Marty:

It seems to me that we have been thru this before. I recall mentioning that Marichal threw more complete games than wins. You mentioned Roberts and the number of innings he customarily threw. You can put dozens of old time pitchers in this category.

Click Below for Ed’s comments on pitching, they are right on, as usual.

MartyThe choir is being preached to. Has the game changed so radically that today’s pitchers cannot be expected to go more than six innings? This may be a self- fullfilling expectation. I note that a few weeks ago Russ Ortiz threw over 130 pitches, gave up two runs while pitching into the 9th. last night Schmidt threw a nine inning shutout. It is particularly discouraging to see young pitchers, such as Froppert, pulled, at the first sign of trouble in the 6th inning. Why not let him try to work his way out of it? He’s never going to reach the point of finishing what he starts if the assumption is that he will inevitably run out of steam as soon as he throws 85 or 90 pitches. It sounds as tho you are beginning to come around to this way of thinking, altho it would be more helpful if a few of the managers started thinking this way. It would, if nothing else, be interesting. Respecting your comments about defense and it’s importance I couldn’t agree more. One of the reasons for the Giants early start was their good defense and this is still an encouraging aspect of their game. It is interesting to see how important a role Perez is playing while subbing for Durham. If a player, particularly an infielder, gets hurt, it is more important to have someone move into the lineup who is strong defensively than offensively. Perez, incidentally, is getting a few good hits as well. He could play regularly for more than one team, the Mets, for instance, as he insists. Speaking about the bench, as you have done respecting the A’s, brings me to the Giants. It is beyond belief that Sabean insists on going ahead with what may be the weakest bench in the league, certainly among contenders. He hasn’t a single left handed hitter to bring up in a pinch hitting role. I read that they are anxiously awaiting the return of Bernard to once again fill that role. This despite 2 hits in 25 at bats!

Ed