Stats Kill Fun
I've been talking about this for years, but I've never been able to articulate it as well as Bill Simmons just did:
When baseball teams went into WHIP/OBP/VORP mode after "Moneyball" was released, Bill James wrote that the statistical revolution had changed the way rosters were assembled and games were played, only it might not necessarily be a good thing from an entertainment standpoint. After all, stolen bases are fun. Hit-and-runs are fun. Swinging for the fences on the first pitch is fun. Seeing a starter throw a 140-pitch complete game is fun. Watching a lineup with a bunch of boppers and no OBP guys is fun. Irrational, indefensible managerial decisions are fun. But watching hitters milk pitch counts, or managers use five relievers a game, or contender after contender constructed in the same cookie cutter way ... not quite as fun.
Yes. 100% yes.
This is why the Red Sox are not fun. This is why it is even less fun when the Red Sox play the Yankees.
This is why part of me appreciates the Twins' insistence on abstaining from the statistical revolution.
Also, I do not hold a grudge. Or at least I'm not currently holding a grudge, for whatever reason. Thank you Simmons for writing this brilliant paragraph.
Posted by Sean Schulte at 2008-11-26 13:29:33
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