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They say we have stats for everything in baseball. To outsiders, they think we have stats for our stats. And in some cases, they may be right.
Even though we have moved into the sabermetric generation, there are still stats we do not have.
Criminalists have 'Crimes of Opportunity'.
We need 'Baseball Stats of Opportunity'.

BSO would have to have it's own stat sheet. An rbi is not just an rbi.
All sacrifice flies would be an rbi of opportunity.
Getting hbp with the bases loaded would be rbi oo.
All runs scoring ground balls would be an rbi oo.
If getting on base via error or fielders choice, then stealing a base or scoring a run, those would be by opportunity.
A pitcher has earned runs, why not hitters for rbi, runs, and sb's?
Just a bemused thought.

The more I watch the Marlins, the more I dislike watching the Marlins.
Their ball park looked pretty good the first time I saw it on tv. Less so, the second time. Until now, I don't even wanna look at it. The product on the field has been equally as shabby. The Marlins like to put two fingers up to their eyes when they do something worthy. I don't know what it means. But they don't do much worthy, so the annoyance factor is small.
Who's had a worse year? Stanton? Bell? Reyes? Johnson? Guillen?
Without Omar Infante, the only people talking about this team would be the press and Cubans.

I'm a little hard headed about judys. My list is bigger than your list. I think of Ellsbury as a judy. I think of Reyes as a judy. If they hit more than 12 home runs, than I am wrong for that year. If they prove me wrong three years in a row, than I take them off the list. Before the season, I put Reyes in the same category as Ichiro.
Sounds stupid, I know. Reyes plays shortstop, Ichiro an outfielder. And, they are at differing parts of their careers.
Still, during their last two years, Ichiro has stolen 13 more bases, Reyes has hit just seven more homers.
Was Reyes adp too high? Was Ichiro's too low?
I don't know. But in different stages to their careers, in mega-different styles, and in different positions, their stats are not all together that different.

A broadcaster was raving how Matt Kemp was hitting .420 the other night.
It made me think back to Rogers Hornsby and how he hit .424 for the whole year and hit over .400 for five years.
To have 30 Kemp-like months over five years......
Incredible.
I've told this story before, but it's one of my favs.....
Hornsby was batting against a rookie pitcher. This pitcher had been all that and a bag of Doritos down in the minors....
He threw the first pitch and got agitated as the umpire called it a ball.
The second pitch came whizzing in, and again, the umpire called it a ball.
He snapped at the ball with his glove when the catcher threw it back and yelled something at the umpire.
The umpire didn't hear it, but knew it probably wasn't nice.
He took off his mask, stepped on home plate and in a voice loud enough for the whole ball park to hear yelled,
"Sonny, when you throw a strike, Mr. Hornsby will let you know!"
Hornsby whacked a single that buzzed the pitcher on its way to center field on the very next pitch....
Hornsby winked, the umpire smiled, the fans laughed....

I didn't take Mark Reynolds on any fantasy teams this year. I was going to, but then I saw him in a spring training game. He didn't look like Mark Reynolds, he looked more like Kelly Johnson.
He had dropped a lot of weight to impress his Manager Buck Showalter, that he was serious about playing a good third base.
From a fantasy perspective, I was thinking that he had to have lost some power.
He went from the heavyweight division to the middleweights. And now, he hits like a lightweight.
If I owned him, I'd be chauffering him to McDonalds Drive-thru's.
Reynolds without power is like Vizquel without a glove, harmless.

Emilio Bonafacio has been the perfect judy.
He's near the top in stolen bases.
He is working on yet another position (2b) to add to his already lofty positional qualities of ss, 3b, and outfield.
But, what sets Bonifacio apart from other judys this year is a quality that we would find horrible from any player other than a judy.....
Bonifacio in almost 100 at bats does not have an extra base hit
For his owners, just more stats of opportunity for a judy to steal a base.
And with the baseball stats of opportunity mentioned again, we have come full circle for this post.

One more thing....
The other day I saw a hitter hit for the cycle. This sounds facetious, but I would rather have watched Jeremy Guthrie fall off his cycle. It's not that I don't appreciate the cycle....no wait, that is it!
It's a coincidence that is celebrated. Nobody goes after a cycle, yet after three hits towards a cycle, it seems to become a mission for players.
The unassisted triple play is more rare. And just as exciting (usually a line drive to an infielder who touches a bag and the runner, woo hoo)....And, just as coincidental.
I only bring this up because Scott Hairston of the Mets hit for the cycle the other night. He needed a double to complete the feat. And after he hit the double, he celebrated, raising his arms over his head, exalting with a big smile on his face.
The Mets were behind 13-8 late in the game.
I don't bring this up to rain on Hairston's parade. A cycle means more to others than it means to me.
I get it.
But, the next time some traditional baseball fan (yeah you, Bob Costas) gets in front of a camera and wags his finger at fantasy players for only thinking about the statistics derived from baseball and not who wins or loses the game, I'll show that tape to him and ask him if Scott Hairston cared what the score of the game was.

Thank you, stepping down from the soapbox.
Again, thanks for the indulgence.....

DOUGHBOYS wrote:One more thing....
The other day I saw a hitter hit for the cycle. This sounds facetious, but I would rather have watched Jeremy Guthrie fall off his cycle. It's not that I don't appreciate the cycle....no wait, that is it!
It's a coincidence that is celebrated. Nobody goes after a cycle, yet after three hits towards a cycle, it seems to become a mission for players.
The unassisted triple play is more rare. And just as exciting (usually a line drive to an infielder who touches a bag and the runner, woo hoo)....And, just as coincidental.
I only bring this up because Scott Hairston of the Mets hit for the cycle the other night. He needed a double to complete the feat. And after he hit the double, he celebrated, raising his arms over his head, exalting with a big smile on his face.
The Mets were behind 13-8 late in the game.
I don't bring this up to rain on Hairston's parade. A cycle means more to others than it means to me.
I get it.
But, the next time some traditional baseball fan (yeah you, Bob Costas) gets in front of a camera and wags his finger at fantasy players for only thinking about the statistics derived from baseball and not who wins or loses the game, I'll show that tape to him and ask him if Scott Hairston cared what the score of the game was.

Thank you, stepping down from the soapbox.
Again, thanks for the indulgence.....

Agree 100%. You feel good about personal accomplishments when you get home from the game. When you're at the park, around teammates, the only thing that matters is a W or a L. I never wanted to see a teammate celebrating in a losing cause unless it was some monumental achievement. It's a hollow victory.

Someone needs to infiltrate the game and teach these guys how to act on a baseball diamond before it turns into the NFL, or god forbid the NBA, which I haven't been able to stomach since the '90s.

YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME ! Period.

konerko hit his 400th. no celebration. did not tip his hat to standing ovation next night at the cell. take the steroids away and 400 is a huge deal. not anymore.