Final Score: Boston Red Sox 2, Kansas City Royals 1Oh my puns, they are so clever. But seriously though, with the exception of one very iffy situation by Okajima, mastery was all over the pitching tonight. Masterson himself overcame the onus of having a hard act to follow, succeeding in (mostly) shutting down Kansas City in style, his funky three-quarterish arm angle delivery striking out five Royals while allowing three hits over six and a third innings. Control was a bit of a problem - witness the three wals, including the one that finally did him in - but Masterson is a ground ball pitcher, and through the ninety-one pitches he threw tonight, he got a lot of ground ball outs.
Masterson's cast of thousands relief crew did they jobs with reasonable adroitness, and Okajima's mini-meltdown in the eighth had one positive impact: Papelpon not only got to come in and do his thing to kill off the Royals' rally in the eighth, but do a full-on Cinco-Ocho freakout afterwards, looking like he was going to start breathing fire through the nostrils. Happy is the baseball fan with a lovable psychotic for a closer.
That wraps up two pretty special days of young pitchers making big splashes, but before I sign off for the evening, a word on Jason Varitek. As mentioned elsewhere, Varitek now owns the record for most no-hitters caught; a record underscored by Tek's success in coaching young pitchers to improve their games. Varitek has a direct hand in Josh Beckett's improvement last year, he called no-hitters for Buchholz and Lester, less than a year apart. Tonight he helped a young sinkerballer dominate the Royals. Are these the types of things we look for when we think Hall of Fame catcher? Is it still too early to tell, even after 11 years? Tell me your thoughts in the comments.
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4 comments:
Tek works better with pitchers and prepares more than probably any other catcher in MLB. But I don't know if that makes him a HOFer. He might get there eventually, depending on his longevity. The offensive numbers aren't going to "wow" anyone. Guys have gotten in before based on defense (Ozzie Smith) but Tek's defensive stats, such as CS%, also aren't exactly amazing. Not bad, but probably no HOF worthy on their own.
Basically, I don't think there is any kind of precident for electing a catcher based mostly on his leadership skills and ability to prepare a pitcher for a game. If he retired today, he would not get in...and probably deservedly so.
I love the big C as much as anyone... but I have to agree with Mister here. Tek just doesn't have the numbers for the HOF spot. He might get his number retired in Fenway, he WILL make the Sox HOF, but not the all around baseball "home for the hallowed."
That said: Would I want anyone else working with our young guys? No way
No HOF, no retired number: it's one of the Sox restrictions (along with minimum playing time in Boston and retiring as a member of the Sox).
This intrigued me enough to run some offensive numbers. There are thirteen catchers in the Hall of Fame of varying offensive ability - Roy Campanella with his .500 SLG percentage was a beast - whose average stat line generally beats what Varitek has done and probably will do in the few years he's got left to play. From the current generation of catchers, I-Rod is a lock and Posada seems pretty likely from his Johnny Bench-esque OPS+, but it seems odd not to memorialize a catcher for excelling in what I could argue is his most important function. Makes me wish a bit for Bill Simmons' pyramid HOF scheme.
For me Varitek, at least, have to be retired number in Boston. He is an excellent catcher and on defensive role his numbers are enough good.
Offensive is not his best quality but he is allways when the team needs him, yesterday so far he get a homer after Royals get in front in 5th inning, that's what we need from him.
By the way catch for three non-hitters can be considerated by jury of HOF, at least to have a photo with a ball on a wall...
Today is trun to Matsuzaka and Varitek to complete the sweep against Royals.
GO RED SOX!
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