One more thing...

How could I forget to point out that Ritchie's on pace for 20 losses? Most of you may already know that this hasn't been "accomplished" since Brian Kingman dropped 20 for Oakland in 1980. What most of you may not know is that Kingman did this for an 86-76 team, with a park-adjusted ERA only .07 worse than average (3.83 to 3.76). It seems fair to guess, without looking too much farther into it, that Kingman was simply a victim of shitty luck. On the other hand, Ritchie has the third-worst ERA in baseball, ahead of only Ryan Drese and Mr. "I signed here for the schools" himself, Mike Hampton. I know that Kingman is fiercely proud of his place in history; in recent years, he's attended the September starts of any pitcher who threatens to reach the Big Two-Oh, hoping to serve as a good luck charm and preserve his claim to fame. However, Kingman doesn't deserve the fame nor the stigma associated with such dubious achievements. Ritchie has put together a season that deserves to rank among the worst of the last ten years, and it will take something like losing 20 to gain that type of notoriety. Therefore, it is with good intentions and full apologies to Brian Kingman that I ask you all to now pray nightly for Ritchie to lose just five more games. If we all work together, it just might work.



(For a ton of great pace-related stats, check out Aaron Gleeman's entertaining and insightful blog.