Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site water.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!lll-crg!dual!qantel!ihnp4!mhuxn!mhuxr!ulysses!burl!clyde!watmath!watnot!water!abgamble From: abgamble@water.UUCP (abgamble) Newsgroups: net.sport.baseball Subject: Re: NL catchers, statistics, baseball philosophy Message-ID: <768@water.UUCP> Date: Mon, 12-Aug-85 12:18:45 EDT Article-I.D.: water.768 Posted: Mon Aug 12 12:18:45 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 15-Aug-85 01:18:12 EDT References: <408@philabs.UUCP> Distribution: na Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 59 > It's really a shame that you are putting so much time into this, when > it means nothing to me. The whole difference between us is one of > underlying philosophy. You are a statistician, and love all sorts of > wonderfully contorted statistics. I couldn't care less about on base > percentage, slugging average, homeruns per at bat, etc. What I like to > see is a winning team, which is constructed from winning team players. My first reaction to reading Paul Benjamin's posting was to attack all the obvious errors in it. For instance his decision to ignore the facts when it appears they won't support his opinion. > So let us put this argument to rest. You will post your beloved statistics > and I will ignore them ... What I am going to deal with instead, is his opinion, evidenced throughout the article, which is best stated in his final sentence. His implication is, of course, that someone who enjoys baseball statistics a great deal, isn't a REAL baseball fan. > ... I am not, at heart, a statistics fan - > I am a baseball fan. I too am a baseball fan. I love to watch Ozzie Smith turn a double play. I love to watch Pete Rose dive into third base. And I used to love watching Steve Rogers sweat and stain and grimace his way to another 1-hit shutout. BECAUSE I love this sport so much, I want to learn about it. Statistics provide one excellent method of doing this. Note that statistics, by themselves, are nothing more than meaningless numbers, but put them in some context and they can reveal a wealth of information. For example, consider the following 8 numbers. 175 142 126 174 184 151 139 165 By themselves, these are just meaningless numbers, but if I tell you that they are the RBI totals for one player over an eight year period, they suddenly take on a life of their own. They tell an incredible story of a player with great power, a man with impressive consistancy and durability. They speak of a fine offence that must have surrounded him, and of a team that was probably at or near the top of their league for the better part of a decade. All this from as simple a statistic as RBI. It probably won't surprise you to learn that these numbers belong to Lou Gehrig, since he is one of only a handful of players who these statements could be describing. The point of this is to say that yes statistics can be very interesting, but ONLY as a tool to help one understand the game better. Statistics exist because of baseball, NOT the other way around. If one has no interest in the game then one cannot possibly be interested in BA, HR, OBA & SA. However, if one wishes some insights into baseball, then statistics are the most powerful tools we have and as such should not be dismissed as a group. -- Bruce Gamble - abgamble@water.UUCP