OT - Brandon Webb

[KopiKat]

Came in on the 6th inning of tonight's Red's broadcast (at Arizona) and they were going on and on about Brandon Webb. Apparently he made an appearance at the game for the retirement of Randy Johnson's jersey. The Reds broadcasters were going on and on about Brandon, about how he was a native Kentucky kid, about how he played at "the University of Kentucky" before going on to the majors, about how he won the Cy Young in 2006, about his awesome sinker, about how he is just a great person and on and - travels back and forth by Winnebego to visit family back home in Ashland. Brandon never played for the Cincy, but obviously Reds broadcasters have good reason to ingratiate to UK fans on the south side of the river and it was nice to listen to it. Just wanted to share that piece of unrelated info. in case anybody is interested. Cy Young winner from UK worthy of an off topic on Rafters from time to time ?

Brandon should have won a second Cy Young for his 22-7 season in 2008 but he finished 2nd to Tim Lincecum (18-5) on account of one game when Lincecum threw a million-gazillion pitches. Cheers

 

[ia.ukfan]

That's great. You should have posted this in the "on deck circle" baseball forum, not the basketball forum.

 

[UK_Johnny24]

Ah man. Brandon Webb was dominate there for a while. It sucks his career got cut short. Yeah he was good like every year from his rookie year on up until he started getting hurt. And don't discredit Tim Lincecum man. People forget how good a pitcher he was there for a while. He won back to back Cy Young's I think didn't he? But yeah dude I always liked watching Webb pitch, and especially where he's a local boy. Nothing like watching a good pitcher do his thing. I'm glad I got to grow up watching the best ever. Maddux. I seen him pitch in person from kick ass seats 3 times too.

 

[Pygmy Sasquatch]

He found my pocket knife and returned it, pretty good guy I thought.

 

[KopiKat]

Lincecum was superb during his Cy Young seasons, no doubt. Anytime a pitcher Ks more than 250 in a season is a very big deal. Brandon won it in 2006 with 16 wins and came in 2nd in '08 with 22 wins. He won 18 games in '07. In the years 2006 - 2008, the argument could easily be made that Brandon's two best years were those when he did not win the Cy Young.

 

[UK_Johnny24]

Lincecum was superb during his Cy Young seasons, no doubt. Anytime a pitcher Ks more than 250 in a season is a very big deal. Brandon won it in 2006 with 16 wins and came in 2nd in '08 with 22 wins. He won 18 games in '07. In the years 2006 - 2008, the argument could easily be made that Brandon's two best years were those when he did not win the Cy Young.

I'm not into the saber metrics thing at all, but I will say you cant base it on wins alone. I go by era. era is the best way to measure a pitchers success IMO. Hell the saber metric people don't even think era is a good stat to go by lol. I cant stand Brian Kenney. Adam Wainwright got him good the other day. Wainwright explained to him that there is in fact a big difference in getting the last 3 outs of the game. Brian Kenney goes on about how "Oh yeah there shouldn't be saves its a bogus stat, anybody can get the last 3 outs, that's no different than the first 3" LOL.

 

[Jkwo]

That's great. You should have posted this in the "on deck circle" baseball forum, not the basketball forum.

You're so close to having the berries and cream haircut. Just make the full commitment. I believe in you.

 

[UK_Johnny24]

He found my pocket knife and returned it, pretty good guy I thought.

Ha Ha...Bill Hicks avatar. Kick ass dude.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

Came in on the 6th inning of tonight's Red's broadcast (at Arizona) and they were going on and on about Brandon Webb. Apparently he made an appearance at the game for the retirement of Randy Johnson's jersey. The Reds broadcasters were going on and on about Brandon, about how he was a native Kentucky kid, about how he played at "the University of Kentucky" before going on to the majors, about how he won the Cy Young in 2006, about his awesome sinker, about how he is just a great person and on and - travels back and forth by Winnebego to visit family back home in Ashland. Brandon never played for the Cincy, but obviously Reds broadcasters have good reason to ingratiate to UK fans on the south side of the river and it was nice to listen to it. Just wanted to share that piece of unrelated info. in case anybody is interested. Cy Young winner from UK worthy of an off topic on Rafters from time to time ?

Brandon should have won a second Cy Young for his 22-7 season in 2008 but he finished 2nd to Tim Lincecum (18-5) on account of one game when Lincecum threw a million-gazillion pitches. Cheers

Actually finished 2nd in the Cy Young race in 2007 as well. I'm a year older than him and went to school and played ball together from Little League to high school ball at Ashland. Everyone always knew he was good but not as good as he turned out to be in his career. I think he was drafted in the 8th round out of UK but once his sinker became dominate, he started mauling down batters. Many people back home were hoping he would sign with the Reds, and he about did on a couple of occasions but they just couldn't put up a comparable offer to Arizona during his 1st go around in free agancy. He was even willing to give them a "hometown" deal but it never happened. Then again after his injury but ended up going to Texas instead. I would have loved to see him put on that uniform and I think Brandon would have liked to play close to home for family and friends, although they really do love Arizona as well and still live there to this day. What happened to him with his injury in just so tough. I wanted to see him comeback more than anything but it just wasn't meant to be. His arm just never recovered. He kept getting close to a return and worked with Bryan Price a lot after the injury but every time he started working on the mound, it just wouldn't work like it used to. It was really tough for him and his family but he has taken it in stride and will be just fine. It was great fun to play with him and watch his career take off.

 

[DodgerDukie1985]

Ah man. Brandon Webb was dominate there for a while. It sucks his career got cut short.

Sorta reminds me of Penny Hardaway, who was maybe my favorite NBA player growing up other than Grant Hill. I know unlike Webb, Penny did actually return after his injuries, but he was never the same player. Definitely would have been a Hall of Famer. As far as Webb goes, sorta the same for him in the sense that he could have been on his way to the Hall of Fame. Definitely had the strong, durable frame to hold up. he was one of the top 5 to 10 pitchers in all of baseball for a good 5 or 6 year stretch. Always a shame when injuries strike.

And don't discredit Tim Lincecum man. People forget how good a pitcher he was there for a while. He won back to back Cy Young's I think didn't he?

All of this is true about Lincecum. He's just not a big guy; and that led to scouts worrying about his long-term durability as a starter. Well, he had been staying healthy till this year. However, his numbers beginning in 2012 have taken a major turn for the worst. Maybe a move to the bullpen where he could throw harder in shorter stints would help turn his career around.

 

[DodgerDukie1985]

I cant stand Brian Kenney. Adam Wainwright got him good the other day. Wainwright explained to him that there is in fact a big difference in getting the last 3 outs of the game. Brian Kenney goes on about how "Oh yeah there shouldn't be saves its a bogus stat, anybody can get the last 3 outs, that's no different than the first 3" LOL.

This changes my opinion of Brian Kenny a lot. I thought he knew his stuff, but was an insufferable blowhard like a lot of people really into those sabermetric stats are. It's either their way or the highway when you talk to sabermetric nerds. I'd avoid listening to him for that reason. Guy is a retard though if he thinks saves are a bogus stat and anyone can get the last three outs of a game. That's so far from the truth it's laughable. It takes the right mindset and a certain mental fortitude to be able to get those last three outs of a game. Sure, maybe someone can do it for one or two games or even for one or two seasons. But you don't see too many guys like Mariano Rivera who just make it look so easy for almost 20 years. You see far more guys who close (or even setup guys) who can be great for a year or two, then they completely fall off the map for whatever the reason may be. Brian Kenny's mindset is these guys are robots or players you use in a video game lol

 

[KopiKat]

The Reds announcers also mentioned a few lines from Mark Grace about Brandon Webb. Apparently, Mark Grace has been quoted as saying Brandon was the most difficult player he ever chose to catch with because of the movement on his throws, which I assume meant downward. This was referring to a spring training when Brandon started with the D-backs and Grace randomly chose one of the new guys to warm up with and immediately reacted with something like what the hell is this?

^^^ agree UK Johnny era matters most. A bad bull pen can ruin your wins but the era is all about you.