The Win

[DOUGHBOYS]

I have a friend who owns both Cliff Lee and Matt Cain. He is upset that despite two brilliant pitching performances, he didn't receive a win.
During his rant, he speculated that quality starts would be a better category than Wins.
Wins is a tough category. Maybe the toughest.
Not only does our pitcher have to go five innings, he has to leave the game with his team ahead.
A poor offense, a poor defense, and a poor bullpen can all conspire to rob a pitcher of a win.
Even if they throw nine or 10 innings of shutout baseball.

Like the Save, Managers know full well when a Win is to be had for his starter. If struggling and ahead in the fifth inning, most Managers will give his starter some extra rope to garner a win.
Despite rotations going from four to five pitchers, the benchmark for Wins remains the same. 20 Wins.
All of us can name some 20 game winners easily.
Not all of us can name 20 game quality starters.
Yeah, it doesn't even roll off the tongue well.

Quality starts are more obtainable than a win.
Of course, it's a stat for agents.
A six inning game with three or less runs.
Matt Garza's agent feels better saying that Matt Garza had 20 quality starts last year. It sounds better than Garza winning just 10 games for the Cubbies.
He wants to say that Garza did his job for 20 games. That he could be a 20 game winner if it were not for Cubs shortcomings.

For us, it would change our dynamics.
We get peeved now, when a Manager takes our pitcher out after the sixth inning in a 3-3 game. We want the pitcher to have a chance for the pitcher to get a win.
With quality starts replacing Wins, we would actually be rooting for the Manager to remove our pitcher. Strike Outs be damned!
Circumstances would still warrant rants. Imagine a pitcher of ours, up 8-3 in our game and gives up a homer to lead off the seventh, quality start gone because the Manager took the score as a resort to rest his bullpen.

The Win makes us think throughout the game.
6-3 is defined. Nothing to think about there.
The Win is a source of thought, even after our pitcher is removed.
Fantasy baseball is sweet misery. The misery seems to overwhelm the sweet. Every day.
At the same time. We enjoy the misery. It's like sex on a bed of poison ivy.
Sure we're uncomfortable, but for all the misery, we're smiling.

Wins define fantasy baseball.
They're tough.
We can have six starters on one day and not get a win.
We could have zero starters and get a win from a closer.
Wins are the only category that is awarded well after a player leaves the field.
No other sport has that. No other fantasy sport has that.
Win's are maddening.
Just like our hobby.

[Raskol]

Just like our hobby.

Hobby?!? Hobbies are model airplanes, ham radios, collecting stuff that you value (but others seldom do).

This is a magnificent obsession. Nothing less!

Now will someone please tell Mr. Joey Stinkin' Votto that I'd like some production from my first round pick?

[CALI CARTEL]

Aside from just being change adverse as a whole, I think most people would be against the switch to QS because the stat itself isn't very telling. 6+ IP with 3 ER or less, that's fine if the guy is going 7+ innings, but 6 IP with 3 ER, that's a 4.50 ERA, how is that "Quality", seems pretty mediocre to me.

I think a QS would be better representative of pitching quality if it was a little more restrictive...

6 IP with 2 ER or less
7 IP with 3 ER or less
8+ IP with any number of runs allowed

You could get a QS for meeting any of these qualifications when you are pulled from the game (similar to the 3-tier Save qualification structure).

If this was how QS were earned, I'd be up for a switch from Wins; but with the current QS qualification, I much prefer sticking with Wins.

[Driver Love]

It would also take more of the fun away from the game. The intangible parts of fantasy sports you cannot predict are part of the fun. Also, what about if your starting pitcher is staked to an 8-0 lead early and because of this pitches to contact some... say by the 7th inning he has given up 4 runs? Is that a quality start? He would get the win right?

It reminds me of the controversy with head to head games in fantasy football vs a total points or all play format. If we try to control every variable of fantasy sports it can get kind of blah.