Baseball is a sport of numbers. Everything, I mean everything from every game is recorded and all of that data is accessible. Now you can do with that what you will, different strokes for different folks and all. Many people regularly delve into the numbers. It might be to gather information for their fantasy leagues or it might just be that the quantitative side of baseball is fascinating to them.
Others don’t want anything to do with the new fancy metrics and either ignore stats all together or rely on the basic stats that they’ve know forever. Joe Morgan said last night “I don’t know anything about Z rating, I just know he didn’t get a good jump on that ball.” They were discussing Jeter’s range.
Most of you that come around here know that I don’t use numbers in my posts, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate them. There is a reason I like in depth analysis. I like to confirm what my eye and sometimes heart are seeing. As a silly girl fan I like to think that I have a decent eye, and it is fun to check the numbers or read an article that confirms what you have been feeling. On the flip side it is also good to read and be informed when your wrong. It makes you a better fan. Besides there are usually pretty charts, and who doesn’t love those.
This weekend Jason Hanselman at RaysIndex took a look at the Rays batters pitch results through the first 40 games. I found this very interesting as you can look at each player and see if your perception of what they’ve been doing at the plate is what they’ve actually been doing. Some are surprising, some not so much.
In the comments I asked a question regarding Ben Zobrist and how he’s starting to get hot now. I wondered if he changed his approach at all because there were times earlier in the season that I felt he wasn’t being aggressive. Jason was nice enough to look in-depth at Benny Z. You should check it out. There are pretty charts…
Oh and don’t worry we will get back to our regularly scheduled dippy blogging tonight when the Red Sox come to town. In the meantime here is a picture of my Rocco to make you feel at home.
Thanks for the plug and cute dog. I’m glad he shares only a name with Rocco, since a balding, gimpy dog would not be as cool
More than any other sport, baseball is a game of numbers. That’s why the sacred home run record is such a hot topic. If Bonds cheated when he broke Aaron’s record and McGwire cheated when he broke Maris’, then there is something wrong with the record. In football, however, guys like Lawrence Taylor are in the Hall of Fame. The numbers don’t matter as much as the glory of winning and the all-American game of land acquisition.
Baseball fans get more worked-up than fans of other sports with year-end awards (also based on numbers) and other such minutae that clog otherwise great seasons with needless awards. Most sports fans can’t name NHL Conn Smythe Award winners or NFL Pro Bowlers, but ask them who won the 1973 AL MVP award and they shout out, “Reggie!” It’s all part of that strange world of baseball, and most of what makes it so much fun to discuss and write about.
The numbers are fun, and you’re right when you say that our perceptions of how a player is performing can sometimes be contradicted by the actual numbers. I couldn’t care less about “Z” ratings, and like Joe, I can tell when a guy got a bad jump on a ball or isn’t hustling.
One number I could live without is the pitch count. Don’t get me started…
Careful now, I happen to love that balding, gimpy Rocco!
Yeah Anthony it’s amazing how many numbers baseball fans can recall. It might make us nerds but oh well.
What happened:
I do not understand where the rays are at, the team playing does not even come close.