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Saturday, March 02, 2013

Ringolsby: Rockies want pitchers to ignore home park

Shove over Taborsky…Mad Dog is killing here!

Greg Maddux grinned at the mention of the challenge of pitching at Coors Field.

“Did I struggle there?” he asked.

His career ERA at Coors Field was 5.19, second only to Chase Field in Phoenix (6.01) among ballparks in which he had at least five career decisions.

“Yeah, but what was my record?” he replied.

He was 8-2 in 14 starts at Coors Field, his second best winning percentage among ballparks in which he had at least four decisions to the 8-1 record he has compiled at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The eight wins are the most of any visiting pitcher, one more than Randy Johnson, and two ahead of Adam Eaton.

“I’ll take that,” said Maddux. “That’s better than being 2-8 with a 3.50 ERA. ERA is nice, but a starting pitcher needs to concentrate on innings pitched and wins, and not worry about his ERA or strikeouts per nine innings or walks. It is all about going out there and winning.”

...Maddux, a likely first-time Hall of Fame inductee when he is on the ballot for the first time in December, has advice for anyone who wants to listen.

“Coors Field is all about going six innings, and that was before they messed with the baseballs [in a humidor],” said Maddux. “Now it’s a better place to pitch.

“Usually the pitcher who throws the most innings there will win. It’s not about going seven or eight innings and giving up two runs or less. It’s about outlasting the other pitcher.”

Repoz Posted: March 02, 2013 at 08:23 AM | 10 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
  Tags: rockies

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   1. Dale Sams Posted: March 02, 2013 at 10:55 AM (#4379126)
Glavine has virtually identical innings, a much lower ERA...and went 3-3.
   2. Jolly Old St. Nick Done Jumped The Ship Posted: March 02, 2013 at 12:39 PM (#4379161)
Rockies want pitchers to ignore home park


---"You can have anything you want---gold, guns, all the women you've ever lusted after. There's just one condition."

---"What's that?"

---"You can't ever think about witches."
   3. puck Posted: March 02, 2013 at 01:24 PM (#4379176)
Francis is a homegrown pitcher, the Rockies' first-round Draft choice in 2002, and he doesn't buy the Coors Field crutch for pitchers who struggle.

"I don't know what goes on in other people's head," he said. "I have no qualms about pitching at Coors Field..."

"For the young guys who have come up in the organization, Coors Field isn't an issue," said Francis, who opted to return to the Rockies in May of last year and re-signed with them again in the offseason. "It is not an intimidation thing."


It is kind of interesting, Francis actually has a slightly lower ERA at home over his career, with OPS allowed pretty even, while his GB/AO ratio is pretty much league average.
   4. spike Posted: March 02, 2013 at 02:53 PM (#4379201)
Glavine had a complete game shutout in Coors (the first, IIRC) , which is going to skew his rate stats over a fairly small sample.
   5. Boxkutter Posted: March 02, 2013 at 03:16 PM (#4379209)
Sounds like Maddux would vote for Jack Morris to be in the HoF.
   6. Walt Davis Posted: March 02, 2013 at 04:45 PM (#4379240)
“Yeah, but what was my record?” he replied.

He was 8-2 in 14 starts


"Damn! My teammates must have scored a ####-ton of runs for me."

the 8-1 record he has compiled at AT&T Park

Given these would have been later in his career, that's actually pretty impressive. 2.47 ERA, including 3 GS, 19 IP, 10 hits, 4 R in his last season.

Other than 190 innings when he was caught by Charlie O'Brien, his lowest ERA with a catcher was ... Javy Lopez at 2.35 in 420 IP. :-)
   7. KT's Pot Arb Posted: March 02, 2013 at 05:46 PM (#4379257)
In other news, Rockies apparently want their pitchers to ignore that they suck.
   8. Walt Davis Posted: March 02, 2013 at 10:27 PM (#4379364)
They should bring in Pascual Perez -- he's expert at forgetting about his home park.

Never able to keep my Perez bros straight, I wiki'd Melido first. He's currently the mayor San Gregorio de Nigua in the DR.

And holy crap, Pascual was murdered last November. I assume we had a thread but that didn't sink in at all.
   9. PreservedFish Posted: March 02, 2013 at 11:42 PM (#4379398)
Other than 190 innings when he was caught by Charlie O'Brien, his lowest ERA with a catcher was ... Javy Lopez at 2.35 in 420 IP. :-)


No ####.
   10. Jack Carter, calling Beleaguered Castle Posted: March 03, 2013 at 01:09 AM (#4379454)
“Coors Field is all about going six innings, and that was before they messed with the baseballs [in a humidor],” said Maddux. “Now it’s a better place to pitch.


Since we know from the PEDs thread that cheating is only working within the game's time honored traditions, would anyone have a problem with the Rockies feeding the plate ump humidor balls when the home team's in the field, and un-humidor'ed balls when the Rockies are batting?

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