Statistics & Baseball – Overvalued & Undervalued – Ep. 133

Remember there used to be a MLB statistic for GWRBI – Game Winning RBI’s?  The one that gives your team a lead it never relinquishes.  Because players could get the GWRBI conceivably (and in reality) in the first inning @MLB junked it after 1988 which was about  8 years too long.  One of our ‘Almost’ guys Keith Hernandez has been in no way helped by the stat that he has the all time record for GWRBIs.  Because and rightly so, it’s a dumb stat! 

Are pitcher starts as important as they used to be?  How about appearances?  Are RBI’s an overvalued statistic?  How about Sacrifice Flies which have changed a few times over the years.  With better analytics and data baseball statistics have become more complicated and difficult to understand.  Do you know how to calculate WAR (wins above replacement)?  Or the difference between fWAR and bWAR?  Or FIP (fielding independent of pitching)?  Few fans do or are necessarily all that interested.  

Fans still like some of the old fashioned stats – HRs, BA, RBI’s, K’s.   We do too but the modern game of baseball calls for modernized stats and progress will not be halted in the ever present search for better players and better player production.   

This is our longest episode so far.  We did not expect it but once we get to talking it’s hard to stop!

Correction:  Hack Wilson had 191 RBI’s in 1930.  David Peterson (not Doug) is the potential #5 starter for the Mets. 

Thanks for listening and if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.  

www.almostcooperstown.com

---

Almost Cooperstown