Kornheiser - just so stoopid

Here's one problem I have with saber inconsistency.

If wins don't matter, why is WAR (WINS above replacement) so important as a measure of a player's value?

 

Winners win, baby. Shout it from the heavens, PTI!

 

i understand that. which is why i'd have no issue with voting for a pitcher as most valuable player. my point was there are many voters, last time i checked, were on record saying they would never vote for a pitcher as mvp "because they have their own award." does that mean among their cy young criteria is a pitcher's "value" to his team? if so, hernandez won't do as well as sabathia or price, right?

 

In all honesty the answer lies in the middle, I just like jerking around the stats-obsessed baseball fans. Still, I bang my head on the wall when people just want to discount wins completely.

 

To project the whole "wins vs more meaningful measures of a pitcher" thing forward, what happens when a guy like Felix comes to the end of his career and he has fantastic stats - but a W/L record of 140-200?

 

It's not that wins aren't important, it's that "Wins" the stat, as currently determined, is not a good way of evaluating a pitcher.

 

A Pitching Win has two components: Things the pitcher does, things the rest of the team does.

We have stats that are readily available that easily measure both, so there's no reason to combine the two.

 

A literate person should be aware of the existence of words that sound the same, are spelled the same, but having different meanings.

Wins (in the standings) and wins (in pitcher's record) are two entirely different statistics. They just share the same name.

 

But you have said Rick that W(ins)AR is the best way to determine a player's value to his team. How can that be when wins are a team stat, not an individual stat?

 

See my response to 93.

I'm going to invent a stat. Run If Not Gloved. That's where a baserunner tries to score but is tagged out between third and home. We can call these RINGS.

Since we all players play to get rings, this is now the most important stat in the game.

 

Logical fallacy of equivocation. Team wins and pitching wins are not the same thing, just because they share a name. Do you think that a bass (a guitar) and a bass (a fish) are the same thing? A tear (from the eye) and a tear (as in a rip)?

Wins and wins are not the same thing, either.


Also, I never said WAR is the best way. It's one of a number of solid ways, and it's easy to look up so it's frequently used.