Bill James Article

by ben nevis on Mar 12, 2008 8:58 AM EDT

The Boston Globe had a short article on Bill James this morning, in which he refers to Paul Daugherty, saying, "Who does he think he is?! I'm Bill James, bitch!" Actually, he never said that. But it is an interesting read. Of special note to Reds fans is the mention of David Ross, James's '07 Kingman Award winner.

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Bill James is a moron

Seriously, what kind of poor run organization would hire some stats nerd just sitting around with his excel spreadsheets all day (although he likely doesn't use excel, but a better program, you get the point)? Oh, that team.... well crap.

On a serious note, the Red Sox are going to be real good this year again.

www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Mar 12, 2008 9:22 AM EDT reply actions

I don't get it

Are guys like Daugherty just jealous, or what?

James is a guy who comes from the love of the game, and trying to understand it. Like most of us that appreciate the advanced stats, loving baseball is the basis for that appreciation (though I have seen some studies done by guys who seem to be coming at it from the purely analytical angle).

Strat-O-Matic baseball has been around for 40 years; anyone who's played the game can tell you OBP and SLG are vastly more important than AVE; that SB% is more important than raw SB; that defense matters (though they do take the "reputation" approach to defensive ratings). None of this stuff started with James. Yet, generations of fans (and players) have grown up on this stuff. My 8 team league includes 2 college baseball coaches, the head trainer at a Big 10 university, and a former Sports Info Director at a major college - not a bunch of math geeks by any measure.

And look where James has taken the Sox. Sure, they've spent a bunch of money, but the Angels and Tigers are going to be very close to them in payroll this year, and Boston is likely to be much better. Obviously, he isn't the only reason, but the entire organization must buy into what he's talking about, the way they've reacted to him.

Like I said, I just don't get it.

just....wow.

by sidnancy on Mar 12, 2008 9:43 AM EDT reply actions

Semantics

"Abstract" is poorly used here.

Actually, as Greg tried to explain last night on Dickerty's show, and as Bill James and others like him have proven, there is a very good correlation over a LOT OF YEARS that show the meaningful nature of the sabremetric analysis compared to real-life performance.

It is not ABSTRACT to use numbers to predict the real world. This is sound data analysis, of which there are numerous examples in science, engineering and business that are not "nerdy, geeky" etc. Dickerty just shows what a shallow tool he is by demeaning people who are probably significantly smarter than he is.
Contrast this with the series of very good essays that John Erardi wrote (with our own inimical Slyde) that tried to clearly explain and educate the interested reader in what is going on.

What is abstract is the notion that a manager runs a team "by the seat of his pants" with intuition, guesswork, etc.

How stupid would an owner be to pay a manager several million dollars a year who uses a Ouija board to make decisions about running his team. And that, dear friends, is essentially what Dickerty is asserting.
That is truly ABSTRACT.

Dusty actually DOESN'T do this, but talks down to the sportwriters, because he doesn't want to talk about how he and Wayne actually make decisions about players, and frankly, a lot of sportswriters are pretty dumb. And as a manager, he has to perform a lot of happy talk to prevent antagonizing a player that may be stinking it up in Spring Training, but might probably turn it on once the season begins. It happens all the time.

"I guess I picked a bad day to stop sniffing glue!"- Lloyd Bridges

by Lonesome George on Mar 12, 2008 10:32 AM EDT reply actions