The Doctor turns 40

[Gantry]

Dwight Gooden turns 40 today.  Man, it seems like he's been out of the league for quite some time.  He could still be pitching too...

Discuss Gooden the RBI'er.  How do rank him to the other fireballers in RBI?  Above Clemens or Ryan?  

[Flood]

Gooden has good shit for the long haul, but I rarely use New York...so I can't really say for sure.  I do like him better than Clemens, though.  But Ryan is pretty tough IMO.

[Gantry]

As an ignorant straight-pitcher, gooden lacked the high-end fastball of a clemens or ryan.  His FB just isn't terribly faster than his normal pitch and it doesn't surprise you enough.  But like you my experience is very limited since I'm a straight-pitcher and rarely play with NY...

[fknmclane]

I prefer the Doc over Clemens and Ryan.  Doc is my favorite right handed pitcher.  Yeah, his heat may not be first tier, but it's pretty fucking close and I'm probably wrong on this (haven't looked up the stats,) but his changeup works much better than those other two.

[JoeDirt]

I prefer both Clemens and Ryan over Doc--probably in that order.

[dvldog]

my sentiments are the same as GlassJoe's.

Mainly due to the fact that I usually play Bo vs. NY (for revenge) and rock Gooden.

[BeeJay]

I rarely play with NY since I grew up hating that team with a passion, but I will say that I like Ryan over Clemens.  Then again, I also hate Roger Clemens so who knows.  My least favorite pitcher to hit against by far (even when playing the computer) is Fernando.  That guy can throw curves in the dirt well into the game when everyone else is just throwing slow balls.  It can be very frustrating, possibly even controller throw causing.

[Bonny]

Doc should have been winning his 300th right around now, and closing out a HOF career. His 1985 season was one of the best ever for a pitcher. Amazing stats.

[Ryno23]

He snorts a better line than any rbi'er.

I never liked pitching with him.  In those rare instances where the computer beat me (as a kid), it was usually when I was NY.

[Gantry]

He snorts a better line than any rbi'er.

IMHO, he isn't even the best coke snorter on his team...

Though Nick always called Gooden "Coke Nose", so he probably agrees with you...

[Blyleven_No-No]

Doc is better than Ryan and Clemens.   Ryan gives up the long ball in case you have never noticed, great stamina, but bound to give up 3 runs when I am hitting off of him.  Clemens is tough, but I find that Gooden can give you a better 7 inning effort than Clemens.  Doc mixes it up well, good speed, decent movement, he is a real stud, not to mention that he is one of the better hitting pitchers in the game as well.

[TβG]

i chose gooden as my fisrt pitcher in the draft because of some crazy formula involving the unknown atributes as well as other known factors.  i would say he's gotta be top five over all for player controlled games.

[Gantry]

not to mention that he is one of the better hitting pitchers in the game as well.

Another blow to your concept of RBI as we know it:

http://dee-nee.com/rbi/faq.shtml#BESTHITPIT

[ultimate7]

Blyleven's world is crashing before him, he doesn't know what he believes.

And for the record (sorry Nightwulf, not intended to piss you off) I still think the quick throw is somwhow related to the BOP, though I don't believe any of the other wives tales.  For everything else, I believe the science.

[Flood]

Blyleven's world is crashing before him, he doesn't know what he believes.

And for the record (sorry Nightwulf, not intended to piss you off) I still think the quick throw is somwhow related to the BOP

I agree totally...this happened to me several times when playing yesterday.  The only BOPs that I had were when trying to make a quick throw right as I made contact with the ball...sorry.

[Blyleven_No-No]

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I am going to make a stand here.  Everybody can disagree with me if they want to, but as someone who loves the game with such a passion, and has played it so many times, you have to hear me out:

There is a reason why I have been unable to go along with these computer definitions of ratings and speed and power, etc.  There is a quality here that is not tangible, for example, the game is in the 7th inning, you are down by one with a man on first.  Now you can tell me that I should prefer Gladden to be on base because he is "faster" than Gibson, but my choice is Gibson.   Why??  I have been there, I have seen Gibson take that base, I know he can do it.  I think he can get a better jump than Gladden can, I just do.

Who do you like up there when you need a fly ball, or a bunt or whatever, you guys know.  You have played the game enough to know there is a difference in a clutch situation between a Wally Backman and a Mike Aldrete.  I have opponents that LOVE Joel Youngblood, swear by him, and then I watch in dismay as he rips a groundball past my third baseman for a double.  The point is, RBI Baseball, the game as we know it, cannot be defined by these numbers, but can only be defined by human experience, what you have seen them do, what you KNOW they are capable of.

Let's bring it back to the central argument, pitchers hitting.  There is no way, there is NO WAY, that you cannot tell me that Don Robinson on the Giants is not one of the best hitting pitchers in the game.   I won't hear it.  I have watched so many times as he ropes a slow roller that the shortstop cannot come up with...and it gets through.  He can hit that blooper that you better not try and get to otherwise it will mean extra bases.   I know this, and not from some numerical code placed inside a computer game, but because I know the game, I live for the game, and I love the game.

That is what R.B.I. is all about.  Gantry can love Spielman, I can love Aldrete, it's OK.  I just can't see the game being defined by simple numbers when we all know that the game is deeper than that, that there is a "Je ne sais quoi" quality to Tengen Field that makes you believe.   "By the numbers", maybe you would never complete a 6 run comeback in the 9th inning, "by the numbers" maybe I would not have sent Blyleven out to the mound on that fateful day to pitch 9 amazing innings and secure my only no-hitter against a respected RBI player.   The numbers should not have allowed that to happen, but it happened, it happened because I believe in R.B.I. Baseball as more than just a game.

Thank you.

[ultimate7]

Great post, I think this should be added to the FAQ or something.  It is inspiring, it makes me want to play RBI.

[ultimate7]

I want to further note that I believe most of that post to be incorrect, but it is like seeing someone that truly believes in Santa Claus, even though you know SC doesn't exist, it still makes you happy

[BeeJay]

secure my only no-hitter against a respected RBI player.

A respected rbi player would have to be pretty drunk to be no hit.

[BeeJay]

Blyleven's world is crashing before him, he doesn't know what he believes.

And for the record (sorry Nightwulf, not intended to piss you off) I still think the quick throw is somwhow related to the BOP

I agree totally...this happened to me several times when playing yesterday.  The only BOPs that I had were when trying to make a quick throw right as I made contact with the ball...sorry.

I just had 3 face knocks in a 4 inning game, and each came as I was trying to make a quick throw.  The bop myth is one I'm really having trouble letting go of.