I'm not the man to take up the statisical/research challenge, but it would be interesting to measure Halladay's lifetime performance in reference to the heat when he pitches. Halladay flat out hates it hot. Last year, in a September start in Baltimore, the first line out of his mouth after the game was "I'm beginning to believe in that whole global warming thing."
The Baltimore start was his last of the season, a below average outing for Doc (but a fantastic outing for Victor Zambrano). Weather apparently 85 and cloudy.
And maybe I'm not the man either, but here's what I found. Using 2002-2007 as the range and counting all of Halladay's 173 starts in that six-year period, I would say Halladay is actually quite a bit better on hot days, given that he shows no significant decrease in results (whereas, to quote Jonathan Hale, "batters in weather under 50 degrees Fahrenheit average .249/.318/.410 while in a pleasant 81-85, they hit .297/.356/.468"). Seriously. There's no correlation whatsoever between his Game Score and the game time temperature.
But whatever. If Roy Halladay came up to me, the newly-appointed manager of the Blue Jays (I live in Boston*; that's why JP was here recently) and says, "Skip, I'm tired of this global warming thing. Give me an extra day off so I don't pitch in K.C.," Jesse Litsch would be on that mound so fast he wouldn't be pink and round anymore.
* I do not live in Boston.
1 comment:
In fairness, Litsch looks a lot more like an athlete and less like a pink cloud gelatin salad this year.
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