We're Gonna Need a Bigger Shovel
Ramblings of a cranky sports fan
Advanced and often flawed statistical measures.
After a lot of thought, I have come to the conclusion that WAR is not the best way to measure performance. Case in point, Albert Pujols. I will admit I never got over him leaving St. Louis, but his WAR numbers for the Angels are just wrong. In 2017 he drove in over 100 runs […]
It will be a great day when Justin Verlander receives his 2019 Cy Young Award. I can hear the sabermetric “experts” crying now. The man may be the last 20 game winner for a long time. You don’t need to look any farther than the sub 3 ERA, 21 wins, 300 strikeouts and first in […]
The more I read about the methods used to calculate WAR (Wins Above Replacement), the more I shake my head. Even the sites that explain it admit that the calculation is very subjective (which means suspicious). I imagine the people who come up with calculation sit in front of a spreadsheet on their computer and […]
Wins Above Replacement is defined as a number that shows the wins a player adds to his team above what a replacement player would contribute. For a single-season 8 or more is MVP quality, 5-8 is All-Star quality, 2-5 is a starter, 0-2 is a bench player, less than 0 is replacement level. This stat […]
Welcome to my blog on sports and why all sports can be better for fans. My main sports interests are MLB and NASCAR, although I really enjoy NFL fantasy football. I have been watching sports on TV and live since the 1980s (yes I am that old!) and lately have noticed two disturbing trends – […]