> The end result of which is - some teams pay attention to OPS, and some teams
> to batting average. The teams that pay attention to OPS teach their players
> to draw walks and wait for a pitch they can drive. The teams that pay
> attention to batting average emphasize "making contact." The two most
> prominent exponents of the OPS strategy are the Oakland A's and the New York
> Yankees. The two most prominent exponents of the batting average strategy
> are the Kansas City Royals and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The outcomes are,
> to say the least, suggestive.
>
> Which, in the end, is what I meant by saying that I know stuff about
> baseball that a lot of old timers don't. They all know much _more_ about
> baseball than I do. But they know a lot of things that have the small
> disadvantage of not being true. The true stuff that they know is far more
> than what I know too, of course. But the untrue stuff - batting average is
> important, stolen bases are critical, strikeouts are a bad thing - makes the
> true stuff less valuable. The two best GMs in the game are (imo) Billy
> Beane and Brian Cashman. Neither, I believe, has ever played baseball at a
> professional level. I am sure that is the case for Cashman. But both
> decided to take a mathematical approach to the game, and both have been well
> rewarded for doing that. The managers who emphasize a similar approach -
> Larry Dierker, and Davey Johnson, for example, have similarly been
> exceptionally successful during their careers.
>
No offense but I doubt that one has had to have heard of the statistical approach you
presented to have an intuitive feel for what you are talking about. I think most of
the "old time players" knew and know this. Commentators are always talking about just
these issues even when they don't use this technical lingo. Cashmen has done a great
job. But he had a bunch if money and he had the advantage of spending most of it on
players that the Yankees developed internally. So you could say that the team stresses
being patient and making contact with its minor league players but what team doesn't?
Seems like mom and apple pie to me.
