25 things you didn't know about baseball

[ChiSox_Sonix]

25 things you didn't know about baseball

 

That was actually a very interesting article. Don't know how accurate it is, but interesting nonetheless. It's based on the MLB Pitch f/x system.

[knightni]

13) Mark Buehrle(notes) throws five above-average pitches.

 

In order of effectiveness: changeup, fastball, slider (which – hint, hint, A.J. Pierzynski(notes) – he throws only 2.8 percent of time but to 4.55 runs above per 100 thrown), curveball and cutter.

[chw42]

Looks like somebody finally found the pitch value charts on fangraphs.

[Kalapse]

Looks like somebody finally found the pitch value charts on fangraphs.

Is it just me or has fangraphs exploded in media popularity over the past few months?

[witesoxfan]

Is it just me or has fangraphs exploded in media popularity over the past few months?

It is not just you.

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

Shame we can't just watch a guy pitch to decide if his s*** is sick or not anymore. The people who come up with this need to take a step back and get a life. They have no one but themselves to blame for coming off as tenants in their mother's basement eagerly awaiting their first date with the opposite sex 43 years into their life. I can't wait to see what exciting new formula (aside from you know, whether or not you honestly feel good about the guy you've got throwing on a given day) is spawned out of someone's asshole next.

 

84% of the time when I wear red to work I manage to close a customer's account.

53% of the time when I wear blue and it's raining outside and my fastball is 84 mph I fail to close a customer's account.

17% of the time when I am a large, African American man who wears a No. 35 Chicago White Sox jersey I am either Frank Thomas or a pine tree in South Carolina.

Therefore, logically, eleventy% of the time all the time I K Jimmy Rollins looking.

 

Using the above-mentioned probabilities, reasonably, and quite plainly I am either Ross Perot or Neal Cotts. Apologies, this cutting edge scientific formula hasn't quite yet been refined to the "God Particle" accuracy so as to distinguish between the all too similar Cotts and Perot. Regardless, taking this imperfection into account, more than likely I'm just a little bit not quite on top of my game because my mother set me up on a love date with her grandmother's friend at the town's Denny's restaraunt and she wouldn't call it off even after I feighned sickness because I kept getting painful erections at inopportune instances for significant periods of time. We had hash browns and crepes... I am freaking out... HASH BROWNS... Is it too late to dam the river, or have I nourished the fertile lands of the eager yet patient valley?

 

f***ing please...

Edited August 6, 2009 by Swingandalongonetoleft

[witesoxfan]

Token pot shots and low blows towards a potentially revolutionary way to look at the game. OMG THEY ARE VIRGINS BECAUSE THEY KNOW MATH OMGZ THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT VAGINAS ARE.

 

Give me a f***ing break.

 

 

although the last part is pretty funny, I will give you that

Edited August 6, 2009 by witesoxfan

[StrangeSox]

I hate objective analysis!

 

Good article, thanks for the post.

[chw42]

Shame we can't just watch a guy pitch to decide if his s*** is sick or not anymore. The people who come up with this need to take a step back and get a life. They have no one but themselves to blame for coming off as tenants in their mother's basement eagerly awaiting their first date with the opposite sex 43 years into their life. I can't wait to see what exciting new formula (aside from you know, whether or not you honestly feel good about the guy you've got throwing on a given day) is spawned out of someone's asshole next.

 

84% of the time when I wear red to work I manage to close a customer's account.

53% of the time when I wear blue and it's raining outside and my fastball is 84 mph I fail to close a customer's account.

17% of the time when I am a large, African American man who wears a No. 35 Chicago White Sox jersey I am either Frank Thomas or a pine tree in South Carolina.

Therefore, logically, eleventy% of the time all the time I K Jimmy Rollins looking.

 

Using the above-mentioned probabilities, reasonably, and quite plainly I am either Ross Perot or Neal Cotts. Apologies, this cutting edge scientific formula hasn't quite yet been refined to the "God Particle" accuracy so as to distinguish between the all too similar Cotts and Perot. Regardless, taking this imperfection into account, more than likely I'm just a little bit not quite on top of my game because my mother set me up on a love date with her grandmother's friend at the town's Denny's restaraunt and she wouldn't call it off even after I feighned sickness because I kept getting painful erections at inopportune instances for significant periods of time. We had hash browns and crepes... I am freaking out... HASH BROWNS... Is it too late to dam the river, or have I nourished the fertile lands of the eager yet patient valley?

 

f***ing please...

 

If anything, these guys help casual baseball fans get a better understanding of the game. Can you watch every single pitch of every game? Probably not. These stats do it for us.

 

I'd rather be thankful than hateful towards sabermetricians. People usually hate sabermetrics because they don't understand it or it goes against their thinking. I'd like to be more open minded when it comes to these things.

Edited August 6, 2009 by chw42

[Balta1701]

I wonder how accurate those pitch locations/types are. Gameday seems to miss an awful lot of them to me, especially with certain pitchers (i.e. they have a 4 seamer, a 2 seamer, or a cutter that are close in velocity).

[chw42]

I wonder how accurate those pitch locations/types are. Gameday seems to miss an awful lot of them to me, especially with certain pitchers (i.e. they have a 4 seamer, a 2 seamer, or a cutter that are close in velocity).

 

Do the stats on fangraphs use the same pitch location/velocity system as Gameday and all the other online live scoring systems?

[Ozzie Ball]

Do the stats on fangraphs use the same pitch location/velocity system as Gameday and all the other online live scoring systems?

I think Pitch F/X is just a universal system, the data of which is then displayed by Gameday/Brooks Baseball/FanGaphs etc.

 

I may be wrong on that though.

Edited August 6, 2009 by Ozzie Ball

[CWSOX45]

I wonder how accurate those pitch locations/types are. Gameday seems to miss an awful lot of them to me, especially with certain pitchers (i.e. they have a 4 seamer, a 2 seamer, or a cutter that are close in velocity).

 

There's a problem with these stats. Run Values per pitches are given out based on the result of each pitch. For example if a guy strikes out a batter on his change-up, the run value on that change-up is going to be much higher than it would on a normal fastball for a strike.

 

The problem with this method is that those fastballs are undervalued. For example I remember seeing that Tim Lincecum's change-up run value rating was off the chart, but in reality it shouldn't be that high, because the previous fastballs thrown earlier in the count are used to set up that change-up for strikeouts. Basically if not for those fastballs for strikes, Lincecum's change-up wouldn't be nearly as effective.

 

I myself am a fan of Fangraphs and run values, however with all these new age stats, it's important to remember that all of them have flaws, such as UZR, Run values from Fangraphs and others. Just keep that in mind when you read this stuff on the internet.