This stuff about whether batters walk more (or less) under Dusty is so loaded with statistical red flags that IMO it is silly to even dig up and look at those numbers. The bottom line is that Baker says what he says about BBs, and that is how he should be judged in this area.

I generally agree, and I certainly was not trying to definitively say that these 12 players drew more walks *because* Dusty was managing, but was noting the correlation -- drawn from hundreds of PAs in each case.

I've said it before: Trying to dissect the pure meaning of anything from a Dusty Baker quote is like looking at a pile of dog crap and trying to figure out if the dog ate Alpo or Kal Kan.

I think a part of thpse stats about BB% under Dusty come from the plexiglass principle...if you acquire players who draw a below average number of walks they are more likely to go up then down, though usually not enough to be close to normal.

Perhaps. I can say that in several cases (Miller, Grudzielanek, Gonzalez, Alou, Patterson, Sosa, Bako), I was including post-Dusty figures as well as pre-Dusty numbers.

It's also noteworthy that among the 19 players listed, only Alou, Choi, Lee, and Burnitz exceed the 10% thresshold, though Sosa and Bako exceeded it during their Dusty tenures.

Again, I'm not trying to make any explanations, just observations.

Actually, on closer inspection, that appears to be true (at least in Chicago)

most of the 12 played for Dusty at the point in their careers that a players walks tend to be at their highest

also you used career numbers-
the problem with that is that some players- like Sosa were walking at a far higher rate immediately preceeding their time with Dusty- he walked less with Dusty than he had during his immediately preceding years- but he shows up as one of the 12 because his early- non-walking years dragged his career rate down.

I think if you confine players to just the 2-3 years pre and post Dusty the illusion that Dusty has a positive effect on the player's walk rate will be shown to be just that an illusion

for instance
Karros walked in 7.7% of his Dusty PAs (I don't know where you got 10.1)- his three years before that he walked in 8.4%
Sosa 15.1% for the 3 pre Dusty year, 10.6 under Dusty
Barrett: 2 years pre Dusty, 9.2%, 2 years under Dusty- 7.7%

+ with the exception of Choi- all the others on your list of 12 were at a point where increases in walks are likely- and where they are likely to be walking at a rate higehr than their career average- but mnay of teh 12 are actually walking less than in their most recent non-Dusty seasons

the sample size is really too small- but it does suggest that Dusty is having a negative effect on his player's palte discipline