MOST IMPORTANT STAT....

in all of baseball! Well et's here it with an explanation?

 

Ok ... I'll play... (against my better judgement)

#1. Important to whom? The importance of statistics vary by organization, team and individual. Obviously, individual statistics for hitting, on base are of little importance in selecting pitchers .. and vice-versa ... so individual statistics are out.

#2. Team statistic ... bottom line is won/loss ... if you're a pro team or a college team ... same in legion ... but meaningless on JV and developmental teams who are about learning to play the game ....

#3. Organizational statistics ... money ball leads you to the inevitiable desire to study On Base Percentage. But, like any other statistic, the becomes questionable when used in a smaller sample size (such as a HS Season) when a bad week (or a great week) can have an effect beyond normal reason and expectations. It's Ok over multiple years so it's more geared towards MLB teams.

#4. We've pretty much eliminated the importance of any traditional single baseball related stat. So I'll introduce a new one. Remember the old adage, there are Liars, D*** Liars and Statisticans.

Here is my new statistical category: Number of misspelled words, contractions used and puncuation errors on your college application

Reason: We've all also heard the old adage "Play every game as if it's your last game". At some point, it will be. You have the rest of your life to reflect on "past glories" ... better be prepared to enjoy that life.


If I win, what's my prize????????

 

To me stats are overrated, although everybody wants to see them. What does a .500 average mean if you play weaker competition. What if the conference is down? Or what if you hit only .300 in a conference that had 9 pitchers that have gone on to play D-1 baseball? Stats are relative to the competition. A 10-10 team that played great competition may be better a 17-3 team that played panzies.

But this comes from a guy that keeps detailed stats, I try to analyze them as merely a small part of the total evaluation process of my players.

BTW do you really think they mean much to college coaches, other than maybe catching someone's eye.

Even in saying all of this, WINS AND LOSSES are important as stats, if you stay in one place long enough, the easy wins over panzies are balanced by losses to lesser opponents that probably never should have happened. :huh:

 

In reply to Coach Evans repsonse to "Stats".....
"Here, Here!!" Very well stated!!! :applause: :applause:

 

For batting,I like on base percentage! For pitchers ,I am partial to strike-out to walk ratio,as well as strike-outs per # of innings pitched!

 

good answers!

Certainly I have to agree it there is something to be said about the "level" of play! I see someone does some reading on the subject as well! I like the arguments and info given in the book MONEYBALL about the A's organization AND I think it is applicable to other levels as well. On base % is number one followed by slugging %. INTERESTING huh? Everthing else according to the respected author!?!? THROW it them out the door!

 

Very good replies...another one I like, but is not kept for HS baseball is BA with runners in scoring position. To me, this is a stat for the "Gamers"...the guys that want to bat with the game on the line.

 

No-Brainer

The most important stat is Wins and Losses. All the other stuff is just details.Nine players who hustle, work hard, and let 'em hang are much better than a bunch of guys who hit .400. The team playing well is the bottom line, if players work hard enough, prepare well, and play the game the right way the Wins will be there. With wins comes good personal stats, but the easiest way for a player to slump is to worry about personal statistics.
When the team succeeds, the players succeed.

 

The most important team stat is wins and losses.

The most important individual stat for a positioin player is (IMHO): 1) On Base% 2) slugging percentage.

For pitchers, strikeout to walk ratio.

 

Over-Rated Stats

I agree with Ilovevowel. TEAMS win ball games. I once had a stat-man that gave me 5-6 pages of stats for each game. It was really nice, but I was most interested in OB% and slugging %. Pitchers: the number of walks and ERA. You cannot score if no one gets on base. A key player may sacrifice himself 3 times during a game to move a runner & help his team, or hit the ball hard resulting in an error. That kind of stat does not show up the scorebook. If we were keeping the walks to a minimum (1-3) I knew that we should have been in a position to win.

As for Pitchers; Walks kill you. (STAT: a lead off walk ends up scoring 80% of the time) Sorry, I could not resist. I was never to concerned with the number of strikeouts... Good pitchers also get a lot of ground outs & weak fly balls. There are some great area pitchers in our area that do not have 90+ fastballs. They hit their spots & get the GB or Fly ball. Often, it is not WOW!!!, but effective for his team to win.
It is called a team sport because it takes more than one person to win.
A runner gets on base and the next batter advances him over.... He may not have hit the double off the wall, but he did his job..... I love it!
Do what you are asked to HELP your team win. Let's see a little more small ball!
There are a lot of players out there that are asked to set the table for the BIG hitters.. Simply do your job and get on base... That may mean a double off the wall, a weak fly ball, or beat out an infield hit. Often these players are overlooked when the people hand out credits and acalades. Recently I read on TBR that the difference makers (for States) will not be the so called studs, but the performance by those surrounding them. I STRONGLY AGREE!

YOU KNOW WHO PAYS MOST ATTENTION TO STATS?????

PARENTS!