Baseball statistics for moronic idiots aspiring to merely be dummies: An annotated approach

So I was tooling around seeing what’s going on around the diamond today and came across an ESPN list of how this year’s rookies are doing.

Just looking at the batters, there are three ways of judging their accomplishments: regular statistics, pretty much the kind of info you used to be able to find on baseball cards; expanded stats, pretty much the kind of info you could find in a high-quality baseball reference book; and sabermetric stats, the kind of info you could find on Pluto (if Pluto was still a planet).

Funny, but when Murray Chass used to complain about VORP, WAR, et al, the sabermetric blogosphere was all over him, calling him a dinosaur. And then they got nasty. But when John Thorn complained the stats had taken over from the narrative of the game, they were all like, “hmm, maybe he has a point.”

Anyway, following the jump and for what it’s worth, here’s my annotated list of some of the newfangled statistics, as listed in a glossary on ESPN.com. I’ve eliminated a few of the really the basic ones like doubles, plate appearances, etc., unless they set up further discussion.

For some really good books on the subject, I recommend Beyond Batting Average, by Lee Panas, and Eric Blabac’s Encyclopedia of Baseball Statistics: From A to ZR.

BATTING STATISTICS
#P/PA	Pitches seen per plate appearance No problem. It’s interesting to see who’s patient and who’s not. In my softball league, I’m a notorious first-pitch swinger kind of guy, unless the situation absolutely demands otherwise, like when the pitcher has walked three straight in front of me. Some don’t like hitting behind in the count, but that’s not my situation. I’m just impatient.
BB/K	Walks Per Strikeout What’s the point (WTP)? I guess this is an indication of strike zone judgment, but what does this say about a batter other than he sees a lot of pitches? Maybe he’s just not aggressive.
BB/PA	Walks Per Plate AppearanceSee above.
CS	Caught stealing I think this is only germane for a bad base stealer who takes his team out of innings.
FB	Fly balls hit, excluding home runs WTP? Are these balls hits? Outs? A combination? How high does it have to be to be deemed a fly ball? Is that a separate category from line drives or is it anything that is specifically not a ground ball? When I worked for STATS we had to keep track of such things.
G/F	Ground ball/fly ball ratio (GB divided by FB) Without context, WTP? Let’s say a batter actually needs to hit a ground ball…
GIDP	Grounded into double play Should be listed as an average, as in how many times a batter GIDP per opportunities.
IBB	Intentional bases on balls Perhaps with the batter’s spot in the lineup. Is it a No. 8 hitter in front of the pitcher? Is it an incident of avoiding a power hitter?
IsoP	Isolated Power ((Slugging Percentage – Batting Average) What does this really tell us (WDTRTU)? Wouldn’t a power hitter without a good BA have a higher IP and wouldn’t that then be a bad thing? Tris Speaker, lifetime IP .155 (.500 SA – .345BA), Ryan Klesko, lifetime IP .262 (.500 SA – .279 BA) . So what?
LOB	Runners left on base Again, give me more info. Should this be weighted by the number of outs, a sort of “clutch rating” system?
OBP	On-base percentage (H + BB + HBP) divided by (AB + BB + HBP + SF) You down with OBP (parents, ask your kids)?
OPS	On-base percentage plus slugging percentage I get this one: a balance between power hitting and patience (see Barry Bonds).
OW%	Offensive winning percentage. The theoretical winning percentage of a team comprising nine of the same players (e.g. nine Ken Griffey Jrs.). 1) Figure runs created per 27 outs [Note: Total outs = (AB – H + C + GIDP + SH + SF)]. 2) Divide by league average runs per game. 3) Square the result. 4) Divide that figure by 1 + itself “Theoretical?” “Square the result?” Uh-uh. This isn’t A Beautiful Mind.
RC	Runs created [(H + BB + HBP – CS – GIDP) times (Total bases + .26[BB – IBB + HBP] + .52[SH + SF + SB])] divided by (AB + BB + HBP + SH+ SF) This was one of the earliest of the sabermetric stats, predating WARP, VORP, WAR, etc.
RC27	Runs created per 27 outs (Estimates how many runs per game a team made up of nine of the same player would score) “Nine of the same player?” Didn’t I see this in a Bugs Bunny cartoon?
SecA	Secondary Average (A way to look at a player’s extra bases gained, independent of Batting Average) (TB – H + BB + SB – CS) / AB WTP? Can’t you just take the total bases and subtract the singles?
SF	Sacrifice flies
SH	Sacrifice hits The difference between the SH and SF is that the batter is actually “giving himself up” on an SH. That is, by taking a bunting stance he theoretically controls how and where the ball should go. You can try to hit a fly ball, but that doesn’t always work as well, and even if you do, there’s no guarantee it will go far enough to score the runner from third.
TPA	Total plate appearances AB + BB + HBP + SF + SH + times reached on defensive interference I don’t get that last one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a batter reach base that way. Stolen bases, yes, but not hitters.
XBH	Extra Base Hits 2B + 3B + HR Duh.

PITCHING STATISTICS
#P/IP	Pitches thrown per inning Keep the total low.
#P/GS	Pitches thrown per start See above.
#Pit	Pitches thrown What, per game? Per season? WTP?
2B	Doubles allowed
3B	Triples allowed With “2B,” WDTRTU? Perhaps the batter is speedy and the fielders slow, Maybe the ground is slick or wet, which impedes the defense. Maybe it’s an “excuse me” swing that lofts just over the third-baseman’s head.
AGS	Average Game Score. See Game Score, below
Avg	Batting average allowed Batter X is hitting .444 against Pitcher Y. is that four hits in nine at bats or 44-99? Context, please. A small sample is not really that indicative.
BIPA	Balls In Play Average. Batting Average Against, not including home runs or strikeouts Because neither are in play, I guess, what about a wild pitch/passed ball third strike; rare, i know, but isn’t that in play?.
Bk	Balks Useless in the aggregate. A matter of interpretation by the umpires. How many run s score off balks, I wonder?
BlSv	Blown saves.
CG	Complete games What, now?
CS	Runners caught stealing Somehow it seems this should be connected to balks. And where’s the stat for throws over to the bases to keep a runner close? That’s almost like an additional pitch. And while we’re at it, how about keeping track of warm-up tosses in the bullpen. What if a reliever gets up a couple of times before coming in to a game? Or doesn’t get into the game at all?
CW	Cheap Wins. Wins in games started that are not Quality Starts.
DIPS ERA	A pitcher’s ERA, independent of the defense behind him. This formula, based on essays by Voros McCracken, assumes that all pitchers have consistent BIPA (See Above), and adjusts accordingly. The DIPS ratios on ESPN use the DIPS 2.0 formula, are not park-adjusted, and do not adjust for knuckleball pitchers. If you’re going to start excluding by pitch, I don’t see the point of this stat.
ERC	Component ERA. A pitcher’s ERA based on the hits and walks he allowed, rather than actual runs If runs aren’t involved, shouldn’t there be another name for it?
ERC%	Ratio of Component ERA to actual ERA Really? TMI.
FB	Fly balls hit against
G/F	Ground ball/fly ball ratio against GB divided by FB Interesting when you really need the pitcher to induce a ground ball.
GB	Ground balls hit against
GIDP	Grounded into double plays againstSee G/F
GF	Games finished Other than closers, WTP? WDTRTU?
GS	Games started Only meaningful as an indication that the pitcher is healthy and a workhorse
GSc	Game Score. Start with 50 points. Add 1 point for each out recorded, (3 points per inning). Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed. Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed. Subtract 1 point for each walk Whenever I see long formulas like this I have to ask, why 50? Why not 47 or 63? Why not three points for a strikeout or seven for hits allowed? Where do they come up with these things? I imagine the mathematicians try lots of configurations before determine the “right” one.
H	Hits against
Hld	Holds. Earned when a relief pitcher enters a game in a save situation (see SvOp, below, for definition), records at least one out, and leaves the game without having given up the lead. Nice to see the middle innings guys getting some love.
HR	Home runs allowed Conventional wisdom holds that if you give up a lot of homers, you’re a good pitcher, because you’re around the plate and you’re throwing a lot of innings.
IBB	Intentional bases on balls Just an informational stat (but then again, aren’t they all?), since it’s not an indication of a pitcher’s control so much as managerial strategy.
IR	Inherited runners. Runners on base when a relief pitcher enters a game There’s another stat for percentage of IR allowed, but I didn’t see it here. They should go together, no? I would imagine a manager has to have a lot of confidence in a reliever to bring him in with a lot of runners on base.
OBP	On-base percentage allowed Again, not always an indication of a pitcher’s ability as much as defensive ability.
ORuns	Opponents’ runs scored (average, per nine innings pitched) while the pitcher of record Seems like this is a redundant stat. Who else would be scoring runs of a pitcher other than the opponent?
PFR	Power/Finesse Ratio Strikeouts Plus Walks Divided By Innings Pitched WDTRTU? Let’s say you give up 50 walks and fan 50 in 100 innings. So that’s a P/FR of 1.0. But what if you walk only 10 and strike out 90 (or vice versa)? Isn’t that the same 1.0? And where does the power/finesse come in? There’s no differentiation here between 100 MPH fastballs and 60 MPH knucklers.
QS	Quality starts Sorry, I think starters are getting off way to easy. Six innings and three earned runs or less? That’s an ERA of 4.50. Maybe that’s what passes for “quality” nowadays.
RBI	Runs batted in allowed WTP?
Rel	Relief decision (Save, blown save, hold) An indication of how often some relievers are used, I guess. Might not account for the one-out-needed specialist.
RS	Run support. Team’s runs scored (average, per 9 innings pitched) while the pitcher of record Another WDTRTU? That batters try harder for certain pitchers? Perhaps control artists keep the defense awake which has a concomitant effect on offense?
SB	Stolen bases allowed
SF	Sacrifice flies allowed Again, WDTRTU? It’s a fly ball out with a runner on third. How can we measure a pitcher’s ability to get a ground ball to the infield in that situation?
SH	Sacrifice hits allowed More on the batter than the pitcher since he knows where he wants the ball to go.
ShO	Shutouts These days it should be paired with complete games since you can’t have a shutout without one. But what about a stat that credits a starter for leaving a game without giving up a run. For example, if he comes out after seven scoreless innings he gets a better score than five scoreless frames.
Slg	Slugging percentage allowed. See Slg in Batting Statistics, above, for definition. So they hit him hard.
TBF	Total batters faced An indication of workload, not necessarily talent.
TL	Tough Losses. Losses in games started that are Quality StartsMore of an indictment of the offense than the pitcher. A “tough luck” stat.
WHIP	Walks plus hits divided by Innings Pitched
WPct	Winning percentage Wins divided by (Wins + losses) Like batting average, meaningless as a raw number. A 4-2 record gets you the same .667 as 20-10.
WP	Wild pitches Whoops.

FIELDING STATISTICS
CERA	Catcher’s earned-run average. Earned-run average of club’s pitchers with a particular catcher behind the plate I like this one, but it only works for catcher’s who call their own game. If the pitchers of managers call it, why should the catcher be penalized by a bad CERA?
CS	Runners caught stealing
CS%	Percentage of runners caught stealing
DP	Double plays Perhaps a percentage of DP per opportunity, as in a middleman who can’t make the relay in time? And perhaps a way to take into consideration if subsequent runs score because the DP wasn’t turned?
FPct	Fielding percentage (PO + A) divided by (PO + A + E) Less useful on its own than it used to be 20 years ago.
GS	Games startedShould we now consider “relief fielders”, those late-inning defensive specialists?
PCS	Pitchers’ caught stealing. Total runners caught stealing when the player who initiates the fielding play is the pitcher Pair it with the pick-off
PO	Putouts Doesn’t say that much. Dependent ion the kind of pitcher. I seem to recall a game in which the Mets Syd Fernandez didn’t allow a single ground ball out; everything came on fly balls and Ks
POA	Pickoff attempts
RF	Range factor (PO + A) divided by 9 innings How does this really judge range?
SBA	Stolen bases allowed Why is this a defensive problem? Should be some way to “credit” it against the pitcher (for a slow delivery) as well as the catcher.
TC	Total chances
ZR	Zone rating. The percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive “zone,” as measured by STATS, Inc. Then WTP of the Range factor?