  
|
- Latest Videos -
About The Author:
Bob is co-host of "The Fast Lane," heard Monday through Friday, 2pm-6pm on 101 ESPN and is "The Voice of the Billikens."Bouton Was Right
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replying the story in its archived form does not constitute a re-publiccation of the story.
I feel bad.
I really do.
A great many fans and listeners have approached over the last 18 hours or so to congratulate me for an unpleasant exchange with a guest on The Fastlane. I think folks felt like I was representing them in the Cy Young discussion with ESPN.com analyst Keith Law. The reason I feel bad about the conversation was that we couldn't get to a point where both sides exchanged ideas and debated the merits of those ideas.
What Mr. Law didn't take the time to learn was that I have great respect for numbers. Guys around the station consider me a numbers guy. I like the sabrmetric analysis of baseball.
What I don't like is the sanctimonious attitude spewed forth from an Ivy leaguer who thinks that his is the only way. He also didn't get that I like HIS numbers I just didn't agree with his conclusion. So what?! This overly defensive hillbilly didn't care for Law's dismissive tone toward my partner Randy and to a lesser degree me. Just because we're not Haavad material doesn't mean we have no idea about baseball. He MAY be smarter than me. But between the last Yale/Harvard man...you know the guy, he was in all the papers for about eight years...and this guy Law, the Ivy League has slipped. And by the way I did go to the Harvard of St. Charles.
The point is, winning is important. Consistency is important. Coming up big when the team needs it most is important. And despite what some numbers people want to tell you, if your club screwed up early it puts more value on the later games. There are clutch hitters...there are clutch pitchers. And I'm sure much to the consternation of Mr. Law and his ilk, I will close with a quote from a Mr. James Bouton who once said,"Tell your statistics to shut up."
|
- It rocks!
- Its just stupid.
- Its SPAM.
- Its offensive.
- Nevermind.
tpfleming 78 Days agoHeadline:
Keith Law Declares Kansas City Royals MLB Champs for 2009
Text:
Defying conventional wisdom, ESPN baseball analyst and statistical expert Keith Law has named the Kansas City Royals as baseball's best team in 2009. "It's not even close; by almost all statistical standards, the Royals lapped the field in 2009."
Reaction in New York, where the Yankees had apparently won the 2009 World Series, was irate. Sports call-in shows were flooded with angry callers demanding to know how Law arrived at his decision. But at least one New York sports talk host, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed with Law. "When you look at KC's LAW RAT (Leveraged and Averaged Win Ratio), there's no comparison. The Royals had a LAW RAT of 19.762; the next closest was the Nationals with 17.118."
Law defended his decision by citing the numbers. "Greinke's WACKY (Win Average Coefficient per Strikeout Yield) was off the charts, the Royals' bullpen's Average Saves In Nine Innings (ASININE) led the league, and their Defensive Uncategorized Errors (DUNCE) score was first in the AL."
When an AP reporter reminded Law that the game was played on the field and not on sabremetician's spread sheets, and that the Yankees had actually won the world championship, Law responded, "The World Series is an invalid determinant of the best team. What you saw was an illusion. The complex variables that go into an assessment of which team is better has nothing to do with vague and amorphous things like a pitcher's stuff, quality at-bats, momentum, fielders' instincts, and managerial decisions. To put it in terms the layman can understand, it's about what players could do...not what they do do."
Meanwhile in Kansas City, the mayor has scheduled a belated victory parade through the downtown district on Tuesday, and Bud Selig is expected to award the Commissioner's trophy to the Royals organization on that occasion.
Law, who has an MBA from Harvard and once worked as a consultant for the Toronto Blue Jays, drew similar ire when he voted Javier Vazquez second on his Cy Young ballot and omitted St. Louis's Chris Carpenter, despite Carpenter's apparent statistical advantage over Vazquez. "Any dope can cite ERA and wins; that's not what determines good pitching. I look at Games Over Ongoing Fielding Yield (GOOFY) average."
When asked who should win the world championship in 2010, Law responded, "Well, right now I'm favoring the Pirates. Their Cosine Rating At Position (CRAP) is astronomical."
Tim Fleming
Author, "Murder Of An American Nazi"
http://leftlooking.blogspot.com
http://www.blazingtrailers.com/show.php?title=441
www.eloquentbooks.com/MurderOfAnAmericanNazi.html
What do you think?
We want to hear from you! Take five seconds to join ToastedRav.com or log in.