Comments on: Game notes – Tuesday 8/30/2011

By: John Autin

John Autin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:29:05 +0000

@22, KT -- Now, if Aaron Rowand had also been on that list, we'd really have a trend!

By: Kahuna Tuna

Kahuna Tuna — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:36:11 +0000

It was the 3rd HR this year by a player who also pinch-ran. The others
. . . were hit by players who have toiled most of the season in the minors. David Cooper has not appeared in a big-league game since May 25, Eric Patterson since June 8.

By: Jim Dunne

Jim Dunne — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:32:22 +0000

Doping? Nah, Brendan is accusing Jose Bautista of creating a Jose Bautista android, capable of destroying us all.

The press has been quiet about any androids assumptions thus far, but deep down they know. Oh, they know indeed... We're only months away from Mike Lupica being very, very disappointed in us all.

By: John Autin

John Autin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:49:28 +0000

Always good to hear an informed opinion from the world's foremost anti-doping expert.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:23:21 +0000

Bautista's using roids.

By: John Autin

John Autin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:42:41 +0000

@17, JD -- Season fielding percentage is OK, I guess -- but what I really want to know is a team's F% over its last 10 games. :)

By: Jim Dunne

Jim Dunne — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:07:00 +0000

@15 You know what? I'm thinking of the wrong play - I had the play were Swisher threw Scutaro out at second base in my head. The Gardner play did not result in an assist. So, while you're right, players taking great angles to balls might not be given enough of a positive over a small sample, players who do the little things like this well on defense will invariably also take good routes on balls in the air, resulting in more outs. I really do think it evens out over time. There's no perfect defensive statistic, just ones that are better than others. I mean, for crying out loud, networks are still using freaking "fielding percentage" as a guide for what teams have the best defense. Fielding percentage! In 2011!

By: Johnny Twisto

Johnny Twisto — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:03:42 +0000

Gardner did not throw a runner out on that play. He just got the ball back in quickly to hold a runner at third. (And actually, I think he would get a tiny amount of "arm" credit for that in some defensive systems, in that a runner on 1st only got to 3rd and not home following a double.) But I agree, part of my reason for sharing the Gardner and Pedroia stories was that no matter how finely we are able to slice the zones on the field, even if FieldFX data one day tells us how much distance every defender covered, I think there will always be certain defensive plays which aren't quite quantifiable.

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:55:35 +0000

@13

I didn't realize Gardner threw a runner out.

I thought he had just made a nice play to hold a runner from getting an extra base. I only read about it, didn't see it. My mistake.

I don't think defensive stats are complete enough to make dWAR a worthwhile stat, unless you are looking at huge sample sizes like 10 years+. I think a large part of the ups and downs from season to season is just the result of having more or less balls hit your way.

By: jiffy

jiffy — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:29:47 +0000

Twisto, we should all know by now that Timmy P embodies the old quote about drunks, statistics and lightposts (uses them for support, not illumination).

Maybe long-term a team would rather have Gradnerson than Joey Bats but no question Bautista is the best hitter in the majors this season.