Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Originally posted by vrabbit:
Originally posted by Niners99:
Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Great DP. Uribe is such a waste now. LOL
It seems like every time the Dodgers sign a player away from the Giants, they get absolutely nothing out of them. Jason Schmidt got paid 50 mil. to make just 10 awful starts in Dodger blue. Uribe got 21 mil and has been a complete waste. and who could forget Eugenio Velez, who set the Major League record for most AB's in a season without getting a hit last year. Thats right, Velez took 37 AB's as a Dodger, and went 0 for 37. He is no longer with the team.
I like to think of these 3 guys as classic Giants. The showed true commitment to the team by continuing to kill the Dodgers even after their days with SF.
I was devastated when Schmidt signed with the Dodgers, since I consider him one of my top 5 favorite Giants of all time. But in the end it all worked out. I will say, for those of you too young to remember, that from the span of about mid 2002 to mid 2004, Jason Schmidt was better than Tim Lincecum at his peak. Schmidt had a changeup that got more swingthrough strikes than any pitch from any pitcher in baseball. The fact that he lost the 2003 CY to Eric Gagne is one of the biggest travesties of all time. Right smack in the middle of the steroid era, he was un-hittable in 03. A crying shame.
yes to almost all of this, I would have a hard time making a convincing argument for either Timmy or Jason being better at their peak, but my god he was filthy
I agree that Schmidt was awesome for that very short time frame. His 2003 season was certainly amazing but I would also have a hard time saying he was better than Timmy. Also, saying Gagne winning the CY award that year was one of the biggest travesties of all time is a huge stretch. Gagne had probably the most amazing season ever for a RP. 55 saves, ZERO blown saves, and a whip of 0.69. Gagne was simply unhittable although I'm sure it was steroids that helped his cause. However, if you include that in the argument that he shouldnt win you would have to take away some of Bonds MVPS.
I agree that Lincecum has been better for longer, but I guess what I mean is, at their absolute peaks, Schmidt was better. Timmy did it longer, but Schmidt reached a level of dominance (although it was short lived), that Lincecum never has. Every night Schmidt had a chance to throw a no hitter. Lincecum has never really mastered the art of efficiency, which is why he doesnt toss shutouts very often. There was also never the "which guy are we getting tonight" factor with Schmidt. He'd just dominate almost every time. During his run of dominance, I think I saw him give up 5 ER or more like 2 or 3 times. Lincecum has been prone to a shelling every few outings, even during his CY seasons.
in 2003 Schmidt had a stretch of 8 starts where he went 9.0 ip 0 ER, 9.0 ip 2 ER, 9.0 ip 0 ER, 9.0 ip 0 ER, 9.0 ip 1 ER for 5 of the 8. I watched all of both Schmidt and Lincecum's runs with the Giants, and I never saw Lincecum at a point where he was as good as 2003 Schmidt.
As far as Gagne goes, I dont blame him for being on roids. Half of baseball was on steroids in 2003, so singling out any player and trying to erase their name from the books is pointless to me. If you erased the stats of everyone in baseball history who cheated in some way, youd have to remove half of the games history.
Schmidt got robbed in 03 because a RP should NEVER win the CY award. I firmly believe that, and always will. Gagne was the most unhittable pitcher in baseball that season, but he only pitched 82 innings. Schmidt pitched 208. The CY award is meant to go to the BEST pitcher in baseball for that season, and if you arent pitching close to 200 or more innings, theres no way you can be the best IMO. The saves streak was impressive, but thats what the Rolaids Relief award is for.
[ Edited by Niners99 on May 9, 2012 at 12:59 PM ]
