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8-2, 4.47 |
5-5, 5.82 |
GAME TIME 7:10 CDT
it's raining downtown; if i was to judge from the view out the 4th-floor window, i'd say they probably don't get the game in. but i'm not a professional. highlights from SABR today:- the presentation by dr mike marshall, the cy young winner turned maverick pitching coach, was attended by representatives from at least 3 major-league front offices, including the cardinals. that didn't stop him from denouncing big-league baseball as an industry. as i type he's holding court out here in the reception area, answering the questions he didn't have time to answer in the ballroom; about 40 people knotted around him.
- had a long conversation about clutch hitting with eric van, the one-time chat-room poster at Sons of Sam Horn who now works for the Red Sox front office. van absolutely believes in clutch hitting, and says papi ortiz's amazing run of clutch hits in 2005-06 could not have happened at random. ditto pujols' unbelieveable performance in the clutch last year. he also described derek lowe as a pitcher with a "bimodal" distribution of results in 2004. lowe had a 5.00 era that year, van told me, but at no time was he a 5.00 pitcher --- on a given day he either was a 2.50 pitcher or a 7.50 pitcher. that sounds like kip wells, i said, and
- also met a professor from mizzou, mike stadler, who's written a book about how psychology affects baseball performance; look for an interview with that dude.
- cardinal stat analyst sig mejdal did not appear, as advertised. not his fault --- the SABR conventioneers dropped the ball and miscommunicated, and consequently he was on a plane today en route from l.a. to new york instead of here at the adam's mark. i did meet one of mejdal's associates, mike girsch --- a devoted reader of various cardinal blogs and fan sites, including VEB.