Game Thread: Game 114 vs. the Dodgers

i haven't lived in ohio for seven years now.  it took me awhile to get used to saying soda so people on the coasts wouldn't make fun of me.

my family has bad teeth - enamel problems.  i can see that being hereditary.  

My point wasn't that you misspelled his name, but that it indicates to me that you probably didn't check his career numbers, his peripherals, or his contract situation. The name "Rowland" would have turned up Rowland Office, Mike Rowland, Chuck Rowland, and the inimitable Pants Rowland, but not Aaron. I might be completely off base, but I doubt I am. I've made my living the past 4 years reading and critiquing position papers and argumentative essays from men and women your age, and I know when someone's flying by the seat of his pants.

It goes without saying that "stats" cannot forecast the future or tell you everything relevant about a player, but they can tell us many many valuable things to know about a player, particularly once we realize that our perception of a player's performance "on the field" can be skewed by events, opinions, and ephemera that have nothing to do with what the player actually does "on the field."

I haven't watched many Phillies games this year; neither have you. I didn't see a whole lot of ChiSox games the years Rowand played with them. If we are going to discuss the possibility of the Reds signing Aaron Rowand, I feel better arguing from a position of having seen him play a number of times AND having his relevant stats in front of me, then just arguing from a general (and vague) impression I have of him from seeing him play a few times.

I like this site because I love the Reds; I like watching them play on the field in real time more than anything else. Rather than killing that love for baseball, having a feel for the numbers actually deepens my passion and affection for it. And, I think, makes me a better observer of the game. This is the only sports blog I frequent in which the community feels duty bound to back up their opinions with evidence. I fail to do that every so often, and someone calls me on it just as he or she should. That's why I like it, and I'm pretty sure that's why so many others here like it. That may not appeal to you, but that's the community you've entered and communities tend to police themselves for better or worse. It irks me when you still dismiss metrics like "OBPjfkajf;ldfhj;hdt" or "ERAidfjiorejgii" (even tongue in cheek) because guys like Slyde are very generous in their time and patience explaining these concepts which are really no more complex than ERA or batting average.

Anyway, as I said, you seem like a very nice young man and I apologize for being unduly harsh, but sometimes being unduly harsh is the only way to get a point across. If I'm out of line on this, I expect someone to tell me. The great irony is that you seem to dislike the moves Wayne Krivsky makes as much as anyone here, but you seem to evaluate players using the same line of reasoning he does, i.e. "puts the ball in play," "steals a base or two," "good contact guy," "gutsy player that makes things happen." These phrases might me something, but without  proper context they mean nothing. Welcome to Wayne's world.

But please know that I'm with you in Reds fandom.