“Well Suzyn, you know, you just can’t predict baseball”
As Yankee fans, how many times have we heard John Sterling utter those words?
They’ve become something of a mantra, something to repeat any time something odd happens, like when Daisuke Matsuzaka takes a no-hitter into the eighth or when Mariano Rivera gives up a grand slam.
Yet these very words, which we so enjoy deriding Sterling for uttering, actually mean something.
They represent, for many, why we, even the most sabermetrically-minded of all of us, will watch every inning of every game we can–because, in the end, you just never know.
There are tons of blogs out there dedicated to forecasts and predictions, to analysis and statistics, blogs that say, okay, this is what happened, this is what the numbers say is happening, and what our model says should probably happen next. It’s turned into something of an art, and those that can best predict accurate models often find themselves with real, actual careers doing just that.
Yet what of the wacky and the unexpected? What of the moments that are never supposed to happen, and then do? What about when Jerry Hairston, Jr. homers to win two games in a row or when Tim Lincecum walks five in multiple outings?
Well, now, Bexy and I (and no, we are not the same person) have decided that the time has come.
We present to you, You Can’t Predict Baseball, the blog.
It’s our shrine to those moments that make the game so entertaining, and make it possible to watch every inning of every game in a long season.
I hope you’ll stop by and take a peak, maybe even hang around for a little while.
Because, as you know, you just can’t predict baseball.
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2 Responses to You Can't Predict Baseball
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TIQ IQ
“Yet what of the wacky and the unexpected? What of the moments that are never supposed to happen, and then do? What about when Jerry Hairston, Jr. homers to win two games in a row or when Tim Lincecum walks five in multiple outings?”
Ask Yogi, he can tell you.
Over the long haul, most players should play to the back of their Baseball card. But game by game? In a short series? No idea.
A pitcher who has been owned by a certain team his whole career could change his pitch pattern and shut them out that one game. I’ve always thought that Umpires have a big impact on certain pitchers as well. If an ump isn’t calling the low strike, and the pitcher needs that pitch to get hitters out, then he’s dead.
When some hitters are going well, even the best pitchers can’t get them out. When they’re slumping badly they can’t get out of their own way long enough to hit guys they usually own. That’s just Baseball, Susan. And it’s the beautiful thing about the game. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, something incomprehensible happens.