Quote:
Originally Posted by GirlySports
You make the game sound robotic.. like pitchers have no feelings or nerves or momentum. Or at home or away. The closer at home gets a boost from the crowd. The closer on the road get nervous from the crowd. They are human. If this wasn't the case, why is there a crowd at all?
Just for fun you and I will have an experiment throughout the season.
Jays bullpen when the Jays are behind or when the game is tied.
At the end of the 11th right now.
13 IP - 0 runs
Jays bullpen when the Jays have the lead.
2 IP - 1 run
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Santos fastball doesn't get any faster because the crowd cheers loud or boos. Yes, they are human and not robots. But the difference you talked about equates to a fraction of the overall statistics.
I'm not saying homefield advantage and the road cannot have an effect on a player (
http://sabermetricresearch.blogspot....advantage.html) it's incredibly tough to evaluate on a team level but not so much pitcher to pitcher.
The little competition makes no sense and if you'd read the Grantland article you could see where I'm coming from. There's more Jays fans in Cleveland today, there's no pressure. Over a 162 games those little changes in emotion on how loud the crowd is cheering and where you're pitching make such a little statistical imprint on. This is a very similar argument to the myth about Jack Morris going to the Hall of Fame because he pitched to the score, and that's why he had below average HOF numbers.
This is a road game for the BlueJays under statistics but Jays fans outnumber Indians fans in Cleveland. I'm not against intangibles and believe that everything can be found in a statical but causal fans and baseball broadcasters have a horrible way of overrating and overusing them.
I suggest reading the Grantland article and finding out the best statistic to measure relievers is SD/MD, Shutdowns vs Meltdowns.
