[Smogs]

I've been betting baseball since June but a couple of things have really confused me about the sport and google does not help me in the slightest, so i thought i'd ask here. Any help is much appreciated

1. Why do teams need a 'setup and finishing pitcher'? - i mean, why don't they just get a starter to fill in like Lincecum can cover Zito if he's tired by the 7th inning? He's only going to throw 3 innings and it would be good warmup for his next start - and it saves wages on useless bullpens that always seem to cost us wins

2. Why is it the only sport in the world where spitting is the norm? Is it tobacco/chewing gum? Why do they all chew stuff? Does a team's annual budget cover chewing gum expenses? ( that is a serious question btw)

3. If you have a season ticket, you have 81 regular season games right? Of those 81, how many do people actually go to? And doesn't that get boring? it's potentially 243 hours of your life over a season

4. Do teams encourage gym sessions for the players? A high number of pitchers look fat for a start

5. When someone makes a catch from a flyball, how come he doesn't even crack a smile, he got someone out....surely that's worth a slap on the back or something, right?

6. Do players have personal lives and days off? 162 games is a ridiculous amount to play over a season

Hope you guys can help, i tried googling these but i guess to Americans, that is just the way it is done and doesn't have to be explained like it does to us English people

Cheers

[DeeWizzle]

1. If they bring in a starter they will mess up the rotation for his next start

[DeeWizzle]

2. It's a slow game they need to occupy themselves somehow.

[Willie Bee]

1. Why do teams need a 'setup and finishing pitcher'? - Good question, I can't answer it other than it's all become 'specialized' in terms of the bullpen. Have always advocated it was smarter and cheaper to have three guys you could pitching two innings every third game.

2. Why is it the only sport in the world where spitting is the norm? Is it tobacco/chewing gum? Tradition and both tobacco/gum/sunflower seeds.

3. If you have a season ticket, you have 81 regular season games right? Of those 81, how many do people actually go to? And doesn't that get boring? Had at least one full season ticket to 9-10 seasons in the old Astrodome. Blieve the most games I went to in a single season was 63, became routine but was more expensive than it was boring. The money wasn't in the tickets always, but in the parking, beers, hot dogs, more beers after the game, more to eat at Hooters after the game while you were drinking those final beers, etc.

4. Do teams encourage gym sessions for the players? A high number of pitchers look fat for a start Quit talking about C.C.

5. When someone makes a catch from a flyball, how come he doesn't even crack a smile, he got someone out....surely that's worth a slap on the back or something, right? No, it's a can of corn, he's supposed to do that.

6. Do players have personal lives and days off? 162 games is a ridiculous amount to play over a season They roughly play 162 regular season games in 183 days, lose some time off if you're in the All-Star Game, so they get about three weeks off over six months. Their wives get about three months off over six months, and a lot of them are hot.

[Smogs]

Brilliant reply - thanks a lot

[oda11]

Willie Bee somehow I love you answers

[Panekkkk]

I've been betting baseball since June but a couple of things have really confused me about the sport and google does not help me in the slightest, so i thought i'd ask here. Any help is much appreciated

1. Why do teams need a 'setup and finishing pitcher'? - i mean, why don't they just get a starter to fill in like Lincecum can cover Zito if he's tired by the 7th inning? He's only going to throw 3 innings and it would be good warmup for his next start - and it saves wages on useless bullpens that always seem to cost us wins

2. Why is it the only sport in the world where spitting is the norm? Is it tobacco/chewing gum? Why do they all chew stuff? Does a team's annual budget cover chewing gum expenses? ( that is a serious question btw)

3. If you have a season ticket, you have 81 regular season games right? Of those 81, how many do people actually go to? And doesn't that get boring? it's potentially 243 hours of your life over a season

4. Do teams encourage gym sessions for the players? A high number of pitchers look fat for a start

5. When someone makes a catch from a flyball, how come he doesn't even crack a smile, he got someone out....surely that's worth a slap on the back or something, right?

6. Do players have personal lives and days off? 162 games is a ridiculous amount to play over a season

Hope you guys can help, i tried googling these but i guess to Americans, that is just the way it is done and doesn't have to be explained like it does to us English people

Cheers

To add to the above:

#2 -- It is entirely tradition. You grow up chewing sunflower seeds and the trend just continues. However, quite a bit of research has actually shown that chewing gum improves alertness (it may also enhance memory). Now that's not to say that players are actually aware of that research, but they might notice a slight improvement in their performance. There are various hypotheses as to why chewing enhances alertness, but one simply theory suggests that it increases blood flow to the brain. I would imagine that much of the budget for the gum/chew gum/stuff is provided by the team. They probably have a supplier.

#3 -- Some people actually do go to this many games. They are either old, retired men with nothing better to do, or diehard fans who work blue-collar jobs and can afford the time wasted.

#4 -- Most teams encourage training and the majority of players are in excellent shape. The fat ones that can hit and pitch are used to their weight and sometimes shedding pounds can actually decrease their performance. This is why the baseball gods invented the DH and first base positions.

#6 -- Who cares? They make a shit-ton of money. Half the games are at home anyway.

[floridagolfer]

Teams don't actually "need" a setup guy and a closer. Managers did just fine for 100 years without this kind of plan. I think it's a case of managers thinking too much.

[Panekkkk]

Regarding set-up guys/closers -- It's just the way the game has evolved. It's probably done primarily to prevent injury. Athletes in all sports are getting bigger and stronger. Pitchers are throwing harder. That predisposes to injury. Time is required to heal. I'm not sure if this evolution was due to managers but there is a ton of sports medicine and science behind all professional sports nowadays. Our bodies are simply not designed to hurl that many pitches. Even a short pitching session can cause minor wear and even tears to underlying tissue in the shoulder and arm. This needs time to heal. If a starter comes in to finish a game off, it's probably not a good idea to have them start a game again soon. But who knows, it used to work in the past.

[texhooper]

4. Do teams encourage gym sessions for the players? A high number of pitchers look fat for a start Quit talking about C.C.

wasn't expecting that.

also, in regards to your pitching question (not the out of shape one), you will see starters make relief appearances in the postseason because desperate times call for desperate measures. josh becket was the only pitcher the marlins used to win the world series a few years ago. i'm exaggerating, of course, but he was brilliant.

now that, you can google. i think it was 2003.

[dodger33]

#1) if you did not have a set up man then your "closer" would be throwing 2 innings a night potentially for 3, 4, 5 nights in a row. by night 2 and 3 he will be getting tired and not have his best stuff, which will lead to blown saves. not only is it important to have a good set up man but left handed specialist and a long reliever. the problem with bullpens recently is they are giving up too many "freebies" e.g. walk, hbp, past ball, error. lead off walks will kill you late in a game, hell for that matter at any point in the game. but too many relievers are walking the lead off guy letting him steal second and all the hitter has to do is hit a ground ball to the right side and get that guy over to 3rd and then sac him in and without giving up a hit that team has tied up the game. baseball is a very unique sport in that aspect. regarding having a starter come in and throw if you have noticed pitchers will throw every 5 days. this is no coincidence. they have a very strict regiment and train their assses off (yes even the fat ones). the days in between starts may vary slightly from pitcher to pitcher but usually day 1 of rest consists of massive amounts of cardio and weight training and some light toss. day 2 more cardio and training followed by some long toss. day three they will probably throw a light bullpen around 30 pitches and day 4 they will be resting and probably throw a flat ground (which is a light, usually around 75%) bullpen but not off of a mound. then on the 5th day they will be starting and starting the whole process over. as for your fatter pitchers, they may seem overweight but don't let that fool you. they are in excellent physical condition. the amount of stamina it takes to throw 100+ pitches is ridiculous. it may not seem like much because they are in such great shape, but i dare you do go try and throw 30 pitches at 90% and run around backing up bases.

honestly i am not trying to be a dick but if you really don't know this basic baseball knowledge i suggest you stop betting on it, unless you are tailing someone that has a good record. i've played baseball my whole life and i still find it very hard to handicap. baseball is the single most unpredictable sport. i am sure you have heard the term "on any given day any team can win" and it is 100% true. take the giants for example. today they had brad penny going against ja happ (who has been great for the phillies all year long) and then you have brad penny who got released from the red sox because he sucked that bad. now i know penny has the stuff to be a good pitcher but he has not show it recently. today he came out and shutout the phillies! if you can tell me you predicted that you are full of shit. if penny can do that to the phillies then lincecum "should" throw a no hitter against them tomorrow.

[Smogs]

#1)
if you really don't know this basic baseball knowledge i suggest you stop betting on it, unless you are tailing someone that has a good record. i've played baseball my whole life and i still find it very hard to handicap.

I think you're missing my point, Panekk and Willie answered it fine, i understand why pitchers get tired, i play soccer and can't play twice in 2 days, but what i was asking is different to what you are answering.

Asking about why players chew/ why some players are fat looking/why starters can't close ----- those don't affect my outlook when i cap a game, i know they happen, i just didn't understand why.

I'll stick to betting baseball, i entered one comp on sbr and i came 4th so i'm not doing too bad, but thanks for your answer

[Wilforth]

To add to the above:

#2 -- It is entirely tradition. You grow up chewing sunflower seeds and the trend just continues. However, quite a bit of research has actually shown that chewing gum improves alertness (it may also enhance memory). Now that's not to say that players are actually aware of that research, but they might notice a slight improvement in their performance. There are various hypotheses as to why chewing enhances alertness, but one simply theory suggests that it increases blood flow to the brain.

I'll now chew gum before placing bets. Thanks for the info, btw.

[chadodaddio]

When u guys are talking about betting units what do you mean 1$ 10$ 100$ ???

[mcbaseball10]

The unit depends on each individual. It is whatever your standard bet is. Many people have argued that a unit is $100, which historically has been the standard unit. But to me its whatever your standard bet is would be your unit.

[oda11]

I'll now chew gum before placing bets. Thanks for the info, btw.

Dang, now I know why sometimes I win someimtes I don't! Just stopped by Costco and got a huge box of gum!

[Panekkkk]

I'll now chew gum before placing bets. Thanks for the info, btw.

Hah, it wont bring ya luck Wilforth