George Will on MLB today

[Bellhorn04]

I have no problem with Will. My wife and I used to watch the Brinkley show with Will, Sam Donaldson and Cookie Roberts every week.

[S5Dewey]

The gripe being heard about basketball now is that it's become too much about the 3 point shot.

 

At the risk of not making a post not related to baseball...

 

One of the things that irks me the most is seeing what I call "The Steph Currie effect on basketball" when I see Jr. High or HS kids shoot from behind the 3-point line with a shot that starts at their waist with their shooting elbow extended to the side. They do this because they want to "jack up the three" but don't have the strength in their arms to shoot properly. I see too many good athletes who can't shoot a basketball successfully because they've built bad shooting habits earlier in life.

 

That's my non-baseball related rant for today.

[mvp 78]

What do you think the casual fan cares about?

 

Man, I want that hometown team to be good this year. Would be nice if I could afford to take the family to the old ballpark a few times this summer. Maybe there will be players I recognize from last few years?

[mvp 78]

I find Will to be interesting. After all, he's they guy who said, "No matter how little you trust your government you are too trusting".

 

I heard enough from him during the Kent Burns Baseball documentary. He's one of the "beauty of the game" types. Baseball is art and it plays along with the changing of the seasons. Nope.

[Bellhorn04]

Man, I want that hometown team to be good this year. Would be nice if I could afford to take the family to the old ballpark a few times this summer. Maybe there will be players I recognize from last few years?

 

OK, that's fair. But I'm thinking that once they've made the decision to fork out and go to a game, they do notice certain things about the way the game itself is played and managed.

[mvp 78]

Grr.. There was an issue during negotiations about something - and IIRC it was the shift - that they couldn't come to an agreement on so they decided that if it wasn't mutually decided by November they would have to renegotiate it then AND the CBA would become null and void in 2023 (2024?).

But then more negotiations followed and I lost track of what happened to that issue.

 

Help? Anybody?

 

I think that was the International Draft. I don't think they are going to reopen the CBA.

[mvp 78]

OK, that's fair. But I'm thinking that once they've made the decision to fork out and go to a game, they do notice certain things about the way the game itself is played and managed.

 

It's low on the list of priorities IMO.

[notin]

So your position is that the game was already going south and metrics just helped it on its way?

 

The gang at Clancy’s doesn’t know of or care about analytics. The NBA is actually more analytical than MLB. Has it hurt the game? The NFL has always used them, too. They’re just most well-known in baseball because it’s always been more stats-driven even among casual fans…

[S5Dewey]

I think that was the International Draft. I don't think they are going to reopen the CBA.

 

That sounds right, too. Thanks

[Bellhorn04]

The gang at Clancy’s doesn’t know of or care about analytics. The NBA is actually more analytical than MLB. Has it hurt the game? The NFL has always used them, too. They’re just most well-known in baseball because it’s always been more stats-driven even among casual fans…

 

I'm not convinced. We have some old school-y fans who post here and they are well aware of analytics and generally don't care for their impact.

 

And it was kind of a big story when Snell got yanked early in that WS game...

[mvp 78]

The gang at Clancy’s doesn’t know of or care about analytics. The NBA is actually more analytical than MLB. Has it hurt the game? The NFL has always used them, too. They’re just most well-known in baseball because it’s always been more stats-driven even among casual fans…

 

True.

 

Hits: Rose/Cobb

HRs: Bonds/Aaron/Ruth

Ks: Ryan

SBs: Ricky

Runs: Ricky

Saves: Mariano

Wins: Cy Young/Walter Johnson

 

NBA?

 

Points: Kareem

Rebounds: no idea

Assists: Stockton? no idea

Steals: No idea

 

NFL?

 

Rushing Yards: Emmitt

Receiving Yards: Rice

All QB stats: Brady

Sacks: Taylor? No idea

Interceptions: No idea

[Bellhorn04]

As for football, nobody cares about analytics because they've always seemed like an intrinsic part of the game (since Tom Landry came along, at least). It is a war game, after all...

[Bellhorn04]

True.

 

Hits: Rose/Cobb

HRs: Bonds/Aaron/Ruth

Ks: Ryan

SBs: Ricky

Runs: Ricky

Saves: Mariano

Wins: Cy Young/Walter Johnson

 

NBA?

 

Points: Kareem

Rebounds: no idea

Assists: Stockton? no idea

Steals: No idea

 

NFL?

 

Rushing Yards: Emmitt

Receiving Yards: Rice

All QB stats: Brady

Sacks: Taylor? No idea

Interceptions: No idea

 

Standard stats are not analytics.

[mvp 78]

As for football, nobody cares about analytics because they've always seemed like an intrinsic part of the game (since Tom Landry came along, at least). It is a war game, after all...

 

Trick plays in NFL: cool when they work, hilarious if they fail.

 

Baseball: you can't do that!

[mvp 78]

Standard stats are not analytics.

 

Did I say it was?

 

notin: baseball has been more stats driven

mvp: true, here are some well known stats from each league with baseball being more memorable

[Bellhorn04]

Trick plays in NFL: cool when they work, hilarious if they fail.

 

Baseball: you can't do that!

 

Trick plays are rarely used. But we all know about game plans based on long hours of studying film.

[Bellhorn04]

Did I say it was?

 

notin: baseball has been more stats driven

mvp: true, here are some well known stats from each league with baseball being more memorable

 

You're right, it was notin who jumbled them.

[mvp 78]

You're right, it was notin who jumbled them.

 

I would say that analytics became popular and easier to digest in baseball because there was already great focus on lowly stats like RBI (Hack Wilson!) and batting average (.406!).

[notin]

Standard stats are not analytics.

 

They were at one point. Not like Abner Doubleday drew up the original diamond and then devised formulas for ERA and batting average later that afternoon

[mvp 78]

They were at one point. Not like Abner Doubleday drew up the original diamond and then devised formulas for ERA and batting average later that afternoon

 

Farming

In

Phinney's pasture

[Bellhorn04]

I would say that analytics became popular and easier to digest in baseball because there was already great focus on lowly stats like RBI (Hack Wilson!) and batting average (.406!).

 

Modern analytics are NOT popular with the 'average fan' the way those well-known stats are. fWAR makes the average fan's eyes glaze over.

 

IMHO.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

What do you think the casual fan cares about?

 

I'd say the price of a beer and a pretzel, but it's probably a Coke and a dog.

[mvp 78]

Modern analytics are NOT popular with the 'average fan' the way those well-known stats are. fWAR makes the average fan's eyes glaze over.

 

IMHO.

 

This is a lie. I remember seeing Morganna back in the day and my dad yelling "WHIP 'em out." These analytics have always been popular.

[jad]

Modern analytics are NOT popular with the 'average fan' the way those well-known stats are. fWAR makes the average fan's eyes glaze over.

 

IMHO.

 

Exactly. As I've pointed out before, name me one fan (including yourself) who ever put money down or attended a game because they wanted to see the fWAR or dWAR race (you don't need to disparage me for not knowing the difference. I don't. And don't care.) As for HRs being boring, think Sosa and Bonds, the race that saved baseball.

[notin]

Exactly. As I've pointed out before, name me one fan (including yourself) who ever put money down or attended a game because they wanted to see the fWAR or dWAR race (you don't need to disparage me for not knowing the difference. I don't. And don't care.) As for HRs being boring, think Sosa and Bonds, the race that saved baseball.

 

As opposed to the number of NFL fans who watch every week because they love QBR?

[notin]

Modern analytics are NOT popular with the 'average fan' the way those well-known stats are. fWAR makes the average fan's eyes glaze over.

 

IMHO.

 

 

Yeah yeah yeah.

 

And there was a time when no one cared about Ol’ Hoss Radbourne’s ERA, either…

[mvp 78]

Yeah yeah yeah.

 

And there was a time when no one cared about Ol’ Hoss Radbourne’s ERA, either…

 

5 man pitching rotation? Are you daft?!?

[notin]

5 man pitching rotation? Are you daft?!?

 

Analytics.

 

Some might remember Earl Weaver’s logic for sticking it out with a 4 man rotation. “It’s easier to find 4 good pitchers than it is to find 5.”

 

Jim Palmer, Mike Flanagan, and Scott MacGregor still give thanks every day that Weaver never extended this logic to a 3 man rotation…

[Bellhorn04]

Yeah yeah yeah.

 

And there was a time when no one cared about Ol’ Hoss Radbourne’s ERA, either…

 

You're really trying to equate ERA, which a grade school kid can calculate, with numbers like WAR? OK...

[mvp 78]

When a 3b is playing on the grass when a slap hitting LHB is up, is that good or bad analytics?