Complete Pelf: Mets 6, Braves 3

by Eric Simon on Aug 20, 2008 11:31 PM EDT

Mike Pelfrey pitched the first ~~shutout~~ complete game of his career and the second by a Mets' starter this week, though it was kind of an interesting game for him. He walked three and allowed just three hits -- all singles -- though his groundball rate was terrible (9-to-15), and Pelfrey is a guy who thrives on keeping the ball on the ground. Many of the flyballs he allowed were of the popup or lazy variety, but if he isn't striking guys out (he had just three), he's generally going to be more successful when his grounder rate is approaching two.

The Mets managed to plate six runs on just six hits thanks to some walks and a couple of Atlanta errors. There was only one extra-base hit for either team in the whole game (David Wright's solo shot in the fifth), so everyone lost the swag question about the game's second extra-base hit. The homerun was Wright's 97th RBI of the year, putting Mike Piazza's team record of 124 slightly within reach with 35 games remaining.

I added a GWRBI line beneath the WPA graph below, though the Mets' fourth run scored on Chipper Jones's throwing error in the first so nobody actually got credit for that RBI. Better luck next time, stats of yesteryear!

Big winners: Mike Pelfrey, +22.8% WPA, Dan Murphy, +14.3% WPA
Big losers: Jose Reyes, -4.7% WPA, David Wright, -0.6% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Murphy two-run single in 1st, +16.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Larry walk in 6th to load bases, -5.7% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +22.8%
Total batter WPA: +27.2%
GWRBI: Nobody (run scored on a throwing error)

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by BobbyV_Incognito; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Name	# of Posts
BobbyV_Incognito	53
Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright	48
pingel	30
Greenpoint Ian	23
LOUtheMETfan	13
gogomets	12
mmxii	9
JoshNY	9
Shomov	8
johnnyapple	7
Reg Dunlop	5
DoctorK16	3
Simons	1
Grouchoman	1
goth brooks	1

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Comments

Editing

Eric – this was Big Pelf’s first career complete game, but definitely not a shutout.

'Catsmeat!' he cried. 'I see it all. It was that chump, Catsmeat.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Aug 20, 2008 11:50 PM EDT reply actions

What?

Just because you’re leading in the swag contest you think you can edit the website?

by IanB in MD on Aug 20, 2008 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions

You guys looking to corner the market on Mets swag?

How do I know you’re not the same person anyway?

by Eric Simon on Aug 20, 2008 11:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Three ways...

1. If Catsmeat wins, check his address.
2. Look at my profile picture. He is on the left (with shorter hair.)
3. We’ll be at the Sept. 6th game at Shea. We’ll send a picture.

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Aug 21, 2008 12:00 AM EDT up reply actions

One way

1) My brother’s a jerk. I am awesome.

'Catsmeat!' he cried. 'I see it all. It was that chump, Catsmeat.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Aug 21, 2008 7:55 AM EDT up reply actions

That also works.

I think our father came up with that system.

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Aug 21, 2008 7:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Fixed

Too many vodka tonics.

by Eric Simon on Aug 20, 2008 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions

too much robotussin

by kendynamo on Aug 21, 2008 3:30 AM EDT up reply actions

GWRBI!

Thanks Eric for trying with the GWRBI. Maybe tomorrow it’ll happen.

by IanB in MD on Aug 20, 2008 11:50 PM EDT reply actions

Now that I think about it...

…wasn’t the GWRBI given to the guy who drove in the run that gave the team a lead they never relinquished?

Here is what wikipedia says: “Major league baseball kept record of game-winning RBIs in the years 1980-19881. The game-winning RBI was credited to the batter whose at-bat was responsible for bringing his team ahead for the final time in the game. For example, if a batter on the winning team brought his team ahead 3-2 from a 2-2 tie at some point during the game, his team later led 5-2 as a result of other batters, and then the opposing team scored two more runs before the final score was 5-4, the batter on the winning team who batted in the third run would be credited with the game-winning RBI, even though the losing team scored four runs. The debate over whether the RBI should be credited to the "Run 3 batter” or the “Run 5 batter” in these situations led to the statistic being abolished."

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Aug 20, 2008 11:58 PM EDT reply actions

Interesting

I guess we can do whatever we want, since it was abolished under the weight of this very dilemma. Is trying to be progressive with respect to GWRBI a fool’s game?

by Eric Simon on Aug 21, 2008 8:16 AM EDT up reply actions

Maybe so

Its not like the GWRBI coincides with the WPA Graph accept with walk-offs, right?

And, yes, you can do whatever you want.

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Aug 21, 2008 8:57 AM EDT up reply actions

Yea

I just threw it under there for lack of a better place. And, when I said “we can do whatever we want”, I didn’t mean it in the editorial sense. I literally meant “we” as in “this community”. If we decide that it should be the deciding run, then that’s what it should be. If we want to be GWRBI purists, then we should conform to the original — albeit awkwardly flawed — “formula”.

by Eric Simon on Aug 21, 2008 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions

I think it should go with deciding run

As long as we’re having some fun here.

'Catsmeat!' he cried. 'I see it all. It was that chump, Catsmeat.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Aug 21, 2008 10:16 AM EDT up reply actions

That sounds alright

Im not so much a purist as I am a lover of the GWRBI. I’ll take it anyway I can get it.

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Aug 21, 2008 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions

I love this stat

Thanks for reminding me about it. I had completely blanked out the very existence of the advanced form of lunacy known as GWRBI until it came up here.

It’s like somebody saw all the flaws that make pitchers’ W-L records so nonsensically unrelated to their actual performance — and fell in love with them, and asked themselves “How can I make a stat that does all this for batters, too?” Amazingly ill-conceived, like a perfect storm of statistical ignorance (no, wait, the real perfect storm was the amazing Productive Out Percentage, so this has to be number 2).

by anonymous on Aug 21, 2008 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Swag Contest

Question: One of the questions for tonight’s swag contest was, “Which team will get the second extra-base hit?” But there was only one, Wright’s homer. Does no one get credit for answering, or what? It doesn’t really seem like there’s a fair way to resolve it, since it’s an A or B question, and the odds of there only being 1 XBH in the game were very low, especially in a 6-3 game.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Aug 21, 2008 12:58 AM EDT reply actions