Comments on: Straw Hats and Calculators

By: MLB Network’s Reality Show Sounds Swell | MOUTHPIECE Blog // A Chicago-Addled Sports Blog

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:38:56 +0000

[...] Besides the occasional Matt Vasgersian slip, MLB Network debuted at the beginning of the year to rave reviews. If you love baseball, you will love MLB Network … it’s no more complex than that. (Though, they might be wise to embrace VORP sometime this century.) [...]

By: phil

phil — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:10:05 +0000

#50 david wells did not really improve significantly later in his career.

#54 defensive metrics still lag far behind offensive metrics, but they are getting there. check out uzr (available for free at fangraphs) and plus/minus (you will have to subscribe to billjamesonline for anything but the top and bottom ten at each position every year). stats like james’s wins shares and fangraph’s win values incorporate both defense and offense to attempt to give you a view of a player’s overall worth.

By: bigPumaLinks, March 13 edition « Waiting For Berkman

bigPumaLinks, March 13 edition « Waiting For Berkman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:45:20 +0000

[...] Joe Posnanski, the MLB Network sums up the PECOTA prediction system, ends up talking too much. [...]

By: Clutch

Clutch — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:02:41 +0000

Michael Lewis (and by proxy Billy Beane) actually wanted to do two things: alienate the existing baseball hierarchy and mislead them. They did both.

The truly objective stat gurus are not tied to any particular club. That rules out Beane and whatever mathematician is working for him this week. It rules out Bill James and Paul DePodesta, and Clay Davenport to some degree. Those guys don’t want objectivity and reason in baseball, because right now, stupidity makes their job easier to do.

By: DB Cooper

DB Cooper — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:18:32 +0000

We’re still talking about this? This essentially became a one-sided war around 2006. The statheads won the war. The luddites are still fighting battles.

The only problem is that televised baseball is still chock-full of ex-ballplayers and the Womens Auxilliary (see Michael Lewis’s classic post-Moneyball takedown of Tracy Ringolsby in SI).

That’s the reason I watch very little baseball anymore. (I’m a stat-friendly Reds fan, who’s had to listen to Marty Brennaman and Jeff Brantley rip Adam Dunn to shreds).

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:34:54 +0000

Similarly, before one of the WBC games, I heard Kruk offer the following gem (and I am admittedly paraphrasing here) when asked what a team needed in order to win the WBC: “Pitching. And you gotta score runs!”

By: 3rd Period Points

3rd Period Points — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:30:12 +0000

I just want to be able to watch a sports-related broadcast without wanting to kick someone in the junk.

Just last week, while watching college basketball, I heard this nugget of wisdom from Jimmy Dykes, and I’m paraphrasing here:

“Team A came into this game looking for a fight; they’re throwing haymakers right out of the gate. Team B came to wrestle. And in a fight, a puncher will beat a wrestler every time.”

At that point, I did not want to kick Jimmy in the junk. I wanted to apply a rear-naked choke and squeeze the breath out of him.

By: Lost Time Is Not Found Again: March 10, 2009 | MOUTHPIECE Blog // A Chicago-Addled Sports Blog

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:16:53 +0000

[...] I guess at the end of the day, I wonder: What is the fight about? Why can I not enjoy baseball and baseball stats at the same time? Is it really that hard? Does it really wreck my understanding or appreciation of the game to know that Jose Guillenâ€™s lousy on-base percentage kills a ballclub or to put a little bit of stock in the PECOTA projections? Does it really hurt a team to give due consideration to the advanced numbers that get better every day and the subjective views of smart baseball people? I donâ€™t know. I donâ€™t think so.” – Joe Posnanski [...]

By: David in NYC

David in NYC — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:36:50 +0000

Justyo #60 –

You forgot two of the more obvious ones:

David Eckstein
Derek Jeter (source of Poz-word “jeterate”)

Jeter may not have *lousy* stats objectively, but compared to the adulation he receives from an uncritical media, they sure are lousy. Based on what you read, one might expect his stats to be somewhere between Babe Ruth’s and God’s.

And PLEASE do not get me started about his “Gold-Glove-caliber” fielding.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:44:20 +0000

Honestly, most baseball analysts are former major league players. Most former major league players are high school educated people who may be a little wary and intimidated by advanced statistics. They’ve never had to make a decision to choose one player over another. They just evaluated guys that were around by how good of a “teammate” they were.