. People change and >> preferences change. >> >> Any way I am ready to LOVE Salty but he can't catch and he can't hit. Not >> yet anyway. >> >> On Apr 22, 2011 7:00 PM, "Steve Ouellette" <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Well, that put me in my place. >>> >>> Just saying that someone much smarter than me is saying that he can't >>> find any statistical evidence that all the savvy and pitch-framing in >>> the world amounts to anything. Is it hard to believe that someone with >>> the experience and athletic ability to get to the majors actually >>> possesses these basic skills? Like every first baseman can catch a >>> pickoff throw (Mo Vaughn excepted)? Every pitcher can cover first on a >>> bunt (David Wells excepted)? >>> >>> Josh Beckett was a master with Mike Redmond behind the plate; he >>> doesn't need a personal binky. That's an insult to him. >>> >>> Steve O >>> >>> On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 6:48 PM, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> Well gee I had no idea catching wasn't a skilled position. Let's put >>>> Lowrie >>>> behind there. >>>> >>>> On Apr 22, 2011 6:43 PM, "Steve Ouellette" <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>>> Keith Woolner, who was administrator for the other Red Sox list for >>>>> years, wrote for BP and now works for the first-place Indians, did an >>>>> in-depth study on catcher defense, in BP and in a chapter ("Is Mike >>>>> Matheny a catching genius?") of the book "Baseball by the Numbers." >>>>> Interesting stuff, and the conclusion: >>>>> >>>>> "One of the most controversial results from the sabermetric community >>>>> is the lack of evidence supporting big differences in catcher >>>>> defensive ability, other than differences in controlling the running >>>>> games ... the further we look into the realm of catcher performance, >>>>> the fewer places the elusive realm of catcher influence has to hide. >>>>> There is no objective evidence that the catchers considered to be the >>>>> best at their craft actually improve pitcher efficiency, increase >>>>> strike rates, induce more misses and fouls, or do anything else to >>>>> reduce batters' offensive output." >>>>> >>>>> Steve O >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 6:02 PM, Steve Ouellette >>>>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>> That's not consistent. You're saying Tek is five runs better than the >>>>>> generic catcher defensively? Per game? >>>>>> >>>>>> Beckett's ERA with Paul Lo Duca, Mike Redmond and noted poor pitch >>>>>> caller Pudge Rodriguez: 3.46. >>>>>> >>>>>> Steve O >>>>>> >>>>>> On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 5:28 PM, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> Those numbers are consistent with Beckett's Tek vs. Non-Tek numbers >>>>>>> over >>>>>>> the >>>>>>> past four years. To say catchers don't matter is silly. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Apr 22, 2011 5:14 PM, "Ray Salemi" <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>>> This is a low sample size issue. >>>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups >>>>> "Red Sox Citizens" group. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>> [email protected]. >>>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. >>>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "Red Sox Citizens" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "Red Sox Citizens" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Red Sox Citizens" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Red >Sox Citizens" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >[email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at >http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. 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