Who am I?
1. I pitch for the Boston Red Sox.
2. I have been considered a potential ace for a number of years. There are many who are reluctant to give me the "ace" label now.
3. According to Fangraphs.com's numbers, I was 6th among qualified ML starters in Fielding Independent Pitching this past season, behind only Tim Lincecum, Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Dan Haren, and Roy Halladay.
4. I was 3rd among qualified ML starters in K/BB behind Roy Halladay and Dan Haren. I lowered my walk rate and upped my K-rate from my 2007 numbers. I, of course, led my own team in both categories.
5. Out of my three seasons with the Red Sox, there are many who would say that I only pitched well for one.
6. Only Tim Wakefield, among my teammates, had a better WHIP than I did this season. I was 7th in the AL in this category.
7. I am quick to take the blame for losses and to give credit to others when I win.
8. I am definitely a better pitcher than the still good pitcher who led my team in wins this season.
Who am I? (Answer within)

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I knew it!
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Nov 18, 2008 7:14 AM EST 0 recs
now that guy...
is not a bastard…unless you mean sexy bastard
Homer: Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.
by DougieWentDeep on Nov 18, 2008 11:36 AM EST 0 recs
“I’m Josh Beckett, Ace of the Boston Red Sox. Who wants to touch me?”
Looks like Tito is happy to accommodate. :-)
"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.
by SoxDevil on Nov 18, 2008 12:16 PM EST 0 recs
I will not stand for the rewriting of history.
Josh Beckett is a great pitcher, but his 2008 was not up to expectations. We know that part of this was injury, at least at the end. But throughout the year he pitched just well enough to lose many of his games. Our team record in his games was 13-14.
Against Beckett, opposing batters had a 25.2% line drive percentage. This is really bad because most line drives fall in for hits, no matter how good your defense is. His groundball % was 40.8, the lowest in five years (in 2007 it was 47.3).
On the positive side, I think Josh will come around big time in 2009. One reason for this is the large discrepancy between his 3.32 FIP and 4.03 ERA – which suggests he was victimized by bad luck. Another factor is the worse defense behind him – a 5-year low .685 Defensive Efficiency Ratio. Finally, his run support was quite low, averaging 4.88 per game (Dice-K’s was 5.7). Behind Beckett the Sox were shut out 3 times, behind Dice-K, they always scored at least one run.
"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.
by 0157H7 on Nov 18, 2008 12:30 PM EST 0 recs
The point of this exercise was not to say
That Beckett was teh awesome this season. The point is that, among the things that Josh Beckett can really control, he actually PITCHED well this season, the results just weren’t there due to a number of things that weren’t 100% under his control.
"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"
by Allen Chace on
Nov 18, 2008 2:21 PM EST
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Hurray for disproving crazy anti-Sox people!
Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/
by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Nov 18, 2008 8:43 PM EST 0 recs
Knew it.
The 3 year thing gave it away. Dice-K and Lester weren’t around 3 years ago and Schill didn’t pitch at all this season so it couldn’t have been him.
by Charged on Nov 18, 2008 11:26 PM EST 0 recs
Lester joined the rotation the same year that Beckett joined the Sox.
The point wasn’t, I suppose, to go crazy in misleading everyone, other than to remind people that, hey, Beckett still PITCHED very well last year, even if the results weren’t the same as 2007.
"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"
by Allen Chace on
Nov 19, 2008 2:08 AM EST
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Agreed
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on
Nov 19, 2008 9:03 AM EST
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