Great article, WOY.
Indeed, that was a great article.
I think the thing that annoys me most is the way that a lot of sabemetric advocates (Michael Lewis, for instance) love to characterize anyone from the "old school" as a tobacco chewing neanderthal. The next most annoying thing to me is the way a lot of "traditionalists" like to return the favor by calling sabermetric advocates "nerds and geeks who never played the game".
Both sides love baseball. Both sides want to know as much as they can about the game.
Spirited debate doesn't have to descend into name calling and bad feelings about the game we love.
When you stop learning, and wanting to learn, you're done.
We'll go down in history as the first society that wouldn't save itself because it wasn't cost effective ~ Kurt Vonnegut
That could be the best article writtne on the subject. I especilly agree with the following towards the end:. So True.The cosmic joke of the backlash is that no one has yet attacked sabermetrics on its merits.
A great summary of the "why" of sabermetrics. Hard to understand why anyone would shun such a common sense idea.The book has given birth to a retrograde, reactionary movement, all of it provoked by its important but less than revolutionary point: In a money-scarce environment, a business must maximize its chances. A good way to do this is to improve your intelligence-gathering operation, then start looking for opportunities the well-heeled operations might have missed.
But alas, many will continue to argue that the "stat geeks" look ONLY at numbers and forget about anything else. Why would someone NOT want to know MORE about a player?The A's' focus on on-base percentage is entirely compatible with old-school subjective observation. Each method of inquiry informs the other, providing team decision-makers with a more complete picture of a player. Statistics are an objective record of a ballplayer's performances. Interpreted adroitly, statistics can provide an informative, sight-unseen picture of a player; a young pitcher's strikeout rate, for instance, is a powerful indicator of his future prospects. There is a great deal, though, that numbers cannot tell you, which is where subjective, first-hand observation comes in.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
hmmmm lets see... what annoys me the most about the Reds???
1) knowing ownership has no clue on what it takes to win EACH season instead of some ficticious future they talk about down the road !!
2) Carl Linder
3) JOhn Allen lies about "Not throwing in the towel"
4) Reds ownership that thinks Reds fans will just go to games to look at the darn GAB!! because its so beautiful
5) Reds ownership that follows the Pirates, Tigers, Brewers plans of opening of a new tax paid park..(wish we had the Phillies and Padres owners.. they saw LOSING doesnt bring fannies to the games!!)
6)Knowing by July 31st, "AAA team the Sequel" will be playing at GAB for the rest of the season
7) Knowing by Kearns and Dunn's arbitration date, they will be traded to the Yankees or Red Soxs, because ownership cant afford them like the Cards can afford Puhols (without a new park being built for them by the Cards fans as of now)
8)Knowing a losing team and slipping attendance, our Reds owners will raise ticket prices and 2005 will be just like 2003, 2004, 2006, etc....)
9) Knowing our ownership and FO types NEVER mention Winning the World Series as a goal before the season starts!!!
10) Knowing that I as well as others on this board try to have hope and faith in the Reds and the Reds ownership has no hope or desire to Win!!!
11) Knowing I am following what the Bengals are doing in the offseason and knowing the Reds will have to pull off a HUGE miracle to finish above 3rd this season as well as down the road of many more seasons!!
12) Hoping CArl gets the hint to sell before he looses a ton of money when trying to sell a AAA team in a MLB park!!
13) With all the bashing of JR. and his contract (which is a bargain compared to others!!), knowing we will never see a superstar EVER sign with the Reds or even agree to a trade to the Reds
Last edited by redsfan4445; 04-06-2004 at 11:40 PM.
Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool
I don't agree on that Dennis Miller is the most annoying announcer EVER!!!
Rick Sutcliffe might have something to say about that. He's almost ready to join the list of McCarver and Billy Packer as the worst commentators in any sport.David Justice doing color commentary. That is easily the most annoying thing on the planet. He makes Tim McCarver seem concise, pithy, and insightful.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
Great article. He's "preaching to the choir" with me. I've been a believer for 15 years or so. Outs bad...on base good. Still love a stolen base more than I should though. Love those high OBP guys with wheels.
Annoying:
1. Reds fans who say we have to wait until the Reds are 25 games under .500 before we can say they are a bad team. We are allowed no historical reference....just because everybody starts out 0-0 means all teams are equal.....this frustrates me in a humorous way.
2. Being forced to learn what runs created and OPS means. Don't get me wrong, I am happy that my fellow posters have taught me new ways to appreciate the game, but just like learning my first computer, I was still PO'd while I was learning it.
3. Realizing that MWM (in his first post) was describing my dear departed Dad.
4. The fact that I hated the JR trade 2 month before it was made, and I still hate it, and there is nothing I can do about it but moan.
MWM you are a Michigan fan? How terribly disgusting.
Michigan fans and Lloyd Carr are the most annoying things on the planet.
To keep this baseball related I will say Rick Sutcliffe is the most annoying PERSON on the planet, much less announcer.
I'll take that as a compliment.Originally Posted by Cedric
Most annoying thing on the planet?
My ex GF's drunk OSU Grad father after UM kicked OSU's butt........ I'd go on but I wouldn't want to annoy ya.
OK. Steel has talked some sense into me and I've decided to just assume you meant nothing personal with that comment. But that comment could very easily be taken to be a low blow in my direction (saying I was describing your father).Originally Posted by red-in-la
Last edited by MWM; 04-07-2004 at 01:16 AM.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
I'm a huge fan of the school, definitely. It's a fantastic institution of higher learning. plus they have a "hash bash" every year.Originally Posted by Cedric
Last edited by MWM; 04-07-2004 at 01:20 AM.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
MWM, please back away from the ledge.
Normally, I'm the guy with the hot head, but I'm certain that rila didn't mean that as a slight considering the props he's given to the "SABR" crew.
You might consider that his "annoyance" is that his father is no longer with us, and that the "batting average" reference was simply a reminder of that.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
I think it's funny that the a lot of the so-called "traditional" crowd memorize and use stats just as much as the so-called "stats" crowd. They just use a different group of stats (BA, RBI, SB, etc.).
We're all geeks at heart.
"I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful
Please MWM, take no offense...I meant none. It is just that at this time of year I miss my Dad the most. He was a Reds fan since 1937 until he died in October of 2000.Originally Posted by MWM
But he was just exactly what you described. Every chance he got he complained that the whole game was rigged to make sure the Reds lost....and every time a Red struck out or hit into a DP he wanted the guy traded or released before he got back to the dugout.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my Dad and he was a wonderful guy and a die hard Reds fan. But he was also cynical and quick to scream at HIS players.
I know a lot of that rubbed off on me and it shows sometimes in my posts.....but I try to fight it.
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