two pirates fans chronicle the 2012 season
For the entirety of the 2012 season my friend Colin and I exchanged emails in one long thread about the Pirates. From the slow start to the incredible standing in August (16 games above 0.500 on August 6, their best standing since 1992) and their chance to break a now-20 year streak of losing season, the worst in major US sports in history, to their epic (and historic) collapse we followed the team. From the hope to despair, the stats to the intangibles, the interesting to the mundane, it’s all here.
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From: Adrian Bischoff
To: Colin Ashe
Date: Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 9:37am
How was [the home opener, which Colin attended]? I listened to a chunk of it online at work. Seems like
Halliday had a ridiculous game.
Also, this made me happy. Go bucs.
https://www.teammarketing.com/public/files/2011_mlb_fci.pdf
Adrian
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From: Colin Ashe
To: Adrian Bischoff
Date: Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 11:06 AM
It was good. It’s true that Halladay had a good game but the numbers don’t tell the whole story. I was sitting next to Phillies fans and they were complaining about his velocity. Apparently, he only hit 90mph twice or something. Also, the Pirates put the bat on the ball a lot, they just happened to hit to where fielders could get it. Sabermetricians will tell you, that’s not within the pitcher’s control. So, I think Halladay was operating on the lucky side of the hits per balls in play spectrum. Or, at the very least, he’s pitching in front of a bunch of good defenders. If you put him on another team with worse defense, the Pirates would have got a number of doubles.
Also, the only run the Phillies got was very nearly an out at the plate. If the throw had been a little lower or a little earlier, the guy would have been out.
All in all, it was a fun game even though the Pirates lost. They played well, so it was encouraging – especially since they were up against Halladay and Papelbon.
I’ll be interested to see the 2012 version of that study. The beer prices at the game yesterday were all like $7+. I think they’ve raised prices on a lot of things since last season. They’re still probably on the cheap end of things, but they’re definitely more expensive than last year.
-Colin