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sabermetrics

Tim Hudson #15 of the Atlanta Braves. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

By The Numbers: A Pitcher’s MVS (Most Valuable Stat)

What makes a pitcher great? How are pitchers valued in MLB? While consistency is important, what single statistic can explain how teams value a pitcher?

2012/02/23

By The Numbers: Baseball In The Classroom: Teaching Sabermetrics

It was the mid-1980s. I’ll never forget the feeling of “Eureka!”

WFAN–2012/01/18

Justin Verlander (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Hartnett: AL MVP Voters Get It Right, Choosing Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander was the clear choice to win the 2011 AL MVP Award and was boosted by new-age statistics along with the usual criteria needed to capture the award.

WFAN–2011/11/21

Hartnett: Hybrid System Needed To Determine MLB’s Best Fielders

Instead of arguing whether the Gold Glove Award is still relevant or if the Fielding Bible Award should be accepted the standard, how about combining the best aspects of both awards?

WFAN–2011/11/02

(credit: Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images)

By The Numbers: The Baseball Time Machine

With a nod to H. G. Wells, I suspect the only real way to compare a team from one era with a club from another time is to build a Time Machine. Since we don’t seem to have the necessary parts (yet?) for time travel, we have to appeal to other approaches.

WFAN–2011/08/10

Rico Brogna (credit: Otto Greule/Allsport)

By The Numbers: Chatting With Ex-Mets 1B Rico Brogna

A few months ago, former Mets ballplayer, Rico Brogna, graciously agreed to address students taking my course on sabermetrics.

WFAN–2011/06/14

(credit: Chris M. on flickr / ChrisM70.com)

By The Numbers: Leave Behind The Left On Base (LOB) Statistic

Team LOB positively correlates only very-weakly to the amount of runs a team scores, and not at all to winning or losing.

WFAN–2011/06/01

Statues of Babe Ruth, Ted Willams (credit: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

By The Numbers: What Is The “Slob”?

Ted Williams knew a thing or two about hitting. He loved a statistic called Production (PROD), also known as On Base Plus Slugging (OPS). That said, what exactly is SLOB?

WFAN–2011/05/18

By The Numbers: The Forgotten Slugger – Harmon Killebrew

Let’s not forget a great slugger from the past – who coincidentally wore number 3, the same number as The Bambino – Harmon Clayton Killebrew.

WFAN–2011/04/14

By The Numbers: Defining Clutch

I still remember how the squatty catcher, who wore Number 15, would waddle while coming up to the plate… the nervous twitches… the walrus-like moustache… the re-adjusting of the batting gloves… and the feeling that I had… just knowing that Thurman Munson would get a clutch hit.

2011/03/01

Spring training fans watch the Philadelphia Phillies play against the New York Yankees at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

By The Numbers: Does Spring Training Matter?

With pitchers and catchers set to report in just a few short weeks, I found myself contemplating the upcoming spring training season. Do the results of spring training games have any effect on regular season success or failure?

WFAN–2011/02/01

By The Numbers: Some Pioneers In Sabermetrics

From the humble beginnings of baseball in 1839, reporters and statisticians have tried to “tell the story of baseball”. What “happens” at a baseball game can be expressed in words, and yet must be explained in numbers.

WFAN–2011/01/12

By The Numbers: To Bunt Or Not To Bunt

There is no time in baseball; a baseball game is measured by outs. It would seem that to purposely give up an out makes no sense. Hence, we ask the question: “Is the bunt viable?”

WFAN–2010/09/22

By The Numbers: What Is The Power-Speed Number?

What players best “combine” sheer power with blazing speed? Is there a way to measure the meshing of these talents? One metric that can be used is called the “Power-Speed Number” (PSN).

WFAN–2010/09/13

By The Numbers: Modified Slugging Percentage

Mathematicians love to tweak formulas, and baseball fans love to see sluggers. So for this episode of By The Numbers, we will look at the well known slugging formula of Slugging Percentage (SLG).

WFAN–2010/09/07

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