quote:Originally posted by bacdorslider:quote:Originally posted by LHPMom2012:quote:Originally posted by Swampboy:
Does ANY other sport have a comparably prominent stat whose purpose is to excuse a player for not helping out after his teammates make mistakes?
Does any other sport tag a single player with the win or loss? I'm not agreeing that pitchers should be held blameless for kids that get on base or score through error. It's part of the game, and helps build mental toughness in a pitcher. Pitchers also walk batters, fail to make plays on bunts or ground balls batted back to them, overthrow bases on pick-off attempts, etc.
At the end of the day, though, the pitcher gets the loss whether he gave up a walk-off home run or if the second baseman dropped an easy pop fly. Maybe that's the reason the other stats mean so much, although none of them trump the all important win-loss record.
Good point, the pitcher usually gets the win or the loss, but I have seen pitchers throw bad games, but their offensive help was so great that day they got the win....but the bats really won.
They keep track of W-L's as a starter for hockey goalies and football quarterbacks, but that's not the point.
Who do you want on the mound? The pitcher who keeps his ERA pure while feeling no responsibility for the unearned runs, or the warrior who sees a fielding error as the cue for him to step up and battle? My concern is that some coaches, parents, and players lean on ERA in a manner that permits an "I did my job" mentality that should have no place in team sports.
I'll also point out that ERA is the only counter-factual stat we use. It's a record of what might have happened in different circumstances, not a tabulation of what actually did happen. If you take comfort in your ERA, you're living in a make-believe world of ifs and buts.