Comments

Tom. Even the Rocket would have to admit that Nolan Ryan was 'da man! In 1993, after 27 years in Major League Baseball, Ryan retired holding 54 major league records including: 7 no-hitters, 12 one-hitters and 5,714 strikeouts.

Posted by Tom Asacker at May 17, 2005 2:01 PM

Wrong, Tom, for once. Walter "Big Train" Johnson was Da Man!

Posted by tom peters at May 17, 2005 2:18 PM

Or should I say: Da Man on Da Mound.

Posted by tom peters at May 17, 2005 2:19 PM

Gotta love Dontrelle's leg kick, especially us OLD Juan Marichal nuts.

Posted by tom peters at May 17, 2005 2:20 PM

I certainly remember Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax and some of their classic duals. Koufax had a fabulous short career - he'll be 70 late this year.

Posted by Sean at May 17, 2005 2:31 PM

Unlike you, Tom, Clemens will not LOVE what he is doing after this year. A losing team isn't fun to work with/for.

Joel

Posted by Joel Heffner at May 17, 2005 3:15 PM

Tom,

Clemens IS your age, isn't he?

The Quiz was one of my favorites to watch... back when it was fun to be a KC fan.

Posted by Dustin at May 17, 2005 4:40 PM

The 'Rocket' will have to work for 9 wins. He's getting no run support.

Posted by Gary Potter at May 17, 2005 5:01 PM

Re Heffner remark on Clemens.

This brings my thinking back to Willis. The D Train would love pitching for a last palce team. Remarkably for such a young man, he's already mastered the balance between team and self -- he gets off on performing really well even when his team is struggling. He hasn't had to taste that this year (they've done well or acceptably in all his starts, scoring at least two runs every time)

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlbpa/players/7133/gamelog

Last year was different...his run support was shaky. But he never seemed to change his public persona.

The D Train is an almost perfect blend of brains, individuality, playfulness & maturity, a poster boy for WOW.

Posted by jeff angus at May 17, 2005 7:44 PM

Dustin ... absolutely. Peters, Clemens, Satchel Paige!

Posted by tom peters at May 17, 2005 7:45 PM

Now we are talking about something that matters. :)

Dontrelle is the real deal. As a business traveller who frequents as man ball parks as possible, there are few more engaging performances than Dontrelle. My personal favorite is Randy Johnson (although now that he is a Yankee and mulet free, I can not say I am that interested.) Comparing Randy to Clemens, Randy is far more imposing. At 6'11" going on 10', he releases the ball about 2 ft. from the plate. He even dominated Coors Field.

The whole Fish rotation are the pitchers to watch.

Posted by Andrew at May 18, 2005 11:05 AM

Another impressive Dontrelle stat? His WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched) =.93. That means rarely does more than one hitter reach base against him in an inning.

Pedro and Clemens are the only two regular starters who have faired better (.73 and .91 respectively).

Strikeouts are overrated. Give me a pitcher who can cause the pop out or the easy double play through ball placement and I'm happy.

Posted by Dustin at May 18, 2005 12:57 PM

Interesting article last year from ESPN (my favorite sports writer, Rob Neyer) entitled, "Nothing Beats an Imaginative Pitcher." Dontrelle is only slightly mentioned at the end, but the article is incisive in my opinion.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/neyer_rob/1573100.html

Posted by Dustin at May 18, 2005 1:43 PM

Let me interrupt an otherwise intelligent conversation about great pitchers and their styles and stats and introduce an idea that seems very appropriate given the site we're bloggin' on.

Back in the '70's "The Bird" of the Detroit Tigers had an incredible impact on the game. The guy brought it all to the mound-individuality, innovation, flair and, for a short burst of time, results.

Never mind the traditional, "The Bird" was an innovator-putting entertainment on the mound. The Detroit area was captivated and so were quirky baseball fans around the country.

Any statisticians who want to debate the "greatness" of The Bird-save your stale, nerdy breath. It was never about the product of his efforts-he took the EXPERIENCE of being a fan to a whole new place.

Hey Mr. Peters: How do I get a gig as a full-time blogger on this crowded site?

Posted by bankerman at May 18, 2005 5:07 PM

Talk about branding. The Bird was it. online canadian pharmacy generic viagra

Okay, here: 1976 Mark "The Bird" Fidrych pitched in 31 games, 19 wins, 9 losses with a 2.34 ERA. So what, it was downhill from there. What I can't provide you with is the experience I had as a 9 year old interested in baseball. Watching The Bird's antics (talking to the baseball, etc.) turned me into a fan.

If the Tigers were smart (!) they'd include video of him in action on their site.

Posted by bankerman at May 18, 2005 5:31 PM