anyone else not sold on Sherrill as closer?

[Flip217]

You need to tell that to the people in AZ and CO then. They put the balls in a humidifier in CO, in order to keep the ball from flying as far. AZ has no humidity almost, but that ball will get out of the stadium in a heartbeat -- especially the open air ones, ST and minors.

I think the difference lies in the ball absorbing moisture -- hence the humidor -- as opposed to the density of humid versus dry air.

Anyhow, the difference is slight. From the text:

"The humidity, per se, has little effect on the ball's flight. Indeed, since water vapor is lighter than air, if all other factors are the same, a ball will travel slightly farther if the humidity is high. The humidity, however, effects the weight and elasticity of balls in storage. Balls stored under conditions of high humidity will gain some weight...and their elasticity will be reduced."

--Robert K. Adair, Sterling Professor of Physics, Yale UniversityThe Physics of Baseball, pgs 19-20

[Mark Carver]

C'mon now John...it's Randall Kirk Myers.

And I thought it was Randy "where are my hand grenades" Myers...

From Roch Kubatko on 1/10/2008 -

Myers was quite a character when he pitched here, and it’ll be fun to catch up with him. I can still see him sitting on the clubhouse floor in his camouflage T-shirt and shorts, using a large knife to slice some sort of meat for a pre-game snack. Beef, deer…I never asked.

He also kept a toy grenade in his locker.

[Going Underground]

El sid I have your brother on my fantasy team so he is helping me with saves. I am happy. Next time your in town I will buy you a beer.

[Flip217]

Hmm, I guess what confuses me is Coors Fields humidor that's designed to counter balance the thin air.

Again, it's a difference of a ball absorbing water and therefore gaining weight / losing elasticity, which reduces the distance it will travel, versus the ball traveling farther in humid air because it's less dense than dry air.

Or that's how I understand it, anyway. I dropped my physics class on day three, so what do I know?

[byrdz]

I think the difference lies in the ball absorbing moisture -- hence the humidor -- as opposed to the density of humid versus dry air.

Anyhow, the difference is slight. From the text:

"The humidity, per se, has little effect on the ball's flight. Indeed, since water vapor is lighter than air, if all other factors are the same, a ball will travel slightly farther if the humidity is high. The humidity, however, effects the weight and elasticity of balls in storage. Balls stored under conditions of high humidity will gain some weight...and their elasticity will be reduced."

--Robert K. Adair, Sterling Professor of Physics, Yale UniversityThe Physics of Baseball, pgs 19-20

OK, so the point is moot when talking about the differences from park to park because of the canceling effect of the elasticity vs. flight characteristics. So what they are doing in Coors Field is basically totally unnecessary. All of this makes sense by the way, I just hadn't thought of it this in depth before.

[McNulty]

OK, so the point is moot when talking about the differences from park to park because of the canceling effect of the elasticity vs. flight. So what they are doing in Coors Field is basically totally unnecessary. All of this makes sense by the way, I just hadn't thought of it this in depth before.

My understanding of what they are doing in Coors Field is using a humidor on the balls, not the air itself.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2007-10-26-3457255919_x.htm

[Mackus]

My understanding of what they are doing in Coors Field is using a humidor on the balls, not the air itself.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2007-10-26-3457255919_x.htm

You're right. They're treating the balls like fine cigars.

[Tony-OH]

My team can be winning 6-0 in the ninth. I come on to pitch the ninth. I surrender a bunch of hits and home runs to make it 6-5. I manage to eke out of a bases-loaded jam for my team to win 6-5. In one inning I've given up 5 runs, a boatload of hits and walks, and nearly cost my team the game. But I get a "save".

Ridiculous.

You would not get a save in this instance because you pitched yourself into a save situation.

[byrdz]

My understanding of what they are doing in Coors Field is using a humidor on the balls, not the air itself.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2007-10-26-3457255919_x.htm

That's my understanding as well, but why? Because of the size of the park?

[McNulty]

That's my understanding as well, but why? Because of the size of the park?

They're doing it for all the reasons that Flip listed above. Because the air is thin, and the ball will travel further than in a ballpark at a normal altitude, and the humidor takes a little bounce out of the ball, thus counterbalancing the effect of the thin air (to some degree).

[byrdz]

They're doing it for all the reasons that Flip listed above. Because the air is thin, and the ball will travel further than in a ballpark at a normal altitude, and the humidor takes a little bounce out of the ball, thus counterbalancing the effect of the thin air (to some degree).

This isn't so, read what he posted.

[McNulty]

I think the difference lies in the ball absorbing moisture -- hence the humidor -- as opposed to the density of humid versus dry air.

Anyhow, the difference is slight. From the text:

"The humidity, per se, has little effect on the ball's flight. Indeed, since water vapor is lighter than air, if all other factors are the same, a ball will travel slightly farther if the humidity is high. The humidity, however, effects the weight and elasticity of balls in storage. Balls stored under conditions of high humidity will gain some weight...and their elasticity will be reduced."

--Robert K. Adair, Sterling Professor of Physics, Yale UniversityThe Physics of Baseball, pgs 19-20

This isn't so, read what he posted.

Am I missing something? What I get from this is, the humidity in the air has little effect on the ball, but if the ball itself has high humidity it will gain weight and effect its distance.

[DrungoHazewood]

You need to tell that to the people in AZ and CO then. They put the balls in a humidifier in CO, in order to keep the ball from flying as far. AZ has no humidity almost, but that ball will get out of the stadium in a heartbeat -- especially the open air ones, ST and minors.

Phoenix is at about 1100 feet in altitude. That may be the 2nd-highest major league park. The humidifier in Colorado works to deaden the balls by making them relatively soggy. It has nothing to do with the air surrounding the playing field.

Edit: yea, that's what like five people have basically said already. That's what I get for reading up to page three of a four page thread, then responding.

[Crazysilver03]

My team can be winning 6-0 in the ninth. I come on to pitch the ninth. I surrender a bunch of hits and home runs to make it 6-5. I manage to eke out of a bases-loaded jam for my team to win 6-5. In one inning I've given up 5 runs, a boatload of hits and walks, and nearly cost my team the game. But I get a "save".

Ridiculous.

Thats not the case at all.

As Tony pointed out you cant pitch yourself into a save situation.

1) Your team is up by 1-3 runs when you come in.

2) If you are up by 4-5 runs and there are runners on base that makes the person batting able to make the game close.

3) 3 or more innings in relief.

[tywright]

And if you think you could get anywhere near that for my brother, then please set down the pipe and step away.

For one, everyone will have the same stats that you have. Yes, the saves will add value. However, remember, he was only 20% of the trade for Bedard. So, if he ends up at 40-50% of the value of Bedard some how, what is that valued at? I don't think it is Kason Gabbard and David Murphy, even though that isn't much. Gabbard is, or at least was, on the DL, and the O's just happened to make him look like a king for a day.

Also, the reason why the fly ball tendencies are a little higher, besides what I mentioned earlier, is that he doesn't throw a heavy fastball or sinker. He pitches to contact with many of the guys mis-hitting the balls, due to movement and not picking up what type of pitch it is. In Safeco, there weren't that many times when he had fly balls that would have been out of other parks. In '06, he didn't allow a home run.

He has given up some warning track outs, not many. Go back and look though, at good contact. A hard swing can take a ball far, not matter what, however you do have to look at the type of contact made. Especially last night, K, flailing slow roller to third, walk, top spin heavy ball that Markakis had to come in a couple of steps for.

Whether he is traded or not, doesn't matter to me, as long as he is appreciated for doing his job, that he has been given to do.

Good points... I still think if your brother were traded, his value is high enough to warrant 2 prospects. I was just stating that the Rangers did very well in the trade for Gagne and that we shouldn't downplay the value they got back for a washed up closer. Now your brother isn't washed up and his value is increasing every day.

As for the FB tendencies, most of the ones that go for long flys or HRs are when he hangs an offspeed pitch. A good indication of his success as a FB pitcher is his line drive percentage, which has gone done this year.

Also Sherrill's BABIP is only .179 show he's getting extremely lucky. Last year he was at .253, which is also on the lucky side.