Scenario: Pitcher A starts a game, goes 5 full innings and comes out with a 3-1 lead. Pitcher B comes in with a 3-1 lead, throws 1 inning, gives up 2 runs and comes out with the score tied at 3. The team has a good at-bat and brings the score up to 8-3. Pitcher C comes in to close and holds the score at 8-3.
Question: Which pitcher gets the win?
B.
The pitcher that is currently in the game, and that includes if someone pinch hits for him, when his team permanently takes the lead is the winning pitcher. So even though B was the worst pitcher of the game, he gets the win.
Tommy is right
B gets the win
C gets the save
A gets nothing
> B gets the win
> C gets the save
> A gets nothing
C would only get the save if the tying run ever gets at bat, in this case he wouldn't.
Or if he pitches 3 or more innings of "effective" relief, as determined by the official scorer. Which apparently is the case in this scenario. Sorry, I am a bit of a baseball/football geek.
> The pitcher that is currently in the game, and that includes if someone pinch hits for him, when his team permanently takes the lead is the winning pitcher. So even though B was the worst pitcher of the game, he gets the win.
Thanks for all the responses. This is in agreement with what everyone I asked today said, and it makes sense to me, sort of. At first I thought it should be Pitcher A, but I came to understand that the "winning pitcher" stat isn't intended to be a reliable indicator of pitching skill.
The reason I asked in the first place is that my son was Pitcher A in one of yesterday's tournament games, and it didn't seem right that Pitcher B got the win.
The more time I spend at baseball games the more I learn, but the more I learn the more there seems yet to be learned.
There is a little known provision in the rules that allows the official scorer to "award" the win to the relief pitcher "most deserving" of the win. Generally under the scenario you describe Picture B will be awarded the win, but not always. The only thing that is carved in stone in those situations is the Starting picture will not get the win.
Larry P
Sabermetrics - MoneyBall
> The more time I spend at baseball games the more I learn, but the more I learn the more there seems yet to be learned.
You might want to read Moneyball that covers the story of Billy Beane and the Oakland A's and covers the topic of sabermetrics which is the statistcal anylysisis of baseball stats and new ways of developing baseball stats in this ageby math geeks.
Pitching stats are the hardest to find new 'formulas' but there are stat geks who have developed a few.
Moneyball is a good read. I enjoyed it. The A's were the first to employ sabermetricians. Subsequently, teams like the Red Sox and Blue Jays have hired this new breed.
They developed OBP and OPS stats.
Because Moneyball was written by Michael Lewis who scored a big success with his writing of the football film 'The Blind Side", 'Hollywood' has made Moneyball into a feature film with Billy Beane played by Brad Pitt. The origibnal director (Steven Sodewrburgh was going to use real interviews with ball players interwoven into the story but he was replaced.
I think it is being released just before the playoffs but I will wait to rent in the future.
B is the winning pitcher and
you only get a save under the following conditions
1.He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
2.He is not the winning pitcher;
3.He is credited with at least ? of an inning pitched; and
4.He satisfies one of the following conditions:
1.He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least
one inning
2.He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck
3.He pitches for at least three innings
The pitcher wins/loss stat meant a lot more back in the day when pitchers threw complete games in 90% of their starts. Nowadays, W-L is pretty much meaningless, especially for relief pitchers.
Moneyball
We saw the movie Moneyball on Sunday. What a terrific film, even if you're not a die-hard baseball fan! Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill both do a great job with their roles, and the movie is interesting, funny and touching.
We went to see it with my son's team, and most of the team parents, because their coach was an extra in the film. He's only on screen for about 2 seconds -- he plays one of the Minnesota Twins who come boiling out of the dugout to congratulate their pitcher after a big win against the As -- but it was exciting to see him up there anyway. He played for UC Davis until a couple of years ago, and got paid something like $600 for 2 days of hanging out on the field at the Oakland Coliseum, throwing the ball around with a bunch of other college players and former players, and running here and there on demand.
Moneyball: highly recommended.
