On a four hour train ride from New York City back home to D.C. I had following a business trip this week, I listened to a lot of sports talk radio. At one point, on a show which I unfortunately do not know the name of, one of the hosts was previewing the N.L. East and pointed out that Gio Gonzalez has a career 4.32 ERA outside of the Oakland Coliseum, and wondered out loud why no one was talking about this.
While that number at first does jump out at you as troublesome, indicating that the Nats new hurler was a product of his park and not his talent, a deeper look at the numbers shows it really isn't that bad at all.
As we all know, Gonzalez is just 26-years-old and he has really blossomed in the last two seasons. For example, in 2008 as a rookie he posted a 7.68 ERA, and in 2009 in his first real full season as a starter he posted a 5.75 ERA overall. In 2010 and 2011 however, he won at least 15 games in each season and posted an ERA below 3.23, making him one of the stronger...
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