The Yankees According to Bill James

[Imperial59]

I didn't pick up the latest issue of the Bill James Handbook, but I did recently find a blog post covering interesting stats that relate to the Yankees. These stats always make for some good discussion.

 

* Over the last three season, Jorge Posada is the worst catcher at “saving runs” with a mark of -23. (During this time, Yadier Molina was the leader with a mark of +22).

* In terms of “net gain” in baserunning, factoring in chances to go first to third, second to home, etc., and the amount of times the player was successful, as well as making outs on the bases, hitting into double plays, and net steals, the Yankees were the 22nd worst team in baseball with a mark of -9. (The best team in baseball here was the Phillies with a mark of +109 and the worst team in baseball was the Royals with a mark of -67.)

* Also in terms of “net gain” in baserunning, Robinson Cano was the worst in baseball for second baseman (-23) and Chase Utley was the best (+50). This probably lends towards explaining the Phillies and Yankees overall team totals in this stat.

* David Robertson allowed .36 of his inherited baserunners to score in 2009. For a point of comparison, Edwar Ramirez last season posted a mark of .33 here, Brian Burney’s number was .31, Damaso Marte posted a .19 and Phil Hughes’ fashioned a percentage of .06 – yes, point-oh-six.

* In 2008, Joe Girardi had runners moving with the pitch 173 times (which was tops in the league). But, in 2009, Girardi had runners moving just 83 times. (What a difference not having Jason Giambi makes, I suppose.)

* Nick Swisher had the second worst “BPS per OutZ” in the American League with a mark of .218 in 2009. What’s “BPS per OutZ”? It’s batting average plus slugging percentage on pitches outside of the strikezone. (Hey, Swishalicious, do yourself a favor and only swing at strikes!)

* A.J. Burnett had the third “fastest” average fastball in the league at 94.2 MPH last season whereas Andy Pettitte had the third “slowest” average fastball in the league at 89.0 MPH (minimum 162 IP in both cases).

* Among all players with at least 98 games played at 2B or SS, Robinson Cano had the 10th worst “2B Pivot %” in the league at .563 and Derek Jeter had the 10th worst “SS Pivot %” at .541 (whereas Dustin Pedroia led 2B at .789 and Yuniesky Betancourt was tops at SS with .735).

 

http://waswatching.com/2009/11/14/the-bill-james-handbook-2010/

[jacksonianmarch]

Doesnt bill James work for the Red Sox and arent you reaching a bit deep to bash the Yankees. You know, the team that won the 2009 world series?

[Dipre]

Doesnt bill James work for the Red Sox and arent you reaching a bit deep to bash the Yankees. You know' date=' the team that won the 2009 world series?[/quote']

 

Throw enough money at problems and........

[jacksonianmarch]

you win your 27th World Series. Also, throw enough money at the problem and you can break curses too....

[Dipre]

you win your 27th World Series. Also' date=' throw enough money at the problem and you can break curses too....[/quote']

 

You were alive for like four of those. Seriously, who gives a s***?

[BigPapiEnFuego]

Doesnt bill James work for the Red Sox and arent you reaching a bit deep to bash the Yankees. You know' date=' the team that won the 2009 world series?[/quote']

 

So what if he works for the Red Sox? Working for someone doesn't mean s***. And how is he reaching deep? I don't see that at all.

 

Nice, you won the 2009 World Series. Congratulations, the Yankees have never done that before. What a marvelous feat. Maybe it can happen again some day. Seriously, it's the 27th time, doesn't that get boring? And it's 2010 anyway. NYC had it's parade and then everyone went back to mugging each other, selling crack, and throwing bodies in the river. The world has moved on, it is a new season, there is no champion yet. Sucess last year does not equal sucess this year.

[Dipre]

So what if he works for the Red Sox? Working for someone doesn't mean s***. And how is he reaching deep? I don't see that at all.

 

Nice, you won the 2009 World Series. Congratulations, the Yankees have never done that before. What a marvelous feat. Maybe it can happen again some day. Seriously, it's the 27th time, doesn't that get boring? And it's 2010 anyway. NYC had it's parade and then everyone went back to mugging each other, selling crack, and throwing bodies in the river. The world has moved on, it is a new season, there is no champion yet. Sucess last year does not equal sucess this year.

 

Your best work yet, BPEF.

[26 to 6]

I think him working for the Sox prevent him from being objective and challenges his credibility, but the numbers don't lie. However, the game is played on the field and not on paper, and at the end of the day the team with more runs wins. That being said, despite what these numbers dictate, I'm still taking Jeter over Betancourt, I'm still content with Posada and Cano behind the plate and at second, respectively, and I'm still confident in the team's ability to win. With all of these numbers working against the Yanks last year, they were still able to wrap up a World Championship, so most of these metrics and exotic stats that are constantly thrown around don't really mean much to me.

[Dipre]

That is something Imperial found while surfing the web and posted on a Red Sox site for Red Sox fans to read.

[RedSoxRooter]

The world has moved on' date=' it is a new season, there is no champion yet.[/quote']

 

Technically they are the World Champs until some other team is.

[26 to 6]

That is something Imperial found while surfing the web and posted on a Red Sox site for Red Sox fans to read.

That's fine, I was just giving MY opinion, that is all. I didn't attack the stats or the author or the poster or anyone. Why do you have to be a prick and react as if I insulted your mother?

[Dipre]

That's fine' date=' I was just giving [b']MY[/b] opinion, that is all. I didn't attack the stats or the author or the poster or anyone. Why do you have to be a prick and react as if I insulted your mother?

 

FAIL.

 

What i actually meant was that Imperial didn't look some stats up to bash the Yankees, but he found the article interesting, and thought the rest of us would, Jacko responded in "Waaaaaaa" fashion, got flamed, and on came the knight in shining armor, when the initial statement wasn't a Yankee-bashing attempt in the first place. Please stop the butt-hurt .

[Lester82]

I think him working for the Sox prevent him from being objective and challenges his credibility

 

Imagine if Jacko needed either of those two things, credibility or objectivity, to post about the Red Sox, yep... that was a short thought that lasted about 2 seconds

[Dipre]

Imagine if Jacko needed either of those two things' date=' credibility or objectivity, to post about the Red Sox, yep... that was a short thought that lasted about 2 seconds[/quote']

 

[Imperial59]

Doesnt bill James work for the Red Sox and arent you reaching a bit deep to bash the Yankees. You know' date=' the team that won the 2009 world series?[/quote']

 

This is a criticism of the Yankees? It was done by a Yankees fan on a Yankees blog.

 

Aren't you reaching a bit to try to criticize... me?

[Imperial59]

That's fine' date=' I was just giving [b']MY[/b] opinion, that is all. I didn't attack the stats or the author or the poster or anyone. Why do you have to be a prick and react as if I insulted your mother?

 

 

It would be nice if we were able to respond to each other here without acting as if the other poster just insulted your mother. I agree, it does tend to happen far too often.

[26 to 6]

FAIL.

 

What i actually meant was that Imperial didn't look some stats up to bash the Yankees, but he found the article interesting, and thought the rest of us would, Jacko responded in "Waaaaaaa" fashion, got flamed, and on came the knight in shining armor, when the initial statement wasn't a Yankee-bashing attempt in the first place. Please stop the butt-hurt .

That's where your WRONG, I didn't jump to his rescue or anything, I was simply stating MY opinion, plain and simple. I take the stats for what they are, that's all. In my post I said that while James' objectivity may be compromised, you can't argue with the stats. But in typical fashion, for whatever reason, you try to flame everything said by someone who doesn't root for the same team as you. I never accused anybody of bashing the Yankees, nor do I take exception to Imperial posting the numbers, in fact I'm glad he did. As for the butt-hurt though, I don't know what you're talking about, my butt's fine. I'm sorry if yours is hurting, but you gotta take that up with someone else, I want nothing to do with that.

[Dipre]

 

It would be nice if we were able to respond to each other here without acting as if the other poster just insulted your mother. I agree, it does tend to happen far too often.

 

Well my mother's a lovely woman.

 

That's where your WRONG' date=' I didn't jump to his rescue or anything, I was simply stating MY opinion, plain and simple. I take the stats for what they are, that's all. In my post I said that while James' objectivity may be compromised, you can't argue with the stats. But in typical fashion, for whatever reason, you try to flame everything said by someone who doesn't root for the same team as you. I never accused anybody of bashing the Yankees, nor do I take exception to Imperial posting the numbers, in fact I'm glad he did. As for the butt-hurt though, I don't know what you're talking about, my butt's fine. I'm sorry if yours is hurting, but you gotta take that up with someone else, I want nothing to do with that.[/quote']

 

Interesting, but inaccurate.

[Dipre]

Just to clear things up:

 

I think him working for the Sox prevent him from being objective and challenges his credibility' date=' but the numbers don't lie. However, the game is played on the field and not on paper, and at the end of the day the team with more runs wins. That being said, despite what these numbers dictate, I'm still taking Jeter over Betancourt, I'm still content with Posada and Cano behind the plate and at second, respectively, and I'm still confident in the team's ability to win. With all of these numbers working against the Yanks last year, they were still able to wrap up a World Championship, so most of these metrics and [i']exotic[/i] stats that are constantly thrown around don't really mean much to me.

 

26 posted this, which is a fair point.

 

That is something Imperial found while surfing the web and posted on a Red Sox site for Red Sox fans to read.

 

I posted this, which even if posted below his initial post, it's not directed exclusively at him, which he thought otherwise even though the use of the quote function (which i am known to take advantage of), was nowhere to be found. It's a way to tell some Yankee fans basking on the glory of their 27th title, that even though anything that paints the Yankees in even the faintest negative light gets their blood boiling to a point where they could heat their entire apartment with it, we Red Sox fans might find it interesting, even if it's not necessarily a bashing attempt (which this obviously wasn't),

 

That's fine' date=' I was just giving [b']MY[/b] opinion, that is all. I didn't attack the stats or the author or the poster or anyone. Why do you have to be a prick and react as if I insulted your mother?

 

He responded in this post, in obvious butthurt manner, even though there was no specific indication it was directed at him other than the fact that it was below his post. For situations like this, the question was created.

 

FAIL.

 

What i actually meant was that Imperial didn't look some stats up to bash the Yankees, but he found the article interesting, and thought the rest of us would, Jacko responded in "Waaaaaaa" fashion, got flamed, and on came the knight in shining armor, when the initial statement wasn't a Yankee-bashing attempt in the first place. Please stop the butt-hurt .

 

I assume he's pissed because he's trying to defend Jacko, since there's no indication that my prior post was specifically at him, but more geared towards Jacko. I was using logic. I need to stop doing that, since it usually doesn't work around here.

 

That's where your WRONG' date=' I didn't jump to his rescue or anything, I was simply stating MY opinion, plain and simple. I take the stats for what they are, that's all. In my post I said that while James' objectivity may be compromised, you can't argue with the stats. But in typical fashion, for whatever reason, you try to flame everything said by someone who doesn't root for the same team as you. I never accused anybody of bashing the Yankees, nor do I take exception to Imperial posting the numbers, in fact I'm glad he did. As for the butt-hurt though, I don't know what you're talking about, my butt's fine. I'm sorry if yours is hurting, but you gotta take that up with someone else, I want nothing to do with that.[/quote']

 

The butthurt increases, and i lose exactly 37.2 seconds of my life (which i'm not getting back) reading this, which stems from the fact that this gentleman suffers from a case of unwarranted self-importance.

 

Next time, take the time to either ask, or understand that:

 

A) If i want to call you out personally, i will quote you.

 

B ) You're not that important.

 

I shall return to my attempts of non-controversial activity now.

 

P.S: Imperial, did you suffer a lapsus in reading comprehension as well?

[a700hitter]

I just love a good anti-Yankee thread. It makes my day.

[26 to 6]

Dipre you're a clown. I'm glad you're having fun and that you probably feel a whole lot better about yourself now, but damn give it a rest man.

 

But first let me take the opportunity to thank you for this...

 

I shall return to my attempts of non-controversial activity now.

LOL Laugh of the day, I needed that.

 

Carry on...

[Dipre]

Dipre you're a clown. I'm glad you're having fun and that you probably feel a whole lot better about yourself now, but damn give it a rest man.

 

But first let me take the opportunity to thank you for this...

 

 

LOL Laugh of the day, I needed that.

 

Carry on...

 

Ooooooooh. Personal attacks. When confronted with the truth, resort to them.

[Imperial59]

Dipre you're a clown. I'm glad you're having fun and that you probably feel a whole lot better about yourself now, but damn give it a rest man.

 

But first let me take the opportunity to thank you for this...

 

 

LOL Laugh of the day, I needed that.

 

Carry on...

 

Yeah, I have to say I'm with you on this one 26.

[Dipre]

Funny thing is i'm actually trying to defend the guy from Jacko.

 

Go figure.

 

Oh well, it's what i get for sticking my nose in his business.

 

Unwarranted self-importance is a beautiful thing.

[Imperial59]

P.S: Imperial' date=' did you suffer a lapsus in reading comprehension as well?[/quote']

 

Just for laughs, what did I say that made you upset?

[Dipre]

Just for laughs' date=' what did I say that made you upset?[/quote']

 

Upset?

 

This is the internet. Only time i'm upset in the internet is when MLB.TV shits the bed.

 

The "Unwarranted self-importance" phrase is not something i have directed towards you in the past.

 

But you're obviously capable of fighting your own battles against Jacko, so i, for one, shall respectfully bow down next time you post something interesting and get blasted. Not for laughs, of course.

[Imperial59]

Upset?

 

This is the internet. Only time i'm upset in the internet is when MLB.TV shits the bed.

 

The "Unwarranted self-importance" phrase is not something i have directed towards you in the past.

 

But you're obviously capable of fighting your own battles against Jacko, so i, for one, shall respectfully bow down next time you post something interesting and get blasted. Not for laughs, of course.

 

I wasn't aware I was getting blasted :dunno: As far as I saw it, Jacko did his normal thing by being critical of me (I stopped taking that seriously after his "WAAAAAAAAAAA! Nobody cares what you think" episode) and I pointed out how he was reaching trying to claim a post made by a Yankees fan on a Yankees blog was an attack on the Yankees. I think 26's points were very reasonable and polite.

[Dipre]

I wasn't aware I was getting blasted :dunno: As far as I saw it' date=' Jacko did his normal thing by being critical of me and I pointed out how he was reaching trying to claim a post made by a Yankees fan on a Yankees blog was an attack on the Yankees. [b']I think 26's points were very reasonable and polite.[/b]

 

The statement was never directed to him.

 

Dipre: Well Jacko needs to STFU.

 

26: Why are you attacking me, i'm only stating my opinion bla bla bla.....

 

Catch my drift?

 

Anyway, carry on, big boy, you can handle it.

[Imperial59]

The statement was never directed to him.

 

Dipre: Well Jacko needs to STFU.

 

26: Why are you attacking me, i'm only stating my opinion bla bla bla.....

 

Catch my drift?

 

Anyway, carry on, big boy, you can handle it.

 

Are you hitting on me now or is that the bock beer I've been drinking?

[Dipre]

Are you hitting on me now or is that the bock beer I've been drinking?

 

Stop drinking bock beer. I'm off the market.