Rising offense?

[GovClintonTyree]

I suggested on 6/1 that the club would improve a run a game for the other 2/3 of the season. We had 3.4 runs/game for April/May. For June/July/Aug we've had 4.1.

Not quite a run a game, but significant improvement, despite some dry spells. Clearing out BJ in favor of Bonifacio would probably bump us the rest of the way.

[nsacpi]

Still buying into the strat-o-matic approach, Nick?

Surely those things matter somewhat. Not at the expense of actual talent (see Towers, Kevin), but would we not benefit from Huddy and late Chipper, perhaps more than their stats would suggest?

I saw where Minor credited Santana with the grip on two of his pitches. Don't those kinds of things matter a bit?

So did the team that went winless on the west coast have less grit maturity leadership & clutchness than the team of the past ten games.

My point was never that those things don't matter. But I do think they have little or nothing to do with the ups and downs over the course of a season.

There is a lot of luck or random fluctuations in team and player form. The same team can go 2-8 over ten games and 8-2 over the next ten. That's why the playoffs are rightfully regarded as a crapshoot. Over 162 games, however, these random fluctuations even themselves out for the most part. That's why I've always thought the regular season was more meaningful than the post-season. I love the excitement and intensity of post-season baseball. But it is a crapshoot.

[jcc03004]

Isn't it sad that all of us fans knew it was a terrible idea to have BJ so high and all wanted Heyward higher, and it took Fredi how long to comply?

Heyward should hit lead off in all games except when bonafacio is starting then hit him lower in the line up

[yeezus]

So did the team that went winless on the west coast have less grit maturity leadership & clutchness than the team of the past ten games.

My point was never that those things don't matter. But I do think they have little or nothing to do with the ups and downs over the course of a season.

There is a lot of luck or random fluctuations in team and player form. The same team can go 2-8 over ten games and 8-2 over the next ten. That's why the playoffs are rightfully regarded as a crapshoot. Over 162 games, however, these random fluctuations even themselves out for the most part. That's why I've always thought the regular season was more meaningful than the post-season. I love the excitement and intensity of post-season baseball. But it is a crapshoot.

Right, sometimes that randomness lasts a whole season or more, and that's why random guys can have really good years that never did it before and never will again. Baseball is a lot of luck and timing. That isn't to say you don't have to have talent to win.