Rocketman95-1 Htownhero-1 He's pretty much my source of hatred for the Braves. That and their continuing ass whipping of the Astros.
Did you watch Billy tonight? 2 Ks, and an awesome comebacker that he caught like he was Samurai Jack. RELAX
Livan got those calls in 98 against the Braves because Eric Gregg was behind the plate and he has to be one of the worst umpires of all time. Hitchcock did a good job against the Stros but Kevin Brown was damn near perfect.
Chad Hermansen and Mark Bellhorn aren't exactly Gary Sheffield and Andruw Jones. Nobody doubts Wagner's ability to save games against journeymen and rookies.
when your job is to come in game-defining moments...and you perform as consistenly as Wagner has over this year OR over his career...you are not a choker.
Billy Wagner does a consistant job closing out games during the regular season, and then when the playoffs come around/or big games came around, he suddenly can get anyone out. That is why Billy is a choker. If you still dont think he is that, then you are blind. Playoff games are magnified big-time. And Wagner playoff record is horrible.
Its easy to say his playoff numbers are horrible, but there is absolutely no sample size of oppurtunities where he actually got to do his job...save a game. The only "blown save" was in 98 against the Padres (which was before the surgery, during his most dominant year ever), and it took a fluke hit by Leyritz (trust me, watch it again...its a fluke). Other than that, he's been asked to come in and pitch in games in which his teammates have already let him down (see Mike Jackson and Dierker, last year). Sure he shouldn't have given up that homer...but it was no blown save. If this team had any playoff games which they had the lead in the ninth inning, and Billy still doesn't do his job, then there's more to talk about here. I will admit though, I have been getting quite nervous w/ Billy's performances over the past month...maybe its because Dotel's been so damn good, you think we're making a mistake bringing him in...imagine what we'd be thinking if we didn't have a 'closer in waiting' on this team...
I say we unload Wagner and one of our top prospects to Oakland for either Mulder or Zito and let Dotel be our closer and let Hernandez be our setup man.
Billy Koch: 28 saves, 5BS, .207 batting average against, 3.14 era... Why would Oakland do this? Plus, Koch makes about one-tenth of the salary Wagner does
I dunno I guess wishful thinking. Wagner could set-up Koch But you gotta admit Dotel would be a cheaper and better fit for the Astros. We could use that money Wagner is making to get one more starting pitcher to put us on top.
IIRC, Leyritz fouled off about 8 fastballs & Billy kept humpin em up there. He refused to throw a slider, saying he didn't want to get beat on his secondary pitch. Why is that a fluke? You throw a good fastball hitter a half-dozen or so fastballs & he'll catch up with 'em, no matter how hard they're thrown. My biggest fault with Wagner is his extreme stubbornness. He's evidenced it on the mound, and in his "rationalizations" after poor performances. He refused to work on a secondary pitch until he was 28 years old, and even then refused to use it enough to develop enought confidence to use it when it matters - hence the Leyritz debacle. He seems content to challenge hitters over the plate with a flat, albeit hard, fastball repeatedly & then shrugs it off when he gets beat, saying things like "If they hit the good pitches, then they hit the good pitches."
Buck !!! WELL SAID !!!!! Randy Johnson is not great because of his fastball, but because of his slider. Same with JR Richard. Wagner needs to use the slider more often, and he SHOULD have developed a change up or Curve to give a different look (Speed wise) to hitters. His fastball does not move anymore, the reason that Dotel & Oswalt are more effective with theirs is that their fastball moves...Wags just comes in hard and fast...and STRAIGHT. DD
Not everyone can throw a curve effectively, Billy's arm angle & release point may preclude that. A changeup is one of the hardest pitches to master, you've got to have the exact same delivery or it will get crushed. What I've never understood is why he never experimented (and maybe he did, who knows?) with a cut (2-seam) fastball, ala Rivera. As hard as he throws, it should have some pretty nasty action, moving in on righties & tailing away from lefties.
The most impressive thing about that Leyritz homerun is he hit an opposite field homer in the gray seats at the Astrodome. You don't see that done too often.
IIRC (again) he pulled it pretty to pretty much dead left field. I was at that game, sitting in the first row of the upper deck in left, & I remember that homer coming straight at us. Don't know where it landed though, but it was a blast.
No, it was to right. My girlfriend's parents where sitting in the Mezzanine right below and got beer spilled all over them.
You may be right, memory's a tricky thing sometimes. Maybe I'm thinking of Vaughn's homer off the Unit in game 1.
There's a good chance I'm wrong too! I've tried to erase pretty much all Astros playoff games from my head.
It was to right field...I was there too. Nobody could believe how that ball was crushed...it looked totally like a foul ball, but it kept going, and carrying.' Maybe that's what its like to watch baseball in Denver.
