quote:Originally posted by PGStaff:Scorekeeper, I swear I’m not trying to pick you out of the crowd. It’s just that you are very good at stating things that are open for debate.
Good. Isn’t it kind of worthless to only say things everyone else agrees with?
quote:Originally posted by PGStaff:Are you serious about using stats? Hell, there are professional pitchers who tear up A ball and can’t get anyone out in AA. Should the stats from both levels be weighed equally? Should the pitcher in A ball who has much better statistics than the pitcher in AA be named the better pitcher!
Whoa big fella! You’ve done it again! You’re talking about pros, and I’m thinkin’ ‘bout Youth and HS ball.
Now if you want to get into a discussion about stats and their worth, I’ll gladly do that, but this definitely isn’t the place.
quote:Originally posted by PGStaff:People need to figure out that the millions of dollars spent by who we have to assume are the true experts in baseball (Those running MLB Organizations) has to mean something. Do we really think we are far more superior and knowledgable than those people? They actually do have a reason for what they do. They don’t just provide those guns to their scouts so they can be lazy and get it all wrong! Are we to assume the scouts just read the gun and don’t bother with the rest of the stuff? Are you saying they should work much harder by following the local statistics. Wouldn’t that be the laziest way of all to actually evaluate a pitcher. Wouldn’t even have to leave the house!
Again, you’re making a mountain out of a molehill. I didn’t say jack about how MLB organizations work, and don’t make myself out to be one who knows. I don’t work for them, as obviously you do.
All I was trying to point out was that it isn’t easy using stats to evaluate anything, and because of that, it isn’t done very much, at the levels I was thinking about. Youth and HS!
quote:Originally posted by PGStaff:So that you know, I’m not totally against statistics and I think some statistics can reveal interesting information. I actually like to see K-BB figures, for example. But for the most part, stats are meaningless to a scout until he can determine the stats belonging to one player, are at the same level as another player. Then those stats wouldn’t mean much when compared to a player competing at a different level of competition. The only place where stats might play a part is when the stats pretty much stink! If we think a player is a good prospect and his stats in high school are terrible… this can be alarming. When you see the top pitchers in the country getting drafted in the early rounds, it’s not just the gun reading alone. They also absolutely dominate at the high school level.
Once again, you’re thinking ML scouts, something that didn’t even enter my mind!
If you knew more about me, you would know that I’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying desperately to make people understand that the reason stats aren’t reliable at the lower levels is because the numbers stink! The reason the numbers stink is because its rare that anyone gives a flip about how the score is kept. All a lot of people want to is, who won!
Luckily, through a lot of hard work, I’ve managed to gain something of a reputation locally, for someone who not only keeps score pretty darn well, but provides valid statistics. And if anyone looks at the stats I keep on team I score for, they can tell right away that they aren’t normal!
If, and that’s understanding its impossible, every HS and college team had an SK who worked as hard as I have, it would be a lot easier for every evaluator to do their job. It isn’t my fault proper books aren’t kept! I think the Sabermetrics folks have pretty well proved the numbers can be used, even without seeing the players. Math doesn’t lie, unless the beginning numbers aren’t valid.
quote:Originally posted by PGStaff:I’m pretty sure you just enjoy the debate, so I’ll stop here.
Now that’s the first thing you’ve said I find the least bit insulting.
You made a faulty assumption about who I was talking about, then do a dissertation berating me for saying things I never said, then say I’m the one who simply enjoys the debate.
Fortunately, things like that don’t often bother me for more than a few seconds, because this stuff isn’t life of death to me. I don’t see it as a win or lose life or death situation.