Evidence of East Coast Bias in Baseball

I looked around last night after the games and in this morning's news to see if the dramatic 3 run home run off Eric Gagne in Texas would make headlines. I've seen no headlines, nor a reference in a story line about the game v Seattle. The sources I checked were MLB.com, ESPN/MLB.com, and The Sporting News. Gagne's picture wasn't on MLB.com's front page. The baseball media has failed to 'cover' this big event, even though many on the east coast were still "awake" when the game ended, and other later stories were reported. Bias is clear--a big story wasn't reported. Where is the outrage over this lack of 'coverage?'

• On another pitching propaganda subject, I looked into the "blown save" stat and found it's not an official MLB stat. The "loss" stat IS an MLB stat. In all the continuing publicity about Gagne's Cy Young award, the main items mentioned are:

• the 'total save' stat, and

• the no 'blown save' stat

And typically NOT mentioned are

• 'Losses' incurred during that stretch.

Someone decided to frame the pitcher's performance in this manner, which neglects the quality of the 'saves' and the fact that 'losses' were incurred.

• There's a rush every year to steer the Cy Young voting in a certain way, and this year is no different. Some articles promote Putz, heralding his "total save stat." Not that Putz isn't a worthy candidate, but the publicity wants you to look only at the 'total save stat,' never at the many other details that go into late inning relief or closer performance. Promoters are aware of the distinctions involved--it's not a mystery. Knowing the weakness of the 'total save' stat, they continue to sell it to awards voters and to the public very successfully because it works.

Blown-Save stat not official, Baseball-Reference

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