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Lincecum struck out 12 in seven innings in a 2-0 victory that lifted the Giants to 5-4 on this trip, pretty good for a team that celebrated every run scored like the birth of a child.
Lincecum struck out 10 or more for the third time in seven 2011 starts and the 29th time in his career, breaking a tie with Christy Mathewson for the franchise record.
"It's cool, I guess," said Lincecum, who can be fairly certain he did not steal Mathewson's quote from the day he set the record. Lincecum had good reason to be blase about this record, because he is only 26. "I've got a lot more pitching to do," he said. "Hopefully these will keep on coming."
Most impressive, Lincecum struck out his last five hitters and reached a dozen on his 127th pitch. He still was throwing 95 mph, too, showing how his fitness and weight gain now allow this slight fellow to last as long as the CC Sabathias of the game.
The light blue line is Tim Lincecum's K/9 through his career. Between 9 - 11 K's per 9.
The orange line is the league average K/9 through Lincecum's career. Around 7 K's per 9.
The green line is Christy Mathewson's K/9 through out his career. Between around 6.5 and 2 K's per 9.
The purple line is the league average K/9 through Mathewson's career. Between 2 and 4 K's per 9.
Obviously, Mathewson struck out less batters per 9 innings than Lincecum did. But also obvious is that pitchers in general struck out less batters in Mathewson's time than those in Lincecum's time.
The darker blue line is Christy Mathewson's K/9 divided by the league average K/9.
The red line is Tim Lincecum's K/9 divided by the league average K/9.
You can see that Mathewson strikes out slightly more batters relative to the league average than does Lincecum.
Mathewson pitched in the "deadball" era when home runs were few and far between. I wonder how many K's he might have racked up in today's "swing for the fences" game.
Any Baseball argument comparing that era to today are futile.
One thing is undeniable.....Babe Ruth was the greatest player ever.
I agree. But at least one poster on this forum asserts that Ruth's offensive accomplishments are tainted because the pitching was weak in that era. Any day now I expect to read a post declaring that Ruth's great pitching record is suspect because the hitting was weak.
Fantastic. He's good, but it's just another record. Fancy statistics happen all the time.
What really bothers me about this quote is how modern journalism and editing has failed. This error is repeated every day by all kinds of reporters:
Quote:
He still was throwing 95 mph, too, showing how his fitness and weight gain now allow this slight fellow to last as long as the CC Sabathias of the game.
There is only one CC Sabathia. Someone who speaks English as his native language should be able to write or say, "to last as long as someone like CC Sabathia."
This really bugs me but I know that there's nothing that I can do about it. I wish there were referees for the commentators and could give them fouls and fines for butchering the English language.
Comparing Lincecum to Sabathia may or not be complimentary to Lincecum. I recently "learned" from another thread that Sabathia is not currently among the 11 best pitchers. He may not even be in the top 50.
Any Baseball argument comparing that era to today are futile.
One thing is undeniable.....Babe Ruth was the greatest player ever.
Unless of course someone decides to deny it.
The greatest player is a liquid concept, relative to whatever mitigating circumstances the advocate may wish to introduce.
Ruth was indeed the premier player of his own era, and the difference between Ruth and an average player was greater than it has been since. If you stop there, then yes, Ruth is the greatest ever, based on the above criteria.
However, that Ruth was so much better than anyone else playing at the same time, could be the product of Ruth's superiority, or his contemporaries' inferiority.
Further, and more compelling, is that in every athletic endeavor which is able to keep exacting records, such as most of the Olympic sports, all of the records are held by modern athletes and the records established by the best men in the 1920's and 1930's, are now routinely passed by the top 25 women of the 2000's. All of the available evidence suggests inescapably that athletic ability has increased every decade and that today's athletes are much larger, stronger and faster.
It would then follow that it is highly illogical to conclude that somehow or other baseball has been an exception and that the greatest players have been out of the game for 75 years.
So, if that is the perspective in which you elect to frame your advocacy, then Ruth is not the greatest ever, just the best of his time.
It isn't a question which is resolved by simply asserting that something is undeniable.
Last edited by Grandstander; 05-05-2011 at 05:13 PM..
During Ruth's career Ty Cobb was generally regarded as the game's greatest player, and this view is still held by some today. It is interesting to note that Cobb garnered a higher percentage of ballots in the first Hall of Fame voting (98.2% to Ruth's 95.1). But few institutions have ever been revolutionized in so profound a manner as Ruth changed the sport of baseball. And this change began just in time to hasten the healing process so badly needed following the infamous "Black Sox" scandal.
Let's see how long it takes for someone to compare Lincecum to Walter Johnson.
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