bosox79 said:So that's a WHIP of 24.00?
Neighborgall bad.
Actually, it's a WIP of 24.00. No H's allowed yet.
bosox79 said:So that's a WHIP of 24.00?
Neighborgall bad.
Better than the 7 guys he hit...DanoooME said:And imagine how the guy who struck out against him feels!
Trautwein's Degree said:Neither Ted Williams nor Babe Ruth nor Barry Bonds in their respective primes could have so much as fouled off the pitch Bard threw to Swisher. In sports, like life, it's all about enjoying it while you have it.
http://m.mlb.com/video/v10781819/bosnyy-bard-gets-sox-out-of-trouble-in-seventh
AimingForYoko said:I've avoided Dan Bard news because the whole situation is really damn depressing. I'd hoped that the Red Sox hadn't broken him permanently.
Poor dude.
That's average-SOSH-member-pitching-in-an-actual-professional-game bad.bosox79 said:So that's a WHIP of 24.00?
Neighborgall bad.
Jaylach said:
I assume this is in reference to his failed conversion to a starter, and with that I kind of think this is a little bit of misremembering how that went down. From what I remember, Bard was kind of using the media to let everyone and their mother know that he wanted to be a starter, and he would be unhappy if left in the bullpen.
If he's broke because of the starter conversion, and I am remembering the events correctly, then he sort of brought this on himself. That doesn't mean I don't feel terrible for the guy (I do), but the blame on the Sox might be misplaced.
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:Bard's ERA in Sept. 2011, when he was still a reliever, was 10.64, over 11 appearances.
In the first half of 2011, his ERA was 2.05 and his WHIP was 0.795.
In the second half of 2011, his ERA was 5.28 and his WHIP was 1.207. Most of this decline was due to his lousy September.
The idea that Bard's fall was the result of making him a starter is 100% bullshit. He was having severe problems before the starter experiment in 2012.
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:Bard's ERA in Sept. 2011, when he was still a reliever, was 10.64, over 11 appearances.
In the first half of 2011, his ERA was 2.05 and his WHIP was 0.795.
In the second half of 2011, his ERA was 5.28 and his WHIP was 1.207. Most of this decline was due to his lousy September.
The idea that Bard's fall was the result of making him a starter is 100% bullshit. He was having severe problems before the starter experiment in 2012.
Bard lost the ability to consistently throws strikes in 2011, likely in September, and never got it back, for reasons that are completely unknown to us
HillysLastWalk said:
As much as you want to stick to this narrative, you can not definitively say this. In fact, 2011 -- even with September -- he posted his lowest walk rate up to that point (3.0 BB/9). The 2nd half, before September, he walked four in 18 innings.
HillysLastWalk said:Again, no one has denied that he had a bad month in September 2011.
How is September 2011 the start of his collapse, but not August 2009? How do you know that this wasn't just a bad month? Yet the whole conversion to a starter, change in mechanics was meaningless? You have definitively concluded that it was an 11 inning sample in September 2011. And the conversion to starter had nothing to do with it.
I haven't given an opinion either way, but to conclude that the conversion to starter had nothing to do with it? That's a reach. Sorry.
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
Because the struggles in September 2011 were fatal to his career. He never got any better. If it was just a bad month you'd expect him to bounce back. He never did. And he had that horrific month using those precious old mechanics everyone loved.
IMO the conversion to starter had zero to do with the implosion of his career. He started losing the ability to pitch in September, and never got it back.
Rovin Romine said:Unlike the majority of players who are drafted and who (at some point) must stop playing baseball, Bard is pretty much set for life financially. $5 million does not sound like a lot relative to the game's elite, but Bard, if he does not earn another penny from here on out is pretty much set for life.
Thanks for the link, but we have a Bard thread in the MLB board, as he is no longer a Red Sox.
HriniakPosterChild said:
I don't know if he's set for life. The tax man and Bard's agent got a healthy chunk of that $5m. Bard surely has a good head start, but he probably still needs to make some money.
Trautwein's Degree said:Neither Ted Williams nor Babe Ruth nor Barry Bonds in their respective primes could have so much as fouled off the pitch Bard threw to Swisher. In sports, like life, it's all about enjoying it while you have it.
http://m.mlb.com/video/v10781819/bosnyy-bard-gets-sox-out-of-trouble-in-seventh
Don Buddin's GS said:Colin McGowan of Sports on Earth on the former Sox phenom: http://therotation.sportsonearthblog.com/when-the-skill-is-gone/
TheGoldenGreek33 said:
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
It's like a whiffle ball. Unreal.TheGoldenGreek33 said:
I don't even know how that is possible. It remains the nastiest pitch I've ever seen.
This goes to show why it's not necessarily a bad thing for young players to sign away arb and FA years for 'team friendly' deals.mauidano said:If he can't pitch off a mound now, he ain't gonna make it Indy ball either. Damn. Feel for the guy. Tough way to end what was such a promising career. Baseball can be cruel.
Damn, if I could be Mark Prior and play baseball for as long as possible without beingdynomite said:I'm sure Bard will continue to chase this dream for the rest of the season, and potentially next year as well, but I really hope he can come to peace with this eventually. It would make me sadder to have him turn into Mark Prior, who 10 years on was still bouncing from minor league system to system, clinging to the last few grains of sand in the hourglass.
Bard's a 28 year old with a degree from UNC and some money in the bank. Plenty of time for him to find a new career.
I dunno, is it? I know a few guys who played in the low minors, and they said it was miserable -- constant overnight bus trips, fleabag motels, and salaries around minimum wage.Fred not Lynn said:Baseball at any level > Real Job
Yet they played...despite the low pay, miserable food, long bus rides and cheap motels...dynomite said:I dunno, is it? I know a few guys who played in the low minors, and they said it was miserable -- constant overnight bus trips, fleabag motels, and salaries around minimum wage.
In fact, apparently the average MiLB player (singing bonus aside) makes ~$5K per season. Here's detail from the lawsuit that was filed earlier this year (about which I have no opinion -- I'm just linking): http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/03/minor-leaguers-working-poor-lawsuit-mlb-bud-selig
Obviously you're still playing baseball for a living, but you're also delaying the inevitable. If Bard went to law school next year (please God spare him) he'd be roughly the same age as most of his classmates.
Fred not Lynn said:Yet they played...despite the low pay, miserable food, long bus rides and cheap motels...
If you're an athlete, and you crave playing, you play, because there's no more beautiful place on earth than the mound, huddle, starting line or batters box...and you cling not just to the dream, but to the moment.
If you reach that moment you don't crave it anymore, you stop. Easy as that. Daniel Bard, despite as brutal and frustrating set of results a guy can imagine, doesn't seem to have reached that point yet. Who are we to tell him it's time to get on with the rest of his life?
And frankly, I have read the law school threads on here...yeah, low minors > law school based on that. Plus you don't need a student loan...