|
|
|
|
Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Monday, May 12, 2008
With Dave Cameron, Eric Seidman, R.J. Anderson, Pizza Cutter and Eddie Bane (Hey, you…off the stage!)
Question #4: A journalism student at a prominent college recently told me that he had an interview for a writing internship at MLB.com. The interview promptly ended, however, when he expressed his goal was for mainstream baseball writing to incorporate more analytical tools than just calling someone clutch, saying David Eckstein is a hard-nosed player, and grilling someone with small sample sizes. Of course those reading MLB.com or newspapers aren’t necessarily going to grasp all sabermetrics concepts, but analytical writing excluding the aforementioned issues does not entirely lean towards statistics. What does this tell you about the goals of mainstream writing?
Pizza Cutter: I made a New Year’s resolution that I wouldn’t see this type of thing as a grand conspiracy to keep Sabermetrics away from people. Surely, someone could write stories/content/posts with plenty of Sabermetric wisdom and have it be aimed at a non-math-major audience.
Consider the stir that was caused when Brian Bannister came out as a Sabermetrician this winter or when Moneyball was published. The people within any structure, including baseball, have a tendency to defend the structure as it is. Part of that is keeping out any ideas that might force the structure to change, whether or not that would be for the better. This sounds like one of those instances. But, of course, Sabermetrics has managed to infiltrate the establishment a little bit… and this next line has to be read in a dramatic whisper… we will not be ignored! Sabermetricians of the world, unite!
Repoz
Posted: May 12, 2008 at 12:12 PM | 10 comment(s)
| Login to Bookmark
Related News: General, Sabermetrics
|
Bookmarks
You must be logged in to view your Bookmarks.
Hot Topics
Newsblog: OT: NBA Monthly Thread, February 2012 (152 - 1:26am, Feb 07)Last: Los Angeles ALBERT F. PUJOLS of AnaheimNewsblog: Cubs obtain infielder Cardenas, release DeWitt (10 - 1:25am, Feb 07)Last: Bitter Calculus InstructorNewsblog: Megdal: A Note On Access And The Mets (53 - 1:15am, Feb 07)Last: Joe KehoskieNewsblog: 11 Alive: One-on-one with John Rocker (89 - 12:52am, Feb 07)Last: McCoyNewsblog: BA: Early Draft Preview: 2012 Top 100 Draft Prospects (11 - 12:30am, Feb 07)Last: Walt DavisNewsblog: Rockies get Guthrie from Orioles (38 - 12:27am, Feb 07)Last: Walt DavisNewsblog: Cubs sign Cuban left-hander Concepcion (23 - 11:48pm, Feb 06)Last: Der_K is getting more dogmatic.Newsblog: Sources: Cubs’ Starlin Castro Accused Of Sexual Assault (5274 - 11:38pm, Feb 06)Last: Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral IdiotNewsblog: Brad Penny signs with Softbank Hawks (16 - 11:35pm, Feb 06)Last: DanGNewsblog: [OT] Superbowl thread (695 - 11:04pm, Feb 06)Last: KurtNewsblog: OT: The Soccer Thread: January 2012 (703 - 10:26pm, Feb 06)Last: Textbook EditorNewsblog: Viva el Birdos:the 2012-16 CBA: the more you know (10 - 10:21pm, Feb 06)Last: Poster Nutbag, Serial (Thread-)KillerNewsblog: ajc: Braves to unveil new weekend home uniforms (28 - 10:08pm, Feb 06)Last: Rowland Office SuppliesNewsblog: Fraley: Rangers' Josh Hamilton has relapse with alcohol at area bar (315 - 9:34pm, Feb 06)Last: smileyyNewsblog: Hong-Chih Kuo agrees to one-year deal with Mariners (1 - 9:03pm, Feb 06)Last: Dale H.
|
|
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
As with most things, the grand statements and initial confrontations get all the headlines but don't lead to immediate change. They do, however, create an environment in which people feel that it's safe to do things or think about things in new ways on thier own timetable and in their own way.
Definitely change is coming - ESPN's been in the vanguard - first with Neyer, but now a lot of guys are doing decent stats analysis on their site (Law, etc.), or at least trying to. With guys like Gammons now including stats stuff in their articles, the trickle-down effect has been obvious.
If the quote accurately sums up the college kid's approach to the job interview, though, I can see why MLB.com didn't want him. Why hire a guy who has bald contempt for your company's product? Had he just tried to get the job, rather than jump on a soapbox about how crappy the existing product was, he'd have been in a better position to actually try doing what he was advocating. As Herman Edwards might have said, you interview to get the job.
I see very little evidence of anti-sabermetric bias; though, I won't deny that there is some. Do mainstream publications often shun sabermetric writers? Yes, just as they shun non-sabermetric writers who aren't doing things that are of good quality. Most writing is not "sabermetric," because most readers are not interested in sabermetrics. There are some old farts who do fit the traditional caricature, but they are the exception. I talk to reporters frequently, and they are always interested in what the stats say. If you can explain what it means, then they like it. If you rant about what an idiot a manager is for playing one player and not another because VORP says there is a +5 advantage then they turn you off, just like I do.
Hasn't Gammons always done this? He's probably more responsible for the rise of OPS than anyone else.
He always seemed to be on the leading edge of stats when it came to the mainstream dudes. I agree he was on the OPS bandwagon a decade ago.
We've got a recipe we call "Yummy Potatoes." Sliced, roasted Potatoes, Lemon Juice, Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese and Fresh Tomatoes over spring mix. Good stuff.
I honestly have a tough time getting worked up over this stuff. People who want to read about sabermetrics know where to go. I suspect that a lot of people are imagining the jobs they would have, "If only teams would appreciate us." The fact is plenty of teams already have multiple statheads working for them. The D'Backs have someone working for them with a Mechanical Engineering degree from MIT. At the winter meetings I've been approached by multiple people with elite college degrees in math, cs, econ, engineering, etc. The field is ridiculously competitive if you want to get into a front office as a stathead. And these people will work for nothing.
There just aren't very many jobs available in baseball. Even if we had a stathead full employment act there would probably only be 100 paid positions available.
I am a journalism student at a prominent college. I'm not a bad looking guy but I never thought this would happen to me...
You check the Mariners roster lately?...:)
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main