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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>
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Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
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> 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