RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling Rob Kamphausen in denial: Red Sox buy 2013 World Series Championship...

the astros had just a good shot!

signed,

rob

I watched one of these games. I don't know St Louis at all, and so despite being a Yankees supporter, I was rooting for the Red Sox. Manly hipster beards everywhere.

I meant to take a note of some of the tactics being used and ask here why they did some of the stuff they did (especially with the pitchers), but I forget what it was.

Oh, yeah. What does "being decided by the bullpen" mean?

the starting pitchers for either team were more or less evenly matched, so the latter innings were largely controlled by relief pitchers (the bullpen) shutting down opposing hitters.

I thought you put good pitchers on late in the game to pick off the batters?

apples and oranges. anymore there are three basic types of pitchers on most major-league rosters. this is a generalization, but your starters will often be guys with decent (~92-94 mph) fastballs and three or even four other pitches to mix in there. they're defined by their control and their stamina; they're chessmasters who can figure out and fake out even the best hitters twice or maybe three times over the course of a game. they're expected to go a good seven innings at least; it became very rare to see a starter put up a large number of complete games but it's getting slightly more common of late.

your relievers are guys who may only throw two or three pitches but they'll throw 'em accurately; they may only last an inning or two but they'll be ready to go in mere minutes (starters can take quite a while to warm up). it's not unheard of to have a guy in your team's bullpen whose sole purpose as a left-handed reliever is to warm up and get ready to strike out that one right-handed hitter who's coming up in the top of the seventh. those are often called spot relievers; most short relievers will face three or four batters while a long reliever is someone who (typically) may face six to eight guys (it's very rare for a reliever to have to go more than two innings unless the starter REALLY screws up). they take over for the starter whenever he (for whatever reason) can't go the distance. those guys will usually finish the games their team is losing.

if the starter can't go the distance and the team is winning, that's when the closer comes in. closers usually only throw one inning - the last one - and in what's called a save situation. that's when you enter the game at a time during which your team is winning but by less than three runs, so you face the potential tying run but strike them out or otherwise induce them to record an out (thereby saving the game for your team). closers are all somewhat similar; since they're only expected to pitch one inning and face at most four or five batters, they almost all have ridiculous velocity (97-100 mph) on their fastball and usually just two other pitches which have a lot of movement and/or are significantly slower so as to throw off the batter's timing. it's about as specialized as pitching gets - well, except for the aforementioned single-opposing-batter lefty spot reliever.

anyway, those are your most common types of pitchers and how they're usually utilized. the starter's job is to win the game the relievers either help the team come back from a bad start or help maintain a lead, and the closer finishes everything off. apologies for the novel but I hope that helps.

That's an awesome explanation.

Years ago I saw a game in Atlanta and the Braves brought on a guy called Smoltz who was apparently superfast, right at the end. Didn't realise he was a closer.

Never heard of "spot relievers" either.

So, I'm guessing starters are more valuable that relivers? Which is why the salaries are so different?

http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/roster/_/name/nyy/new-york-yankees

Some of those salaries beggar belief.

yeah the major-league pitcher is one of the most important specialists in sports. I love hockey because roles on a team are not nearly as synonymous with positions, but I have always enjoyed how everyone in baseball has a little niche of their own to aim for. except when I was in school; I was a really good fielder but a terrible hitter, so I ended up as a utility player and never got to stay in one place for long.

Congrats to Joe Mama and Captain Philipsitch.

thanks?

also, PJMOTHERFUCKINGP!!!

Ben Tate RAWKS!