From: spira@panix.com (Greg "Sarcasm Is A Way Of Life" Spira)
Subject: Re: Relative value of players
Organization: Boo!
Lines: 76

In <KIME.93Apr20133127@mongoose.torolab.ibm.com> kime@mongoose.torolab.ibm.com (Edward Kim) writes:

>In article <C5ro4H.Lww@world.std.com> jle@world.std.com (Joe M Leonard) writes:

>> Before folks jump on me, let me ask the net - would the Jays
>> have won the AL with a good pitcher from AAA in place of Morris (given
>> his run support)?  How about an average ML pitcher?  I can't believe
>> that Morris' performance in the playoffs and series had a large positive
>> impact on the Jays performance ...

>I know it's very trendy nowadays to dump on Morris, but let's give credit
>where credit is due.

>It is doubtful that the blue jays would have won the AL east without Morris.

Well, when you say, without Morris, you have to mention an assumed
replacement.  If the alternative to Morris was letting Cito Gaston
soft-toss the ball underhand to the opposition every 5 days, then
of course the Blue Jays wouldn't have won without Morris.  If the
alternative was replacement level, then I think it would've been very
close, and yes, Morris might've made the difference.  If the alternative
was Frank Viola, the Blue Jays probably would have won more easily with
Viola.

>Last year, when the team went 13-15 for the month of August, and all the 
>other starters were being shelled, and Milwaukee was making a charge,
>Morris went 5-1 with a pretty good era (I can't remember exactly).

Yes.  You can make the argument that the his presence prevented 
the team from collapsing in August.

>Also, let's not underestimate the importance his 240+ innings to save 
>the bullpen every fifth day.  If he didn't help us win the AL east, forget
>about the pennent and the world series.

Those innings were probably helpful.

>His run support was high (5.98 runs) but so was Stottlemyer's (5.90 runs)
>and he won only 12 games.  I do remember Morris winning an inordinate number of
>6-5 and 8-6 ballgames, but this is to his credit.  He pitched only as good
>as he needed to be.  When he was up 6-1 in a ballgame, he just put it in cruise
>control and threw the ball up there and let the batters "get themseleves out"
>(I hate this expression!).  An inexperienced pitcher would wear himself out 
>trying to make perfect pitches to keep his era down.  But Morris, being a 
>veteran pitcher, knows that winning is the only thing that really matters in
>baseball.  By saving himself, he was able to reach back for that little extra
>(I hate this too!) when the game was on the line.

Well, I think is complete bs.  What happened most of the time is that
Morris fell behind, and the team came back and rescued him.  Mostly,
this is because he's a lousy 1st inning pitcher, and much better
the rest of the way.  That the team can climb out of 4-0, 5-0 holes
consistently and win them 6-5 is not to Morris' credit; it's to the
team's credit.

Furthermore, while Morris did exceed the W-L percentage that would
be projected from his runs allowed and run support, he hasn't done
this in previous years.  In fact, his W-L record in 1991 is a lot
worse than what it projects to be with run support and runs allowed.
Do you think he just came up with this ability in 1992.

Look at the 2 postseason games he pitched decently in.  Typical
Morris games.  Morris gets behind; team rescues him.  He's not
responsible for that rescue.  And in both those games, the team
just didn't rescue him enough.  Jack Morris pitched as well as he did
during much of the season in those 2 games; the offense just didn't
earn him a victory.

>BTW, I think he should be put in the bullpen; it would be embarrassing a 
>veteran pitcher which Cito would never do, but his era is 17+, how much more
>can he be embarrassed?

Morris is one of those guys who will reture when he can't start
anymore; he's too bad a first inning pitcher to serve in the bullpen.

Greg 
