Champions Again

NESN has gone into all Sox all the time it seems, with another airing of 'Champions Again', the 2007 season recap. Yeah, I'm watching again, the Mothers' Day Miracle, the Pedroia slump and redemption, Lester's comeback, the Youikilis inside-the-park job, and even the Kason Gabbard shutout.

But I digress, as I wanted to look at the man-to-man competition between C.C Sabathia and Josh Beckett for Cy Young. I'll pick some statistics that one might argue show effectiveness, with admittedly no correction for park or division effects. The postseason doesn't count.

• Innings pitched
• WHIP ratio
• Wins
• K/9 innings
• ERA
• K/BB ratio
  

6 categories

Sabathia - 241 innings, 1.14 WHIP, 19 wins, 3.21 ERA, 7.81K/9, 5.65 K/BB
Beckett - 201 innings, 1.14 WHIP, 20 wins 3.27 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 4.85 K/BB

Pretty close matchup, with Beckett having an extra win, more K/9 but Sabathia with the edge principally in innings pitched and K/BB ratio, which actually predicts future ERA with more accuracy than ERA itself.

But this is a new season, with Tim Wakefield pitching tomorrow night at Rogers Centre and Beckett with a Sunday debut.