Two very distinct pitching styles at the start and at the end today. I have to say, Randy Johnson has looked less than stellar on his return to the AL - whereas last year he pitched great but had his W-L record screwed over by a crappy team, this year thus far he’s been saved the blushes by a good-hitting lineup. Of course, he has faced what I’d consider 2 of the 3 best lineups in the leagues, the Sox and the Orioles, but still, an ERA of over 5 was probably not what Steinbrenner was looking for.
By contrast, Foulke had no command today, threw 50+ pitches in 2 innings - and somehow escaped scoreless. The thing is, Foulke is a changeup artist, and as Nate Silver argues in Baseball Prospectus, a good changeup is easier to get wood on than other good pitches - but much harder to hit well. (This is the extension of the research that shows BABIP is lower for knuckleballers.) But that means the usual Foulke outing is filled with pop-ups and weak flies, which leads to heart attack moments
Okay, okay, I guess the only thing that matters now is the fight - I keep looking and looking at it, and can’t come to a conclusion as to what happened - although I must say I’m amused at the timing of writing “Gary Sheffield is a prick” in my previous entry last night, and waking up this morning to have it confirmed. One thing’s clear: Sheffield should’ve thrown into the infield before doing anything. It looks like Sheffield was running for the ball, the guy’s hand either accidentally or deliberately hits him in the face, he’s mad as all get out (he definitely seemed to think he was hit) and runs at the guy before thinking the better of it. I suspect that there was a constant parade of jeers and abuse he was receiving from that side, which may have caused the perceived ‘hit’ on the face to be the final straw… doesn’t excuse Sheffield’s loss of temper, but I think this is overblown. (Sheffield can always argue he needed to create space to throw the ball back. Not much is clear from the videos. But I do think, regardless of his aversion to psychologists, that an anger management class may help. Ask Milton Bradley.)
The guy’s ejection was definitely deserved, regardless of intent. What the hell are people doing sticking their hands anywhere NEAR the field of play? Shades of Tony Clark’s lucky (for the Sox) ground-rule double… If the Sox scored only one run instead of two thanks to fan interference and the Yankees had won, there would have been hell to pay.
In the far right corner, weighing 215lbs, Gary Sheffield…