The Boys of Summer

Monday, July 11, 2005

I Hate All-Star Managers

Chris Carpenter is going to start the All-Star game for the NL.

Let that sink in. Chris Carpenter is going to start the All-Star Game for the NL.

This move, frankly, sucks. Carpenter is the third-best pitcher in baseball and has no business starting the game. Here are his stats:

Carpenter: 13-4, 128 K's, 2.51 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 3 CG's

That's pretty good...Until you compare these stats to the numbers of Dontrelle Willis and Roger Clemens.

Willis: 13-4, 98 K's, 2.39 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 5 CG's, 4 SHO's
Clemens:7-3, 112 K's, 1.48 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 0 CG's

Roger Clemens should be starting the All-Star game. His ERA is better by over an entire run (!), while his WHIP is better as well. Sure, he only has seven wins, but he also has 8 ND's in which he gave up a total of six earned runs.

Clemens is in the midst of the best season any pitcher has had since Bob Gibson threw 13 SHO's in 1968. To deny him the starting spot in the All-Star game is embarrassing to the game of baseball.

What makes it worse is that this is not the first time that a manager has made a terrible homer pick. For example, last year, Joe Torre selected his setup man, Tom Gordon, to be an All-Star pitcher. It was a terrible call because there were so many more deserving setup men out there (like, say, B.J. Ryan) - and this year, the same thing is happening.

This is just further proof that the decision to make the All-Star game determine home field advantage in the World Series is a bad one. La Russa is undoubtedly playing to win in this game; he wants his pitcher to go deeper into the game, and probably feels more comfortable asking Carpenter to do that.

The All-Star game is officially messed up on so many levels. Roger Clemens should be starting the All-Star Game.

2 Comments:

  • perhaps he is saying that carters only cahnce to start an all star game will be this year.
    Rocket has had his chances now, and dontrelle will have many more opportunities, if he develops into the pitcher poeple think he will

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 2:54 PM  

  • carpenter is a better choice than Willis....clemens is tough to argue against, but in the past month, carpenters been the best in baseball.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 3:33 PM  

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