Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Gabriel Update

Two and one-half months ago (the last freaking post on this blog), it was speculated that Earl Gabriel might be entering his Camp swan song. At 39 years old, his skills have been in decline, exacerbated by a stress fracture in his pitching elbow in season 8. Whither Earl the Pearl now?

Entering into the final week of Camp season 10, we find Gabriel largely relegated to swing-starter role on the age-defying Thunder Chickens team. Gabriel is 7-0 with a 4.57 ERA in 42 games (7 of which are starts) and a WHIP of 1.51. The ERA is the highest of his career, the win total ties his lowest, and the WHIP bar far his worst. Nevertheless, he has added to his Camp-record win total, which now stands at 216 (against 44 losses, for an astounding 83% win percentage), 30 more than Abdul Wallace, 32 more than Matt Adams, and 38 more than Orlando Blanco.

While it appears that Gabriel is about to blow the horn on his career, he will nevertheless be remembered as the Gold Standard for starting pitchers in Camp. Farewell, Earl of Camp!

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