07-21-2010, 08:23 AM
<!--quoteo(post=106765:date=Jul 21 2010, 04:00 AM:name=bz)-->QUOTE (bz @ Jul 21 2010, 04:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Baseball will FOREVER live and die by the hit. At every stage of the game players are trained to hit the ball. Players in little league try to hit the ball as far as possible just like in MLB. It's really that simple. The idea that WAR, OBP, Vorp, etc. means anything to baseball exists only in the minds of sports writers and people like you all and me on message boards. The game hasn't caught up to that notion and won't. It's the same as art. Everyone thinks that today's world exist as one with free art that is without exception. Except everyone is judged by the same criteria as the Formalists did 65 years ago...and because it makes the most sense as a basis for understanding everything else. How many college players are drafted because they had a ridiculous OBP? Is that what scouts look for? No. They look at his athleticism, his fielding potential and his ability to hit. His swing mechanics. His bat speed. His pitch selectivity. His ability to go to multiple fields. His ability to lay off unhittable pitches. His ability to gauge the strike zone. His ability to make contact. His ability to DRAW walks. I'll repeat it...DRAW WALKS. For some reason you believe that there is a game of baseball that exists where the pitcher doesn't throw the ball over the plate, and everyone is a dummy for taking their bat off their shoulder. Yes, OBP equates to runs. That isn't fucking rocket science. You can't hit a double and drive someone in if no one is on base. You always preach the importance of OBP but have said one time that I can remember anything about one's ability to hit "of COURSE hits are more important than walks." But you never bring up ones ability to hit pitches that are hittable and lay off pitches that aren't even if they are strikes. And guess what...people can hit pitches that are balls! Isn't that a crazy notion? That a pitcher tries to hit the corner (which most do despite their success at doing so) and a guy, god forbid, swings at a pitch around the black. That a player understands that that guy on 2nd base right now isn't coming home if I don't swing and chance a walk (the umpires aren't robots yet.) BLAH! I honestly believe that you would ok with a team what consists of only players that look like this: .230/.390/.390. A team that will score the least amount of runs in the league because they only stand on 1st, 2nd and <i>maybe</i> 3rd,<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No one thinks advanced stats represent a road map for how to play baseball. They're a means for evaluating results in a more meaningful way than are traditional, back of the card stats. Player's shouldn't play to them, coaches should use them to a point and scouts most certainly should use them to evaluate talent.
When you see a lead off man go a month without a walk, it shouldn't be news to you when told about it. And it doesn't mean he should stand there and take pitches for a week but it does tell you something's not right.
Why wouldn't a ridiculous OBP raise someone's stock in the draft?
No one thinks advanced stats represent a road map for how to play baseball. They're a means for evaluating results in a more meaningful way than are traditional, back of the card stats. Player's shouldn't play to them, coaches should use them to a point and scouts most certainly should use them to evaluate talent.
When you see a lead off man go a month without a walk, it shouldn't be news to you when told about it. And it doesn't mean he should stand there and take pitches for a week but it does tell you something's not right.
Why wouldn't a ridiculous OBP raise someone's stock in the draft?