I'm not sure, but isn't this some sort of confirmation bias thing? Like, no one ever remembers when a pitcher is yanked right before he would have thrown a meatball that homered to left-center. Because he didn't throw the pitch if he got yanked.
Also, the times when a starter is left in too long form definite events (blowing a lead) that tend to stick in our head, while a 5.2-inning start might be more easily forgotten?
Not sure if I actually believe this, just saying.
Riggleman actually had a pretty quick hook most of the time. We had the opposite problem with him... playing matchups and burning up relievers and bench guys so quickly that we'd often have nothing left for extra-inning games.
