I’m mostly saying this because he’s on my Tout Wars team
He pitched seven excellent innings tonight. The sort of innings I expect from him here on out. But he was matched by the ace, Roy Oswalt. Of course you expect that.
What rankles is that after he comes out his crony, Ryan Franklin stumbles through an inning before the Cards seize on the Astros the way a child grabs for candy.
But my point isn’t about the Astros’ surrender. It’s about the fact that he rules say that Ryan Franklin, who got three outs, deserves the win, rather than Wainwright, who got 21. If Wainwright wasn’t on my team I’d simply smile and say, Grow up, but I don’t think it’s wacky to question why the Win rule so misrepresents who the best pitchers are.
The win rule is sometimes goofy as you point out…
Yet, where do you draw the line? Should we give Wainwright the win because he only gave up 1 run? How about if it was 2 or 3. And does a pitcher have to be no worse than tied when he leaves?
I’m not sure that objectivity will ever make anyone happy. Still it would be fun to discuss. Didn’t MLB kick around the idea of a “team” win at one point…that might make some sense.