It *is* kinda neat to have Jose Mesa's dad on board

http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/7967

Even Nate Robertson got in on the act with 6.1 scoreless frames back in April; a few months later, Robertson (5.47 ERA) was released by Florida, got signed by St. Louis, released by the Cards without ever throwing a pitch, and signed with ... the Phils, for whom he finished up the blowout loss to Adalberto Mendez.

But here's the crusher: Ross Ohlendorf -- of the much-maligned Pirates -- has 11 losses in 12 starts this year. His only win? Could it be? Yes! -- 7 goose eggs against the Phils in a 2-0 win, with 1 walk and 8 Ks.

So really, Mendez was just following in well-trodden footsteps.

I think what you really wanted was a search that would make Mendez look impressive.

Thomas, I praised your guy, but I also tried to make a fair point, one that I think most serious stats fans would agree with -- i.e., that cherry-picking the search criteria doesn't advance the discussion. You seem to have focused on one particular remark and taken me as a Strasburg sycophant, which I am not; in fact, I took every opportunity to argue against Strasburg being named an All-Star back when that issue was raging. The only reason I cited Strasburg's debut is because I thought it would be widely recognized as one of the best in recent memory.

But it's hypocrisy for you to call Strasburg's debut "a meaningless game ... in June," while puffing up the performance of Mendez -- a September callup for a non-contender, for crying out loud -- just because it came against a good team. Sure, the Phillies are good -- and now they've got the lead to prove it -- but their offense this year is nothing to crow about, as I'm sure you know: 5th in NL scoring, which is actually poor considering that bandbox park; their team OPS+ is 93, a tick behind Florida's. Mendez started the first game of a doubleheader, facing another first-time pitcher in Vance Worley, with Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Ruiz out of the starting lineup. Do you honestly believe that the sum total of circumstances for Strasburg and Mendez was harder on Mendez?

Your likening my argument to saying that a 3-HR game is as good as a 4-HR game because "what if one of those guys hit his 3rd in the 9th inning and didn't get another chance" seems like mixing apples and oranges. I was pointing out how using multiple, targeted criteria leads to a less meaningful comparison group, and you counter with a hypothetical one-category search. But when we're talking about 4-HR games, we know exactly what we're talking about. But when we're talking about a debut like Mendez had, exactly what are we talking about? Are we talking about 6-IP, 1-hit, 0-run, 6-K games? That's a pretty constricted discussion that I just don't find very interesting, except as a statistical oddity. I freely admit to enjoying statistical oddities, but that didn't seem to be where you were coming from on Mendez. If, on the other hand, we're talking about outstanding debut starts, then let's set some parameters and get on with it. But don't try to set the discussion parameters at exactly what some guy did yesterday.

Finally, just because the Strasburg hype was incredibly annoying doesn't give you an excuse to pretend that he didn't pitch tremendously while he lasted, or that Mendez had a better debut. Because no other pitcher in the searchable era has ever debuted with at least 11 Ks (see, I'm not cherry-picking) and no walks; and only 42 pitchers have had a game of at least 14 Ks and no walks at *any* point in their career. That combination is a sign of massive ability. (Check out that list; there's not a single "nobody" on it. Even Sterling Hitchcock won over 70 games. http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/pgl_finder.cgi#n1=&as=result_pitcher&offset=0&match=gmatchCar&st=&min_year_game=1920&max_year_game=2010&series=any&series_game=any&WL=any&team_id=&team_lg=&opp_id=&opp_lg=&throws=any&HV=any&game_site=&Role=anyGS&DEC=any&orderby=SO&c1pgl=SO&c1gtlt=gt&c1val=14&c2pgl=BB&c2gtlt=lt&c2val=0&c3pgl=&c3gtlt=eq&c3val=0&c4pgl=&c4gtlt=eq&c4val=0&c5pgl=&c5gtlt=eq&c5val=1.0&c5pgl_b=&firstgames=&firstteamgames=)