On at least two occasions Alvin Yellon has commented on how different this year’s team is compared to last year. After Saturday’s win he said it for at least the second time that I’m aware of. The Cubs were down 8-5 and came back to win, which prompted Alvin to say this:
It’s absolutely clear to me that this team is different from last year’s. Last year’s team would have folded up its tent after going behind 8-5; this year’s club seems to know how to come back, having done so on several occasions already even in games they haven’t managed to come all the way back and win.
After the first time I heard this I wanted to take a look to see whether or not there was any truth to it. I realized I had better things to do. After this time though, I thought why not? How hard is it to go back and look at the first 20 games of the 2010 season (now 21 games)? It’s not that hard so I went ahead and did it.
Interestingly, the 2010 team was 10-11 after 21 games, which is the same record as this year’s team, but that doesn’t tell us whether or not Alvin is onto something or just making shit up.
On Opening Day last year the Cubs got blown out 16-5. The next closest game to a blowout last year by this time was a 6-1 loss. This year they’ve been blown out twice. Both teams who blew the Cubs out broke unwritten rules so we should probably count those as wins instead.
In the 4th game of the season last year the Cubs lost 5-4, but it was one of those games the Cubs blew early on like they have done a couple times this year. The Cubs had a 3-1 lead in the 8th and Cincy scored 4 to take a 5-3 lead. The Cubs came back though and nearly tied it and scored 1 in the 9th. There’s one game they came back even though they didn’t win, which Alvin specifically mentioned about this year’s team.
The next game the Cubs fell behind 3-0 early and then tied it a few innings later. They scored 1 in the 8th to win the game. A comeback win for the 2010 team.
A couple games after that they won 7-6, but they fell behind 4-2 by the bottom of the 7th. The Cubs then scored 1 to make it a 4-3 game before giving up 2 more and then scoring 4 in their last at-bat to win 7-6. Another comeback win.
The very next game was another one the Cubs came back, but still lost. Trailing 4-2 the Cubs tied it in the 4th, fell behind 5-4 in the 6th, tie it once again, then they got behind 8-5 and the Cubs still score another run.
The next game the Cubs trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th. Cubs score 6 runs and win 7-2. Another late inning comeback by the 2010 team.
Also the next game, the Cubs trailed 4-0 in the bottom of the 8th to the Astros and scored 3. They lost 4-3, but that’s now the 3rd time they’ve nearly come back while they have come back to win 3 times.
A 9-3 win was the result of the Cubs scoring 6 in their last 3 at-bats.
The 20th game of the season saw the Cubs with a walk-off win in the 10th.
The 2010 team came back regularly, which was a sign of just how not good the 2010 team was. They kept having to come back to win and were still only 10-11 after those 21 games. The games they did lose they made many of them competitive by scoring runs late to keep it close.
This year’s team isn’t any different. They’ve blown some games like the 2010 team. They came back to win a few games like the 2010 team. They made games close by scoring late just like the 2010 team. In the end, this year’s team sits the very same 10-11 against even worse competition than the Cubs played a year ago. Last year the team had played 6 against Milwaukee, 3 against Cincy and 3 against the Braves. This year’s team has played 3 against Milwaukee and 3 against the Rockies. The rest of the teams are either bad or slightly below average like the Dodgers.
No, this year’s team isn’t the least bit different. They’re a little worse, but in terms of how they’ve gone about winning and losing, it’s the exact same as last year’s team and I suspect the same as the previous years as well as every other team. It’s called baseball. Sometimes you blow some games, steal some games late, come back yet fail to win. That’s the game.
Comments
You just don’t “get it”.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
After the first time I heard this I wanted to take a look to see whether or not there was any truth to it. I realized I had better things to do, so I signed up at BCB and said, “Fuck you, Alvin.”[/quote].
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
perfect.
AndCountingQuote Reply
Can someone please post this there, or do I have to?
MishQuote Reply
This year’s different = I don’t know how shitty this year will end up yet.
/Alvin’d
Hector VillanuevaQuote Reply
Obviously wait for whatever BCBs shit thread of the day is to go up first.
MishQuote Reply
Post it there, Mish. Al won’t read it or even consider he may be making shit up, but at least a few of the others there would realize that Al is full of shit.
mb21Quote Reply
I’m pretty sure Mish pointed this out over there, but Al is comparing the first 21 games of this season to the entire season last year.
XoomwaffleQuote Reply
[quote name=Xoomwaffle]I’m pretty sure Mish pointed this out over there, but Al is comparing the first 21 games of this season to the entire season last year.[/quote]I did.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=mb21]Post it there, Mish. Al won’t read it or even consider he may be making shit up, but at least a few of the others there would realize that Al is full of shit.[/quote]I will.
MishQuote Reply
I am.
MishQuote Reply
The unwritten rules thing was (dying laughing)-worthy.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Mish, I can feel the hate in your growing.
GBTSQuote Reply
[quote name=Xoomwaffle]I’m pretty sure Mish pointed this out over there, but Al is comparing the first 21 games of this season to the entire season last year.[/quote](dying laughing) Does Al really believe that the Cubs didn’t come back, but fail to win last year? Does he believe they had no comeback wins? What does he do in the left field bleachers? Sit there with his head up his ass?
mb21Quote Reply
http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/4/25/2131171/MLB-expanded-playoffs?login=1303741582#65265610
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/inning_summary.cgi?year_game=2010&team_id=CHC#gotresults&year=2011&team_id=CHC&ajax=1&submitter=1
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=GBTS]Mish, I can feel the hate in your growing.[/quote]What’s my growing?
Don’t answer that. (dying laughing)
MishQuote Reply
Stupid phone.
GBTSQuote Reply
QUICK! Someone tell me why I should buy some Famous Grouse.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
[quote name=Jame Gumb]QUICK! Someone tell me why I should buy some Famous Grouse.[/quote]
Make a case for Lismore and White Horse as well.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
I thought the obsession with bashing al would end with the last site. The guy writes cub propaganda. Who cares?
This blog’s in depth look at the statistical side of baseball incidents makes it a great read. Excellent points are made with backing and humor.
Then the blog takes a massive step back as it trashes a lesser blog. It just looks like jealousy.
fight2winQuote Reply
Alvin bashing will end when he stops making it so easy.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
we still havent got over not being named the SB nation blog
dylanjQuote Reply
[quote name=fight2win]I thought the obsession with bashing al would end with the last site. The guy writes cub propaganda. Who cares?
This blog’s in depth look at the statistical side of baseball incidents makes it a great read. Excellent points are made with backing and humor.
Then the blog takes a massive step back as it trashes a lesser blog. It just looks like jealousy.[/quote]
-1 faget point
MishQuote Reply
The intent of my post wasn’t so much to bash Al, but to show that this team, and really any other team for that matter, have a lot more in common than people realize. If we look at how they win and lose games, that’s certainly true.
Jealous of what? I’ve heard people say that before, but I’ve never understood it. I can’t speak for the other three who started this blog, but I know I’m thankful Al exists. I’m sure I’d quit blogging if he did because the number of unintelligent people coming over here from that place would be too much for me. I’m glad Al is there to take gobble those readers up. I’m glad the cubs.com and other various message boards are there as well.
I’d like the site to get busier than it is like any blogger, but I don’t want what BCB or the cubs.com message board has to offer.
There’s not anything else being discussed right now anyway.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=fight2win]I thought the obsession with bashing al would end with the last site. The guy writes cub propaganda. Who cares?
This blog’s in depth look at the statistical side of baseball incidents makes it a great read. Excellent points are made with backing and humor.
Then the blog takes a massive step back as it trashes a lesser blog. It just looks like jealousy.[/quote]
f2w, there’s plenty of Al bashing because he makes himself such an easy target with how he rules BCB like a tin-pot despot.
However, Al is also the standard bearer for the typical cub fan so deconstructing his arguments is well worth doing.
BerseliusQuote Reply
[quote name=mb21]The intent of my post wasn’t so much to bash Al, but to show that this team, and really any other team for that matter, have a lot more in common than people realize. If we look at how they win and lose games, that’s certainly true.
Jealous of what? I’ve heard people say that before, but I’ve never understood it. I can’t speak for the other three who started this blog, but I know I’m thankful Al exists. I’m sure I’d quit blogging if he did because the number of unintelligent people coming over here from that place would be too much for me. I’m glad Al is there to take gobble those readers up. I’m glad the cubs.com and other various message boards are there as well.
I’d like the site to get busier than it is like any blogger, but I don’t want what BCB or the cubs.com message board has to offer.
There’s not anything else being discussed right now anyway.[/quote]
You sound jealous.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/25/mike-quade-alleges-a-violation-of-the-unwritten-rules
MishQuote Reply
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/25/don-mattinglys-wife-joins-mr-burns-in-telling-him-to-shave
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/25/don-mattinglys-wife-joins-mr-burns-in-telling-him-to-shave[/quote]
(dying laughing). Best simpsons ever.
BerseliusQuote Reply
[quote name=Berselius]However, Al is also the standard bearer for the typical cub fan so deconstructing his arguments is well worth doing.[/quote]
Unfortunately SBNation also provides Al with a pretty large bully pulpit, making such deconstruction even more worthwhile.
Hector VillanuevaQuote Reply
I understand how it could seem old and even petty to some. I’ve stopped bashing him as much as I once did because it’s mostly a waste of time. However, I do think there are times when it’s appropriate. After hearing about this year’s team being different a couple times, I thought this was one of them. I mean, 424 pretty much quoted Al verbatim before Al even published that article. We knew it was coming and we know some fans are going to buy into it. That’s fine. An opinion is one thing, but Al passes opinions off as facts and that’s irritating. It’s misleading too.
Only two things written here that I can remember have focused on anything Al has discussed. 424 wrote something and I wrote this. As for the comments, well, they’re comments and people are going to make fun of or criticize whatever they want. I don’t have a problem with it. I think this site has done an excellent job of not posting the same stuff over and over in the comments. The articles definitely haven’t done that and I have noticed many different topics discussed in the comments. That Al is one of them is because he has such influence on Cubs fans. That doesn’t make me jealous. I know many of the people he can convince are people I would never convince. I don’t care about them. I care about the other people.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=fight2win]I thought the obsession with bashing al would end with the last site. The guy writes cub propaganda. Who cares?
This blog’s in depth look at the statistical side of baseball incidents makes it a great read. Excellent points are made with backing and humor.
Then the blog takes a massive step back as it trashes a lesser blog. It just looks like jealousy.[/quote]The fact of the matter is, Cubs fans don’t have to choose between our site and BCB. They can frequent both. They can frequent neither. Not everyone who contributes here has been banned from BCB, nor do we all think the same way about everything. But in general, we tend to hold each other to a commitment to back up our arguments with some basis of fact and/or reason (or in my case to admit that most of what I say is either fluff, guesswork, or sarcasm . . . but I own it).
That said, when certain fallacious arguments or philosophies arise over at BCB, it’s not a safe assumption that no one here agrees or that everyone here sees precisely why it’s crap. It’s actually more simpleminded and petty to just dismiss it as Al’s propaganda nonsense without actually examining it.
I don’t want to equate analysis and rebuttal with bashing. I won’t say we never make personal attacks on Al, because that would be a lie. But the basis of this and most arguments sent his way is the pursuit of accuracy and fairness. He just happens to stand in the way of those goals all too frequently.
AndCountingQuote Reply
[quote name=AndCounting] Not everyone who contributes here has been banned from BCB[/quote]
Really? (dying laughing)
WaLi2Quote Reply
[quote name=WaLi2]Really? (dying laughing)[/quote]Honestly, I could never bring myself to agree to the terms and conditions and the 24-hour wait period. That’s just plain insulting.
AndCountingQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/25/mike-quade-alleges-a-violation-of-the-unwritten-rules[/quote]
Ha.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Hmmm…Phil Rogers sez:
I figure a lot of it has to do with the pitchers not holding runners on very well, except for Z who has a really nice pickoff move (but I think they ran on him/Soto too).
Rice CubeQuote Reply
The Padres announcers said in the first game that the team planned to run a lot on Soto. They implied that the Padres had no respect for Soto’s arm and even hinted that he was terrible at throwing runners out. I don’t think he’s very good at it. The fact so many have tried to steal on him in his career is an indication of that. I guess the only good thing is that teams think so little of him that they gamble too much and his percentage works out OK. There’s no doubt whatsoever that Koyie Hill is the far superior catcher when it comes to keeping the running game in check. It’s not even close.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=AndCounting]Honestly, I could never bring myself to agree to the terms and conditions and the 24-hour wait period. That’s just plain insulting.[/quote]I think I signed up before the 24-hour wait period, but I agree, those things are stupid. It’s why I never sign up for any site on SBN these days. It’s ridiculous.
mb21Quote Reply
Agreed. Only a loser like Al would think this.
GBTSQuote Reply
[quote name=GBTS]Agreed. Only a loser like Al would think this.[/quote](dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
AndCountingQuote Reply
new shit
http://obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/previews/series-preview-colorado-rockies-at-chicago-cubs.html
BerseliusQuote Reply