The complete game is a true art form lost

Walt, Arcadia, CA 9107 — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:16:32 GMT

The Giants didn't just give him $128M -- TV revenue, and the other owners, and greed did. The Giants did not have to sign Zito, but they wanted the additional revenue that a winning organization would bring in. It's not Zito's fault that he only pitches 7-8 innings -- blame that on pitch counts.

The complete game is a true art form lost

Tom, Sudbury, ON — Mon, 26 May 2008 20:29:58 GMT

Ted, if you're going to say the "THE COMPLETE GAME IS A TRUE ART FORM LOST", you're not thinking about Roy Halladay. It's only May and the guy has already pitched 5 COMPLETE games. Maybe you're looking in the wrong place.
cheers
Tom

The complete game is a true art form lost

Reality Rog, San Francisco, CA — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:34:33 GMT

If the Giants had a sabermetric clue, they would have realized that while Barry Zito COULD have been worth the money they paid for him, the chances were very, very slim. The Giants weren't getting the Cy Young Award pitcher of 2002. Instead they were getting a pitcher who had been on a steady slide from that pinnacle.

It might be that the call was Peter Magowans. And that might be the reason the Giants' ownership may have called for Peter's ouster as managing general partner at the end of this season.

Or it may merely have been another in the horrendous chain of moves general manager Brian Sabean has made since the end of the 2002 season in which the Giants came eight outs from winning the World Series. Brian apparently sold his soul to the devil, with payment coming due on the evening of Game 6 of the 2002 World Series. He has made precious few moves since then -- the worst of them being not immediately rebuilding his minor league system back when Theo Epstein pledged the same for the Boston Red Sox, with tremendous results.

Some Giants fans have wanted to see how Brian would put together a team without the "handicap" of having to build around the game's greatest player for over a decade. This season they are finding out.

Yes, Tim Lincecum is taking over for Bonds as the resident superstar. And, yes, Sabean deserves the credit for drafting and signing him -- although apparently assistant Dick Tidrow as the one with the really sharp eyes. But aside from "The Franchise," as Lincecum was nicknamed by his teammates before he ever threw a major league pitch, the Giants have little beyond has-beens, never beens and Four-A players above Class A.

Giants fans are seeing what Sabean can do without Bonds, and until somewhere around 2012 at the earliest, it isn't likely to be pretty. The Giants don't have few prospects who are ready and even fewer who are capable of making an impact, they dont' have much to trade that they can afford to lose, and they have had horrible luck with regard to signing the top free agents and instead have substituted overpaying for second-tier players.

The Giants have a beautiful ball park. They have a wonderful young pitcher in Lincecum -- as long as they keep pitching him and don't give the youthful-looking one a job as batboy. But their future over the next four years resembles that of a losing Presidential candidate.

The complete game is a true art form lost

Brian, Irvine, Ca. — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:29:06 GMT

If you like watching pitchers pitch complete games you should watch the Angels. Their starting pitchers have been pitching deep into a lot of games this year. Ervin Santana just pitched his second complete game last night. Joe Saunders doesn't have any yet but could have if Mike Scioscia let him. I think he's pitched eight innings in half his starts so far. K-Rod has to get his saves too though I guess. John Lackey pitched a complete game Sunday night although he blew it in the 9th.

The complete game is a true art form lost

Rylan Stolar, Spanish, Ontario — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:45:09 GMT

Thank you Tom. Roy Halladay has completed 5 of his 11 starts this year. He leads the league in innings pitched and innings pitched per start as well. He has more complete games than any team. He's going to be the first pitcher in 9 years to complete 10, and maybe even the first pitcher in 10 years to complete 15. Some will argue that pitching in the AL gives him a better chance at being left in the game because he doesn't have to come up to bat, but I think facing the incredibly weak lineups in the NL should give them an advantage. Any lineup where career utility guy Aaron Boone bats third, should be in AAA. Complete games are still lurking around, they just aren't thrown by the guy that throws 97mph, strikes out a ton, wins a boatload of games, and plays for a large market team.

The complete game is a true art form lost

Mario P. Ubaldi Pleasant Hill California — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:34:22 GMT

Willie Randolph got the sort end of the stick. He is a fantastic baseball Manager, and the players are performing at all. The Mets front office needs to get their act together because no Manager will want to take the Mets Managerial job if offered. I have seen highlights of Mtes games on ESPN, anf the players are terrible. The Mets player are only there to collect their inflated paychecks. In the real world, we are paid based on performance. Any team would hugely benefit from having a Manager like Willie Randolph being their Manager.

Take Care

The complete game is a true art form lost

John Miller,Lakewood,Ohio — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:04:49 GMT

If you look at 1970's pitchers like Tom Seaver,Nolan Ryan,Jim Palmer,Dennis Leonard,Steve Carlton.....Those guys would pitch 10 complete games in a year standing on their head!!......10 CG a year back then wasn't jack.

Jim Palmer would pitch 20 to 25 complete games a year no problem......Just go to the MLB website and search in "historic players" engine and type in one of those pitchers last names and see for youself.

Hearing commentators telling us the pitcher's pitch count is extremely irritating already....it takes the enjoyment of watching the game away...LET THEM PITCH!

and I don't want to hear anybody go to the "protecting a multi-million dollar investment" card.