Bill James on Craig Biggio

by trza on Feb 25, 2008 7:30 PM CST

I found this article to be intersting. Particularly because it shows that even Mr. Sabermetrics is influenced a bit by emotion when thinking about a player:

http://www.slate.com/id/2184797/

Basically, James thinks Craig Biggio was the best player of the 90s and (presumably) a no doubt Hall of Famer. I guess that's the upshot, anyway, since Jr. Griff is generally thought of the as the best player of the 90s (right?), James thinks that Biggio was better than Griff, ergo, yada yada just read the article. k thx.

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that's a bunch of bullshit

by meatbonelefty on Feb 25, 2008 7:42 PM CST reply actions

ha

well, ok then.

But that river of tears has dried for all of us.

by trza on Feb 25, 2008 7:44 PM CST up reply actions

Clutch

Curious that James says Biggio struggled in the clutch because of his good pitcher/bad pitcher splits. Why would you face a good pitcher in the clutch more often? In late inning leverage situations, that might make a small difference, but for the most part, batting with RISP is actually more likely to occur against a bad pitcher who allows more baserunners.

Eh.

by SteveOla @ Lone Star Ball on Feb 25, 2008 7:48 PM CST reply actions

By "in the clutch"

he didn't mean "late and close", he meant specifically "against tough pitchers".

Glenallen Hill Secrets

by a bebop a rebop on Feb 25, 2008 8:11 PM CST up reply actions

He appears to differentiate between the two

The article reads

Biggio struggled in clutch situations and against good pitchers.

Eh.

by SteveOla @ Lone Star Ball on Feb 25, 2008 8:17 PM CST up reply actions

Ok, then they're differentiated.

The good pitcher/bad pitcher stats aren't to indicate that he wasn't clutch, they were to indicate that he wasn't that great against bad pitchers.

The clutch part is covered with his postseason numbers.

Glenallen Hill Secrets

by a bebop a rebop on Feb 25, 2008 8:20 PM CST up reply actions

those two are probably correlated

Since one is likely to face better pitchers in the postseason than in the regular season.

But that river of tears has dried for all of us.

by trza on Feb 25, 2008 8:43 PM CST up reply actions

Best player of the 90s

That's not correct. James considers Bonds to be way ahead of both, and thought so in 2000. I think he also puts Clemens ahead but that's not really just the 90s.

And James has always been influenced by emotion. That's why he's hands-down the best sabermetrically oriented writer there is -- he just loves the game and it's clear in everything he writes.

Glenallen Hill Secrets

by a bebop a rebop on Feb 25, 2008 8:14 PM CST reply actions

I hate that whole

"best player of 'x' decade" thing. It's so freaking arbitrary. I mean why pick that particular 10 year period? Does it really matter who was better from '90-'99, but not matter at all who was better from '87-'96? Cause no one ever seems to have arguments about who the best player from '87-'96.

But since we're nominating guys for being the best during a certain time period, I'll take Frank Thomas from '91-'97. I know it's not as numerically sexy as being the best player from '90-'99, but what the hell.

He was hitting .353/.487/.729 in 1994 when the strike occurred. That's. Freaking. Ridiculous.

(Though it's worth noting that Bonds was probably just as good if not better during this period. I just sorta dislike Barry and wanted to talk someone else up.)

(Also, I'm having a hard time sleeping tonight.)

Dwyade swyucks.

by thedirkatron on Feb 26, 2008 2:27 AM CST reply actions