Basebology (The Study of Baseball): Enjoying baseball

Monday, July 26, 2010

Enjoying baseball

Every now and then, you watch a baseball game that reminds you why you love it so much. Last night's Cardinals-Cubs game was one such game. It had just about everything you could want: power, speed, good defense, plays on the bases, pitchers working out of jams, clutch hitting, strategy, and extra innings.

Hell, I even though that the broadcast crew was fantastic. Orel Hershiser and Bobby V. engaged the viewer all evening with information that is not available with a simple Google search. Orel talked about pitching strategy and mechanics. Bobby emphasized little managerial considerations that might not occur to the viewer otherwise. There were a couple inevitable rough spots, but all in all they delivered a package head and shoulders above normal color commentary.

There's really no way to describe how sublime it is to simply kick back and watch two teams play an exciting regular season baseball game. It's exciting, but not tense. It makes you smile, but not leap for joy. It's engaging, but not riveting. It was perfect.

2 comments:

L. H. Lynch said...: This was kind of how I felt watching the FIFA World Cup. It was my introduction to soccer, so I didn't know enough to be super overjoyed about anything, but I was still highly engaged.; July 27, 2010 at 6:39 AM
Lisa said...: Here's hoping that after my surgery in October my hearing will be so improved that I also can enjoy good color commentary!; July 29, 2010 at 5:12 PM

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Key Stats

ARP
Adjusted Runs Prevented

ARP measures the amount of runs that a relief pitcher prevented from scoring above what an average relief pitcher would have prevented. ARP is adjusted for the situation in which the pitcher was used.

ISO
Isolated Power

ISO is the ratio of extra bases that a player has accumulated to the number of at bats he has received. ISO is essentially a player's SLG minus his batting average. This has the effect of giving a player credit only for extra base hits. ISO is not a useful measure of player value on its own, but is a very effective measure of a player's extra base ability.

OBP
On Base Percentage

OBP is the ratio of the number of times a player reached base safely to the number of opportunities he had to reach base. It effectively measures a player's skill at not making outs. Since outs are a teams most precious commodity, OBP measures perhaps the most valuable and fundamental skill a player can have.

OPS
On Base Plus Slugging Percentage

OPS is a crude metric that simply sums a player's on base and slugging percentages. It is probably the most popular non-traditional measure of overall batting performance due to its simplicity. However, it has drawn criticism from performance analysts for its inaccuracy relative to other advanced metrics and because it works by adding two numbers with different denominators together to produce a conceptually meaningless quantity. It is best used as a quick and dirty estimator of batting prowess.

SLG
Slugging Percentage

SLG is the ratio of total bases that a player has accumulated to the number of at bats he has received. It is essentially a weighted batting average that gives a player more credit for extra base hits.

UZR
Ultimate Zone Rating

UZR is a defensive metric that uses play-by-play data to determine how good a player's defense is. On Fangraphs, it is denominated in runs saved above average.

VORP
Value Over Replacement Player

VORP measures the amount of runs that a player contributed above what a "replacement player" at the same position would produce. VORP considers only offensive contributions.

WARP
Wins Above Replacement Player

WARP measures the amount of wins that a player contributed above what a "replacement player" at the same position would produce. WARP considers both offensive and defensive contributions.

WXRL
Win Expectancy added above Replacement adjusted for Lineup

WXRL measures the amount of wins that a relief pitcher contributed above what a "replacement player" would produce. WXRL differs from WARP because it is adjusted for both the game situation in which the pitcher was used and the hitters that the pitcher faced.

Basebology (The Study of Baseball)

Monday, July 26, 2010

Enjoying baseball

2 comments:

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