If Bautista could bring his batting average down a bit, he might have a shot!

If Curtis Granderson were elected MVP right now, he would have the lowest batting average of any AL MVP winner, ever.

I ASSURE you ,that if Bautista's batting average were that low, that data point would be a meme by now.

But here’s the thing—as far as I know NOBODY has brought up Curtis Granderson’s relatively low batting average until now. Nobody cares.

But hasn't it gotten low only recently?

I’m going out to Oakland to see the movie “Moneyball,”

I found this ruined the article for me. Who flies half way across the country to see a movie? It's the little things like that that really take the realism out of Poz articles for me.

Depends what you mean by low I guess. Seems to me the Granderson talk started in late July-early August maybe. His BA was mid-270s (269 to 284) for pretty much all of July and August. You have to go back to Killebrew in 69 (276/427/584) to find an AL MVP with anything below 293 and only 3 have been under 300 since Killebrew. The more enlightened NL has been much more lenient on BA.

I found this ruined the article for me. Who flies half way across the country to see a movie? It's the little things like that that really take the realism out of Poz articles for me.

I flew to across the country to see a movie that shall not be mentioned opening night with friends.

I don't see batting average, only the content of one's character.

I flew to across the country to see a movie that shall not be mentioned opening night with friends.

The Phantom Menace?

I'm getting a free Moneyball t-shirt at the A's game tomorrow. Suck it, losers!

I found this ruined the article for me. Who flies half way across the country to see a movie? It's the little things like that that really take the realism out of Poz articles for me.


This seems like an odd criticism. Very odd, actually.

I'm getting a free Moneyball t-shirt at the A's game tomorrow. Suck it, losers!

They're not selling jeans, but they are giving away t-shirts.

#8 is fantastic.

I've noted that some local baseball broadcasters have taken to annotating their listing of a particularly thin statistic with the preamble, "Of course, it's a small sample size", then they continue on pointing out how this batter is only 1 for 6 against this pitcher. As if citing small sample size must validate the stat or something.

The other day I asked for clarification on how to use and interpret WAR and came away more confused than when I started. Perhaps the broadcasters (those whom we fans hear the most) are only getting the tip of the iceberg and are trying to sound hip to advanced stats, but missing the bigger picture. Maybe they're confused and not much headway has been made after all?

This seems like an odd criticism. Very odd, actually.

It's a joke, you must have missed the Moneyball threads. Somebody who reviewed the movie said that showing Beane flying across the country to make a trade that would have been done over the phone was the kind of unrealistic touch that ruined the movie.

I found this ruined the article for me. Who flies half way across the country to see a movie? It's the little things like that that really take the realism out of Poz articles for me.

NM, totally and completely leveled.

If Curtis Granderson were elected MVP right now, he would have the lowest batting average of any AL MVP winner, ever.

Vida Blue, 1971, .118.

Vida Blue, 1971, .118.

Not really the point.

Not really the point.

Not really worth posting.

It's a joke, you must have missed the Moneyball threads. Somebody who reviewed the movie said that showing Beane flying across the country to make a trade that would have been done over the phone was the kind of unrealistic touch that ruined the movie.

That somebody was Keith Law, fwiw.

I did, I did!

Jesus, Jason, no offense to you personally, but even when the subject isn't political, NRO commenters are a$$holes.

I disagree with JE's starting paragraph in the linked post(19).
There is absolutely nothing wrong with announcing batting average as a player comes to the plate. It's what the fans care about. On base percentage is only exciting when it's a ball in play, the walk is boring most of the time unless it's an intense battle in a tight situation. The base hit is always going to be exciting, heck the groundout/fly out is more exciting, the absolute most boring thing for a fan is to watch a walk (in most situations---obviously down by two a walk adds tension, but that is more about the situation than the result)

CFB, would it really be so challenging for announcers to read the slash line? Moreover, there is plenty of room in the plate appearance caption to read, "HR RBI AVG/OBP/SLG."

CFB, would it really be so challenging for announcers to read the slash line? Moreover, there is plenty of room in the plate appearance caption to read, "HR RBI AVG/OBP/SLG."

Agreed, I would prefer that also. But if you are going to read one line during an upcoming at bat, I think batting average is more informative than obp or ops would be. I have seen an increase of announcers listing the slash line in recent years, still rarely see local tv broadcast use ops though.

Jesus, Jason, no offense to you personally, but even when the subject isn't political, NRO commenters are a$$holes.

I liked this (AKAICT serious) comment:


"I could dramatically improve football with one sweeping rule change. After each snap, every player on offense, and every player on defense, must rotate one position clockwise. No more fat 300 lbers who can't run. No more 180 lb speedster WRs who can't play the line. And no more Tom Brady."

I flew to across the country to see a movie that shall not be mentioned opening night with friends.



The Phantom Menace?

Lassus? I'm thinking Harry Potter.

Just saw the last Harry Potter today. Phenomenal film.

"I could dramatically improve football with one sweeping rule change. After each snap, every player on offense, and every player on defense, must rotate one position clockwise. No more fat 300 lbers who can't run. No more 180 lb speedster WRs who can't play the line. And no more Tom Brady."

You have to admit that would be cool.

Just saw the last Harry Potter today. Phenomenal film.

Can't believe I'm commenting on this. The things we become exposed to because of wives...


I thought Part 1 was great. Most of the time during those HP movies, my mind is wondering because well the films do not maintain my interest. Some of that is because they suck, and some of it is because I have limited interest in the subject matter. I was engaged during all of Part 1. It was very tense, concise, and about as dramatic as it could be without going over the top. Overall it had a much darker theme than the previous ones, hell even the lighting looked darker.

I thought Part 2 drug on a bit for my taste. I was ready for it to end about 35 min sooner, where Part 1 was so suspenseful I didn't even realize that 2+ hours had passed. Part of that was no doubt due to it being the first 3D movie I had ever seen. I didn't hate the 3D experience as much as I thought I would, but I certainly didn't enjoy it.

We already have a Harry Potter thread.

Moreover, there is plenty of room in the plate appearance caption to read, "HR RBI AVG/OBP/SLG."

NESN includes OBP along with the triple crown stats. It's a nice improvement, and they've been doing it since around the time Henry took over. I would guess it's had an effect on the fans, in that they're more willing to accept low avg/high OBP type from the "they're telling us so it must be important" effect.

Interesting [28], I had almost the exact opposite experience. Perhaps it's because I watched Part 1 at home and found myself compelled to do other stuff while it played in the background while I saw Part 2 in the theatre.

3D is a scam though, yeah. Pay 10 bucks for the normal movie, or pay 15 bucks for a blurry version and get special glasses to make it not blurry! At least, that's how it is for me. (with HP7 I didn't have a choice...oh well...)

I liked this (AKAICT serious) comment:

"I could dramatically improve football with one sweeping rule change. After each snap, every player on offense, and every player on defense, must rotate one position clockwise. No more fat 300 lbers who can't run. No more 180 lb speedster WRs who can't play the line. And no more Tom Brady."
You have to admit that would be cool.

Wasn't this curiosity called "arena football?"

We already have a Harry Potter thread.

That's been absorbed into the fat, pimply belly of hard sci-fi geekery now. More Potter!

I enjoyed both films though on an aesthetic level I was kind of meh. On a personal level, though, I was just stoked everyone kept saying things like "Dumbledore" and "Voldemort" all the time.