So a couple of things are going to happen right now. I am going to reveal another one of my favorite things, and I am going to do so by addressing a question that caused a LOT of controversy during my recent family vacation.
First of all, I love the Phillies. If baseball was the only sport that happened during the year and all of the other sports fell off the map I would feel no remorse. That's how much I love the Phillies - enough that it overrides the need for any other sports to exist. My classroom is not decorated with student work - it's decorated with Phillies photos and memorabilia. That's how much I love the Phillies - enough to warrant displaying it in my classroom INSTEAD OF anything related to the subject I teach.
So if you understand how much I love the Phillies, then you now have an idea of how much my brother loves the Braves.
Let's just say that the love we have for our respective teams has polarized my family. Except it's really more like a Phillie massacre. Because everyone but my wife and I loves the Braves. So whenever we get together the topic of whose team is better comes up.
This particular vacation was no different. It came up, but I feel like both parties handled it very well. Until my brother and I were talking on the beach with our cousin Sumter. I don't remember how the question came up, but we were talking about how the Braves have good pitching this year. So someone asked - probably me - who the Braves should start in game one of the World Series.
So obviously this was hypothetical and highly imaginary. Because there is no way they make it there this year.
But if the situation were to come to fruition, both my brother AND Sumter said they would start Derek Lowe. No question. Because of his experience in the playoffs. So I immediately asked - because it is a logical question - why they wouldn't start Tim Hudson. Or Jair Jurrjens. Or ANYONE BETTER than Derek Lowe.
Their response - experience matters more in the playoffs. Cut and dry.
Their argument is that in a situation where you must win a game you would start someone who has more experience in the playoffs over someone who has more talent. So I then asked them what I thought was a great example of a counter to his argument.
You are the Giants and you have a choice between Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum. Barry Zito is 4-3 in the playoffs with a 3.25 era. His starts came in the same time frame as Derek Lowe's starts, so it is a fair comparison. Tim Lincecum is 15 years old - he just started shaving - so he has no playoff experience. Do you start Barry Zito because of his experience?
Their answer was no - as was the Giants answer last year when Tim Lincecum was amazing in the World Series. I felt like this was a pretty solid counter argument, and I explained that I feel like you should start your best pitcher in the toughest situations - therefore I would start Hudson over Lowe and Lincecum over Zito.
To me, experience is certainly important, but when you compare Lowe's numbers to Hudson's numbers in the playoffs, I don't feel like Lowe's numbers "wow" me enough to start him over someone who has very similar numbers yet has an ERA that is 0.40 lower over his career and a win percentage that is ten points higher. Neither has a winning record in the playoffs. So when I look at the fact that Hudson has a winning record this season and an ERA that is almost 1.00 below Derek Lowe, I go with the person who is performing. And that's Hudson.
While I thought I presented a pretty good counter argument and explanation for my choice, they both still refused to acknowledge my reasoning as legitimate. This led to a few other conversations about the topic and just a general disagreement about everything baseball for the rest of the trip. But as we were disagreeing, I thought about who we (the Phillies) should start in Game 1 of the World Series.
If I take the stance of experience in the playoffs the pitcher that should start is Cole Hamels. He has more playoff experience than both Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay AND has won a World Series.
If I take the stance of overall experience including post season, we should pitch Cliff Lee who is 7-2 in the playoffs, has pitched in the last two World Series and has much more experience pitching during the regular season than Cole Hamels.
But as I said, I put my best pitcher on the mound. So without a doubt I start Roy Halladay - arguably the best pitcher in baseball right now. His first time in the playoffs was last year. He threw a no-hitter in his first game.
A no-hitter.
Like, he only walked one person on a questionable call (in my opinion) and faced 28 batters in his first game EVER in the playoffs.
Roy Halladay starts because Roy Halladay is our best pitcher. Call me crazy, but the Phillies (and every other team in professional sports) pay these players too much money to worry about who is going to need a tissue in tough situations. Pitch according to your ability when I need you to or have a seat.
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