In the last 4 1/2 days I've had two out-of-town guests, made it to 2 Sox games, put almost 600 miles on my car, and drank 721 beers. (Roughly. And never while driving.) Hence my disappearance. I now have an absolutely insane 12 days ahead -- have to get tons of stuff done before vacation. So anything I type on this site the next 2 weeks will be a clear sign that I'm in serious procrastination mode.
...So anyway, you can always find all sorts of splits describing how players perform under certain circumstances. But one I haven't seen much of is splits for when the team wins versus when it loses. Obviously, almost by definition, most players should perform better in wins than in losses. But I can't imagine for most it's a massive difference. However, this season, Manny bats .355 in Sox wins, .198 in Sox losses; 27 of his 33 HR are in Sox wins. That strikes me as a huge difference, pointing just to how much the Sox rely on Manny to win (all his stats are similarly lopsided, but I chose just the ones which are essentially independent of what other teammates do). When he struggles, they lose; when he hits, they win. And the Sox almost traded him for Mike Cameron and Aubrey Huff. Awesome.
Also, this didn't take long.
Nice.
ReplyDeleteI especilly like this part - "anything I type on this site the next 2 weeks will be a clear sign that I'm in serious procrastination mode"
As opposed to those times when we post on this site when there is nothing more important we should be doing.
Earl - good to see you at the Big A. Did you catch the preview on the big screen for the tv show - "My name is Earl?" Quite a resemblance....
Saturday's game was a disappointment, but at least you got to enjoy a W on Sunday.
My last two weeks I have you beat in the miles on the car, we are tied on the number of Sox games and you have seriously kicked my butt in the beer category.
Nice work on the BA in victories - I do wish W/L was a more readily available split. I like even more the stats that show things like - the Sox are 52-18 in games when Johnny Damon scores a run. Or the one we have been seeing a lot of lately - the Sox are 3-0 in games Papelbon has pitched and 15-6 in games Schilling has appeared in since the ASB.
I should've credited the LA Times with those stats. Their writers seem pretty convinced this matchup will be repeated in the postseason; couple that with last year's ALDS and that makes for them being a tad bit obsessed with the Sox.
ReplyDeleteThe "batting average in games the Sox has won" stat is a useful one I think, but it can be taken to extremes. At Dodger Stadium, like at the Big A, they try to have a stat on every player. One was something like "Dodgers are 7-0 in games in which Shawn Green has 2 or more home runs." Well...yeah. My response was "The Dodgers are 2-0 in games in which their starting pitcher pitched a perfect game".
Speaking of which, when are the next perfect game writeups?
I am getting frustrated with the book - too much talk about the players rights, union, reserve clause, blah, blah, blah. If he wanted to write that book, he should have done so.
ReplyDeleteI had hoped to catch some of Johan's outing - sort of his farewell game. But by the time I got home, the game was over. A snappy 2:08 game. Johan sure is the second half pitcher. I'll miss him and JT will surely enjoy the pickup in the battle for second.
I can't stand the Manny being Manny thing...
ReplyDeleteFirst off, that's Ricky Henderson's line. It just isn't original...
Secondly, the guy is not dumb. He doesn't have tumbleweeds rolling through his head. He hits the cover off the ball, outsmarts many, many major league pitchers, and is not a terrible fielder.
He might be lazy on the field sometimes. That I can't stand either. He makes 20MM a year! I understand that the season is long and that, for the most part, it is the traveling that does some of these guys in...However, I work more than that. I don't travel all that much, but for 20MM I would...I also don't have an "offseason".
I am not ripping Manny. The guy is a monster and, as Earl points out, a huge reason for the Sox success.
I look at it like this...I am embarrassed for the guy. Millions of people think he's a dope and he just goes along with it. OR...maybe I am embarrassed for the fans that think it is funny that someone is dumb and they idolize him.
It kind of is how culture is going...Look at the biggest headlining stars and how "intelligent" they are...Jessica Simpson...Britney...Yeah, maybe it is the general public that should be embarrassed...
Wow, that was a rant...just wanted to get that out...
I will rant more later on Timlin...
I like the splits discussion. The stat that I'd be interested in seeing is the opponent's winning percentage. I feel like the Sox have been playing good teams all year. Maybe it's just been the month of August and we're finally getting to some teams like KC - I don't know.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a different game to see the sox play the royals. It's almost like they are in different leagues. Sure the royals could string some offense together and beat the sox on a bad night, but last night it was extremely obvious to me how much better the sox are as a team.