The New Ballgame: Understanding Baseball Statistics for the Casual Fan by Glenn Guzzo
Authors: Glenn Guzzo
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the
third time that a win today will tie Willis with Pavano for the club record with
18 wins.
Hairston grounds out so promptly that number two hitter Todd Walker
is up before the broadcast can show us the graphic of the Marlins' defensive
alignment. Now we know that the Marlins rank fifth defensively in the NL
(though without explanation that this is determined by team fielding percentage). Curiously, though, Alex Gonzalez has committed 15 errors, the most by
an NL shortstop.
There's a reason why the left-handed hitting Walker is in the lineup
against Willis, who can be very tough on lefties: Walker is 2-for-3 in his career against Willis. Walker promptly singles to right.
Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee is up now. He's had a huge season. Despite going "0-for-4 yesterday with a couple of strikeouts" he's second in the
NL with 37 home runs and 91 RBI. But Lee, in a mild slump, hits a routine
fly out to right field.
Catcher Michael Barrett is batting fourth for the Cubs. That's unusual.
"Barrett is in the cleanup spot for the third time this season," Albert notes.
Baseball's team statisticians track everything. They provide a thick packet
of data to all media at the game. Barrett hits a groundball to shortstop that Gonzalez fields routinely and flips to second base for the fielder's choice that
ends the inning.
So far, we have many more stats than pitches. This continues for nine
innings. Maddux' fortunes show us how the statistical line becomes the story
line:
Second inning:
Maddux retires the Marlins 1-2-3 and Albert declares "A seven-pitch second
for Greg Maddux." We're supposed to know that this is highly efficient work
and a good sign that Maddux might pitch deep into this game.
Third inning:
This half-inning illustrates how stats are such a fixture in TV games that they
get on the air even when the timing for presenting them is irrelevant to the
game.
All this with Marlins catcher Matt Treanor at bat:
A graphic shows that Maddux' 315 wins places him 16t" all-time and
that Phil Niekro, who is number 15, has 318. Among active pitchers, Maddux
trails only Roger Clemens.
However, Albert adds, "Over his last 11 starts, Maddux has gone just
3-6."
Tom Glavine, who pitched for years as Maddux' teammate in Atlanta,
is pitching for the Mets now. He's going for win number 273 today in San
Francisco. Maddux won his 3 00t' game in San Francisco last August. Ali, the point: Since 1991, Maddux has won the most games-255-and Glavine is
number two.
None of this has anything to do with Treanor. Remember, Maddux and
Willis are the leading men in this show.
This continues with the Cubs at bat in the bottom of the third inning.
With top Cubs hitter Lee up, the camera switches to a close-up of Maddux
in the dugout. Now we learn that he is "the all-time leader in putouts by a
pitcher." This is about as obscure as stats get. Any fan who cares about pitcher
putouts has been well concealed.
Fifth inning:
We are alerted that since Juan Encarnacion's single, the Marlins' only hit
so far, Maddux has retired eight batters in a row. Oops. Encarnacion drills a
double to left field. Easley follows with a bunt between the pitching mound
and third base. Maddux is on it decisively with intent to throw to third. But
Garciaparra is not prepared and both runners are safe. It's Garciaparra's first
game as a third baseman, the announcers remind us, after playing 1,024
games at shortstop.
It's a tough spot for Maddux-runners at first and third and none out.
He gets Gonzalez to pop out. The broadcast producers then twice interrupt the
tension building in this inning.
First, they decide to show a video highlight from St. Louis, where
part-time outfielder So Taguchi has hit a two-run single to put the Cardinals
ahead. We're told that Taguchi "now has 44 RBIs," as if this ordinary number
achieved by a minor player is anything but meaningless at this late stage of
the season.
Then we get a graphic that had its
third time that a win today will tie Willis with Pavano for the club record with
18 wins.
Hairston grounds out so promptly that number two hitter Todd Walker
is up before the broadcast can show us the graphic of the Marlins' defensive
alignment. Now we know that the Marlins rank fifth defensively in the NL
(though without explanation that this is determined by team fielding percentage). Curiously, though, Alex Gonzalez has committed 15 errors, the most by
an NL shortstop.
There's a reason why the left-handed hitting Walker is in the lineup
against Willis, who can be very tough on lefties: Walker is 2-for-3 in his career against Willis. Walker promptly singles to right.
Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee is up now. He's had a huge season. Despite going "0-for-4 yesterday with a couple of strikeouts" he's second in the
NL with 37 home runs and 91 RBI. But Lee, in a mild slump, hits a routine
fly out to right field.
Catcher Michael Barrett is batting fourth for the Cubs. That's unusual.
"Barrett is in the cleanup spot for the third time this season," Albert notes.
Baseball's team statisticians track everything. They provide a thick packet
of data to all media at the game. Barrett hits a groundball to shortstop that Gonzalez fields routinely and flips to second base for the fielder's choice that
ends the inning.
So far, we have many more stats than pitches. This continues for nine
innings. Maddux' fortunes show us how the statistical line becomes the story
line:
Second inning:
Maddux retires the Marlins 1-2-3 and Albert declares "A seven-pitch second
for Greg Maddux." We're supposed to know that this is highly efficient work
and a good sign that Maddux might pitch deep into this game.
Third inning:
This half-inning illustrates how stats are such a fixture in TV games that they
get on the air even when the timing for presenting them is irrelevant to the
game.
All this with Marlins catcher Matt Treanor at bat:
A graphic shows that Maddux' 315 wins places him 16t" all-time and
that Phil Niekro, who is number 15, has 318. Among active pitchers, Maddux
trails only Roger Clemens.
However, Albert adds, "Over his last 11 starts, Maddux has gone just
3-6."
Tom Glavine, who pitched for years as Maddux' teammate in Atlanta,
is pitching for the Mets now. He's going for win number 273 today in San
Francisco. Maddux won his 3 00t' game in San Francisco last August. Ali, the point: Since 1991, Maddux has won the most games-255-and Glavine is
number two.
None of this has anything to do with Treanor. Remember, Maddux and
Willis are the leading men in this show.
This continues with the Cubs at bat in the bottom of the third inning.
With top Cubs hitter Lee up, the camera switches to a close-up of Maddux
in the dugout. Now we learn that he is "the all-time leader in putouts by a
pitcher." This is about as obscure as stats get. Any fan who cares about pitcher
putouts has been well concealed.
Fifth inning:
We are alerted that since Juan Encarnacion's single, the Marlins' only hit
so far, Maddux has retired eight batters in a row. Oops. Encarnacion drills a
double to left field. Easley follows with a bunt between the pitching mound
and third base. Maddux is on it decisively with intent to throw to third. But
Garciaparra is not prepared and both runners are safe. It's Garciaparra's first
game as a third baseman, the announcers remind us, after playing 1,024
games at shortstop.
It's a tough spot for Maddux-runners at first and third and none out.
He gets Gonzalez to pop out. The broadcast producers then twice interrupt the
tension building in this inning.
First, they decide to show a video highlight from St. Louis, where
part-time outfielder So Taguchi has hit a two-run single to put the Cardinals
ahead. We're told that Taguchi "now has 44 RBIs," as if this ordinary number
achieved by a minor player is anything but meaningless at this late stage of
the season.
Then we get a graphic that had its
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