Stat-friendly and stat-unfriendly baseball writers

Given everything else in that post, do you believe your own line?

 

Yes, but even I know my limits and just want to sit and veg and watch simple baseball sometimes.

 

Sorry, dude. This question makes no sense to me.

 

I think people can enjoy the game in a lot of different ways. I imagine the number crunching and stat breakdown is done after the game.

Although I am always defending the numbers side of these debates, I honestly don't get to deep into WAR and a lot of the new stats. I just can't stand when people dismiss things because they don't or are too lazy to try to understand them. That is not directed at you XAN.

 

JC, I wouldn't take it as anything directed toward me.

And if you don't understand it, Buck, then I can't explain it any clearer and perhaps not every question is meant to be answered.

 

As noted earlier, this is kind of where I'm at, too.

And this is directed at Xan (although in a non-aggressive way):

I reject two of your premises:

(1) That "vegging out" necessarily equals "enjoyment;
(2) That the game's "beauty" lies in its "simplicity." Quite the contrary, for me.

 

Eh. Some days your mind likes getting lost in the stats, other days you just want to watch the guys play ball.

Most days both.

 

I can't "veg out" and enjoy something.

I have to be engaged.

That might be stats.

That might be in-game tactics.

That might be carefully watching hitting and pitching mechanics.

Usually all of the above, simultaneously.

There are a lot of tools in my baseball-watching toolbox.

 

VORP -- Vegging Over Replacement Priorities -- is in my toolbox but sparingly used.

 

I shouldn't say I never kick back and enjoy it in a very casual way.

I actually really enjoy watching games with my son and explaining what's going on in very simple terms as he begins to understand sports. Particularly this sport.

It spawns unexpected delights. This summer, there was a play where A.J. Pierzynski was tagged out at home plate. He thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. So now, whenever we play baseball, I always have to tag him out at home plate after he runs around the house, i.e. "the bases."

Fun to watch the game through a child's eyes.

 

My father is a massive baseball fan. He hates statistics.

He instead spends the whole game analyzing how the dudes are playing physically, how they square their shoulders to throw and "show their hip pocket!" because he wants to put this in motion on the stupid softball field. It is impossible for anyone in my family to enjoy watching baseball games with him.

I'll take the stats geeks.