Wang succeeds without Ks; Braves on the rebound?

	Chien-Ming Wang is 18-6 this season despite having only 72 strikeouts in 212 innings. AP

Chien-Ming Wang's astoundingly low career strikeout rate (3.26 K/9.0 IP) reminds me of Bill James' analysis in his Baseball Abstract where he asserts young starting pitchers with low strikeout rates can be pretty much written off. Do you see this law applying to the Yankees' young phenom or can he defy all odds and become the backbone of the Bombers' for years to come?
-- Jun Shimmachi, Tokyo, Japan

Watch the guy pitch. Listen to what hitters say about him. Look at the low rate of extra-base hits he yields. In general, yes, low strikeout rates should be a cause for alarm. But Wang's sinker is so good he's one of a handful of pitchers whom I believe could pitch an entire game with one pitch. Basically, the guy is the exception to the rule because his sinker is so freakishly good. And by pitching with the Yankees lineup behind him, and essentially as their No. 3 starter, he can rack up a lot of wins. He's the new Andy Pettitte in New York.

Which was more embarrassing for Orioles owner Peter Angelos: thousands of fans rallying and calling for an end to his disgraceful tenure as owner, or his own comments immediately afterward, basically calling non-apathetic fans stupid? Not many businesses blame the customer for their failure. Is there a more clueless owner in baseball?
-- Gary, Baltimore

I would think Angelos' reaction to it was worse. This was similar to New York Giants fans burning their tickets and hiring a plane to carry a banner over the stadium decrying too many years of lousy football. You just don't dismiss such obvious disgust from your fan base. Angelos should have acknowledged the disenchantment and said he's as upset as they are with the past nine years. There has been a lack of honesty in Baltimore about the state of the franchise -- they've thrown away the past few seasons by fooling themselves into thinking they were close to winning -- and that leads to stagnation.

Corey Patterson is one of the most improved players in baseball? His numbers are almost exactly right in line with his career numbers. Patterson ranks 27th out of 28 among AL outfielders in OBP and 21st out of 28th among AL outfielders in slugging. That's not improvement, that's status quo bad. The 44 steals help, but the guy just can't hit.
-- Chris Cowger, San Diego

OK, you're right. The guy was having a fairly good season but just flat out hit a wall in August and hasn't recovered much in September. I did see some improvement in the first half, but the guy still can't hit lefties or take enough walks. Good call.

I do not understand why you lionize Mariano Rivera's postseason performance. In the past five years he has blown more than a handful of big games. He blew the seventh game of the 2001 World Series and the Red Sox ate his lunch in the 2004 ALCS. Before you make him a saint you ought to point out that if he were as good as he once was, the Yankees would have won at least one World Series this century. They haven't because Rivera is no longer the stopper he once was. Or maybe you are just a Yankees fan and can't help yourself.
-- Tom, Monmtpelier, Vt.

Now you're just being silly. And that's being kind. The guy is the greatest postseason relief pitcher in history. Period. Did he blow a couple of big games? Well, sure. (And one was on a broken bat blooper.) The guy has pitched in 72 postseason games! He's not perfect. But check this out: Over 111 2/3 innings he is 8-1 with a 0.81 ERA, only 15 walks and 87 strikeouts. This is while pitching in the most important games and against the best teams. Phenomenal. Any kind of baseball fan, regardless of team preference (and I assure you. Mr. New England, I have none) can see his greatness.