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Old 05-20-2018, 02:27 PM   #68
BirdWatcher
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 4,262
And now a few words about baseball statistics/numbers as they relate to this project.
While I was sitting at the coffee shop this morning reading Keith Law's excellent, Smart Baseball, if occurred to me that I should probably clarify a few things regarding the numbers/statistics I report here for this fictional league.
I've been trying to find the right balance (still trying) between respecting that this league is set in the mid-1960's but that I am playing this game with some of the baseball knowledge we have gained from the sabermetric movement since then.
So while I will be talking about things like batting averages and pitchers wins and ERA, etc., this should not be taken as evidence that I am personally leaning heavily on these outdated and not terribly useful baseball indicators. Still, 1960's baseball certainly did so I don't want to ignore them completely either.

But as an example- my Denver Brewers finished in 2nd place in the MGL and with the 5th best record in the 20-team W.P. Kinsella League while finishing last in the MGL in both batting average and OBP. But with the 3rd best HR total in the league and the 1st best stolen base total (more about that in a minute) the Brewers managed a 5th place tie in the league in runs scored and that combined with above average pitching and very good defense led to a winning season. Now, that last place finish in batting average really doesn't matter that much to me. On the other hand, I very much hope we can improve on our low OBP skills and have confidence that going forward we will. As for the stolen bases, well, this is not about any belief on my part that the stolen base is a strong baseball strategy, statistically speaking. But with the current skills-sets on the team, the pitching rich environment, and my own personal preference for the speed game- my team was instructed to be aggressive on the base paths. It might not be good sabermetrics, but for me it is good fun and not a totally crap strategy given the overall circumstances. Whether my team finished as high in the standings partly due to this strategy or in spite of it is I guess a matter for debate.
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