Game 3 Unfair Win Shares

If the trio of Wade, Kuo and Broxton were one guy, he'd have an unfair win share right now. I suppose I could break one in three parts, and give one to each. An unfair win share share --- but they don't come in fractions. That's one of the rules. It's going to be a tough rule on relievers, who tend to pitch just an inning at a time, but that's okay because relievers are just failed starters anyway.

It must delight a manager to have a set guy for each of the late innings, and then to have a lead going into those late innings, and have each man in turn do his assigned job. The best laid plans have worked perfectly. Wade in the seventh, Kuo in the eighth, Broxton in the ninth. I wonder how many times we'll see that this season?

They are all very good pitchers, but they also had a lot of help, of course. They were in Petco, against a fairly weak lineup, with a three run lead to work with. That's three ways a mistake can be forgiven. Let's say a batter hits a deep ball in the air. The batter is probably not too good, so he may not have enough power to get the ball out of the park. And if he does have enough power on that swing, the dimensions and air and voodoo of Petco may keep it in anyway. And then even if the ball does go out, it's now a two run lead instead of a three run lead. That makes pitching a lot easier.

The Padres got a double off of Wade but that was all they did in the late innings. They never even pretended to threaten to come back, which makes it harder to pin-point the Padres offensive players who deserve the unfair loss shares. But the motto of unfair loss shares is that deserving has nothing to do with it, so that's okay. Unfair loss shares might benefit from a lesson from the most arbitrary and unfair award out there, the gold glove. The rule of gold gloves is when in doubt, go with what you know. I know Kevin Kouzmanoff. He's already a regular in the unfair shares ledger. And to be fair the man did not disappoint last night ( unless you're a Padres fan ). He was 0-4 with two strikeouts and three men left on base. I'll play a tiny violin for his lineout to center, and then award him the first unfair loss share.

Once the first unfair loss share is awarded the rest are easy. Naming Kouzmanoff for the first one is like having that first cup of coffee in the morning. Clarity follows. Jody Gerut failed to set the table in three at bats with the bases empty, and he failed to clear the table when he came up with the bases loaded. Okay, so it was an RBI ground out, but that don't impress me much. Plus Jody is kind of a girl's name. He gets the second. Then Mujica gets the last one for giving up three runs to the Dodgers. What, did you think the Outback guy would get one?

Both Hudson and Furcal went 2-5 for the Dodgers last night and scored three runs between them. That was some pretty good table setting, and they certainly helped the Dodgers win. Using the unfair tiebreaker that Furcal scored two runs to Hudson's one, Furcal gets the unfair win share. Also this is kind of a make-up call for giving Furcal an unfair loss share instead of Hudson last night. Unfair shares are all about shady practices like repeat winners and make-up calls and the star system.

Speaking of the star system, here's your first unfair win share of the season, Manny. Try not to let it get as dirty as your helmet.

Billinsgley gets the last one for his solid start, leaving the three bullpen guys begging.

Unfair Win Shares ( Dodgers )

Manny -- 1
Furcal -- 1
Billingsley -- 1


Unfair Loss Shares ( Padres )

Kouz -- 1
Mujica -- 1
Gerut -- 1


Kouzmanoff's unfair share win-loss record is now 1-3.