MLB Off-Topic

[Steven78]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Nike and Majestic are out.

New Era to remain as hat maker.

[SPTO]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Almost exactly 12 years ago to the minute.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EMEylcp7E7s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The most important stolen base in Red Sox history.

One can argue that it's in the top 3 of most important stolen bases of ALL TIME.

[TripleCrown9]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

One can argue that it's in the top 3 of most important stolen bases of ALL TIME.

Roberts, Jackie stealing home, um...Rickey breaking Lou's record?

Also, "We'll see you later tonight!"

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xYxSZJ9GZ-w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

EDIT: welp, posting these videos was a mistake. Now I'm gonna try to go to sleep teary-eyed.

[l3ulvl]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

You're kind of proving the reason they talk about him by having this conversation.

I know I'm a bunch of days and several pages behind, but in my early effort to get caught up I had to throw in my .02:

I love Tebow, root for him to succeed all the time, wanted him to find his foothold in the NFL, and want some miracle to work out for him in baseball.

It's so much better hearing about him than hearing about Manziel. Of all the names ESPN and the other outlets bring up constantly, Tebow is probably my most liked

[l3ulvl]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Quick discussion:

Is Andrew Miller still considered a bust? Guy was #6 overall in the 2006 draft and is now a reliever instead of the bonafide starter he was expected to be by Detroit. It took him until Boston turned him into a reliever in 2012 before he started being fruitful.

Looking at him now, I don't think there's another reliever in the bigs as good as him but that's not what was expected him of him.

IDK, I guess it depends on one's gauge of how much a reliever can impact a game (versus a SP). Is a "shutdown" pitcher more valuable being in ~80 games but only 90 IP or 30+ games but 220+ IPs?

Better question, would current Detroit trade current Cabrera for current Miller?

This discussion makes me want some Sierra mist.

I prefer Miller to Davis.

Give me a dozen Miller lites

[TheMatrix31]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

My problem with the crazy stats is that I don't need them to know a player is great. They go too in-depth and don't typically reveal nearly enough new information to make it worth reading, hearing, or learning about them.

Like the other day, I saw something about Ethier's HR about the typical batting average on balls hit like that and it's just like, "so it was barely a homer? we saw it."

I don't get caught up in things like rankings of specific players when I know how bad *** they all are. Don't really care to consider how much better Andrew Miller is compared to Aroldis Chapman or Wade Davis. All insane to me.

[CMH]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

My problem with the crazy stats is that I don't need them to know a player is great. They go too in-depth and don't typically reveal nearly enough new information to make it worth reading, hearing, or learning about them.

Like the other day, I saw something about Ethier's HR about the typical batting average on balls hit like that and it's just like, "so it was barely a homer? we saw it."

I don't get caught up in things like rankings of specific players when I know how bad *** they all are. Don't really care to consider how much better Andrew Miller is compared to Aroldis Chapman or Wade Davis. All insane to me.

I think the "I saw it" is the reason we need these stats to evaluate players.

We can't watch every player and every play. So if you didn't see Ethier's home run, how do you know it was barely a home run? The traditional stat line just says: Homeruns: Ethier (1)

And that's not taking into account viewer bias like the one that makes Yankees fans that only watch Jeter 162 days a year believe he's the finest defensive short stop in the game or that the average shortstop cannot go left.

[Money99]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

He doesn't close for his current team because to confine him arbitrarily to the last 3 outs of the game instead of the most important would be a misuse of his talent. The closer role is meaningless, he's the best reliever in the league because he's the most shutdown pitcher in the majors that comes out of the bullpen. None of the guys you mentioned are that close, his K rate is higher than all of them and his BB rate is lower than all of them. The fact that his manager feels comfortable throwing him out whenever and he can shut the game down should be a plus if anything.

Agreed.
I think Francona is a genius simply because he's not buying into the "A closer is a closer" kind of thinking.
Miller's kind of a throw-back to the days when 'Firemen' relievers were brought in to stop the bleeding or, stop a momentum shift.
Miller was a great closer for the Yankees, and now he's doing everything for the Indians.
He's making the closer's job so much easier by coming in earlier and eating up multiple innings.
In a way, I'd consider what he's doing more valuable than a guy who's only good at coming in for the last 3 outs.
He's the guy making sure that someone only has to get the last 3 outs.

[redsox4evur]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Happy Slap day!!! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XxW4VmDyjkE


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

My problem with the crazy stats is that I don't need them to know a player is great. They go too in-depth and don't typically reveal nearly enough new information to make it worth reading, hearing, or learning about them.

If someone who never saw baseball asked you who the best players in the league were, how would you go about explaining to them how to find out? That is what metrics help with, depending on which one you trust.

I feel they make things simple. Who is the best hitter in the league? Well let me draw up a chart comparing the different stats and weigh each one against each other... Nah they already did that. It just takes all the raw numbers and crunches them so that we can more easily compare. It just takes the work of doing an excel spreadsheet out of my hands and puts it in someone else's. Like Chip said, it's about pushing new ideas to the forefront, but also finishing that loop. It tells you what you should be looking for in a hitter through its methodology, and then by ranking it tells you who is the best.

[TripleCrown9]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

If someone who never saw baseball asked you who the best players in the league were, how would you go about explaining to them how to find out? That is what metrics help with, depending on which one you trust.

I feel they make things simple. Who is the best hitter in the league? Well let me draw up a chart comparing the different stats and weigh each one against each other... Nah they already did that. It just takes all the raw numbers and crunches them so that we can more easily compare. It just takes the work of doing an excel spreadsheet out of my hands and puts it in someone else's. Like Chip said, it's about pushing new ideas to the forefront, but also finishing that loop. It tells you what you should be looking for in a hitter through its methodology, and then by ranking it tells you who is the best.

I would show them a highlight video lol. I'm not gonna sit down with a stranger that doesn't understand baseball and lecture them on UZR and fWAR and TZL.

[kehlis]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I would show them a highlight video lol. I'm not gonna sit down with a stranger that doesn't understand baseball and lecture them on UZR and fWAR and TZL.

Yea, that analogy made no sense at all.

[Speedy]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I love how MLB is doing well on ratings while the NFL is losing their minds.

I hope this continues.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

If someone who never saw baseball asked you who the best players in the league were, how would you go about explaining to them how to find out? That is what metrics help with, depending on which one you trust.

I feel they make things simple. Who is the best hitter in the league? Well let me draw up a chart comparing the different stats and weigh each one against each other... Nah they already did that. It just takes all the raw numbers and crunches them so that we can more easily compare. It just takes the work of doing an excel spreadsheet out of my hands and puts it in someone else's. Like Chip said, it's about pushing new ideas to the forefront, but also finishing that loop. It tells you what you should be looking for in a hitter through its methodology, and then by ranking it tells you who is the best.

I'd tell them who the best players are. Because those numbers would probably reveal most if not all of the same names. You know what I do when I'm talking to someone who doesn't understand baseball? I speak in generalities. I'll show them a play or two of something amazing that player did. Like Trout's catch against the Mariners last year, Cespedes' throw gunning out whoever it was against the Angels from a couple years back, etc. I give them a reason to be interested in the sport on the base level. I won't dive into specific numbers because it gets overwhelming.

I find myself doing this a lot, because most of the people I'm around in Los Angeles don't particularly care about baseball. One of my best buddies is super super super casual about baseball. He knows a couple players at best and a couple teams at best. But he knows that baseball is my favorite. So when we hang out, he asks about baseball. Even if I dive into the most basic numbers, like RBIs or how some things that are second nature to baseball fans work, I can tell I lose his attention. So I keep it simple and keep it visual.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I would show them a highlight video lol. I'm not gonna sit down with a stranger that doesn't understand baseball and lecture them on UZR and fWAR and TZL.

The point is you don't have to lecture them on anything. You say this number being higher means they're better.

How do you guys use stats? Because I don't understand how a highlight video would tell me who the best player is. That's exactly what we're trying to work against, the idea that seeing a player necessarily tells you what you need to know. I could out together a highlight reel of any decent outfielder with a couple of home runs and diving catches and convince someone they're the best.

When you play a game, you look at overall. If I don't know anything about baseball, I can find the best player in baseball because people who love the sport have already devised a stat that tells me who is best at exactly what needs to be done. I can find the answer, and then ask the questions afterwards. Maybe it's just me but it helps to take one player, figure out what they do best, and then apply that to the context of the game as opposed to learning the entire game and going from there. What is the goal of hitting? To create runs. Now how do you do that most effectively?

The part that confuses me is you guys aren't just pushing aside metrics, but all statistics. To say you don't need someone to tell you why players are good (in Matrix's case) misses the point, they may just not be for you. But some people do need to be told why players are good, and the most effective way to do that is to boil everything down to one number like overall in a sports game. After that, you can determine how each individual aspect plays into the whole. I guess I'm just not understanding how your methods help, I could show someone a Baz reel and have them convinced he's the GOAT.