New User

[Defense Counts!]

Hi everyone

I'm a new user who has been a Blue Jays fan since the day they beat the White Sox way back in ... what year was that again? (Ah, Doug Ault, you will never be forgotten).

Anyway, I thought I should introduce myself. As you can see, I live in northern Thailand, which is hardly known for baseball fever (English football rules here). Thanks to the internet, I can at least keep up with what is going on in the majors, even though I never see a game.

My favourite players have been: Rusty Staub, Larry Walker, Carlos Delgado, Paul Quantrill, Pat Hentgen, Roy Halliday and anyone who can play good defense.

My pet peeves are saves (the most overrated stat ever!), batting average (a good stat for those who believe singles and home runs have the same value), the five man rotation when four would be sufficient, reverence for the likes of Nolan Ryan and Reggie Jackson, and hall-of-fame voting (how could Willie Mays and Hank Aaron not be unanimous?).

As for the current Jays ... they need better defense and more work from their best four starters if they are going to catch Boston.

[starkeeper]

I remember Doug Ault and his opening day 2 home runs as well. That may date us a little bit.
Welcome to the Blue Jay forum!!

[Big_Mac]

welcome to the blue jays forum my friend!

[Chris from NY]

Welcome to the forum, glad to see someone else who likes the idea of a four man pitching rotation.

[Outta Here]

As you can see, I live in northern Thailand, which is hardly known for baseball fever (English football rules here)


YEAH! That's what I like to see!!! :D

Welcome to BBF from a fellow International poster! :clapping :waving

[Defense Counts!]

Welcome to the forum, glad to see someone else who likes the idea of a four man pitching rotation.

So why do managers use a five-man rotation? I suspect it's fear of criticism. When a starter goes down with an arm problem the manager often gets the blame. "The poor baby was overworked by the know-nothing skipper! No pitcher can throw that much without having problems!"

Heck, even with a ten-man rotation the starters would go down occasionally. The problem is not overwork, but underwork. A four-man rotation would be sharper, and would free up one man for long-relief. Isn't this obvious? How did the old-timers get by with three starters going the distance regularly?

And that's my rant for the day ...

[Chris from NY]

I think that's what they see as an issue, but I personally don't think it would be that big odf a problem. If anything you're relievers would have to work harder but you could presumably have an extra reliever anyway.

[bluejaysfan4ever]

Are you really from Thailand?

[Defense Counts!]

Actually, I was born in England, have lived most of my life in Canada, and now teach English in Thailand.