There are stats and then there are stats

More than any other sports, baseball is inundated with stats. There are numerous books about the evolution of numbers in the game. I marvel that historians can look at the earliest box scores and extrapolate on the quality of the pioneers based on such limited information.

Box score (baseball) - Wikipedia

Over time, the way statistics were gathered and interpreted has changed. One only has to watch a game these days to see an explosion of new analytics. Spin rates, launch angles, bat speed. Depending on your point of view, this is either an enhancement or a detriment.

This debate carried over to social media during last night’s wild card game between the Mets and Padres. I suspect that many of the “con” group consisted of older fans but it’s not a “get off my lawn” issue. This demographic is not stupid about stats and records. They just don’t see the value of such information when it comes to simply enjoying the game. Does knowing that a pitcher has a spin rate of 1,200 vs. 1,250 RPM on his splitter really mean that much? Perhaps to the team in terms of going after a certain hitter whose own slew of stats indicates a weakness.

Of course the big argument in recent weeks has been how to handle Aaron Judge’s accomplishment of hitting his 62nd home run. Yes, it’s loaded with sentiment, coming 61 years after Roger Maris, another Yankee, broke Babe Ruth’s record of 60. But instead of the controversy about the extra opportunities Maris had, and the desire by some for a “special notation” to separate him from the far superior Bambino, we had the discussion over whether Judge should be judged the true home run champ, since Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa were under the cloud of performance enhancing drugs. To be honest, I don’t understand that. Like it or not, whether you agree or not, regardless of whether you blame the players or MLB executives for looking the other way, the record books are clear on the matter. McGwire broke the record after an exciting battle with Sosa, only to see Bonds do better a few years later.

The home run, of course, is the most dramatic stat in the national pastime, and there are dozens of books and hundreds of essays explaining the power and majesty of the long ball. Pity the poor pitchers, whose roles have changed dramatically, especially since Covid altered the way they are used. Twenty wins used to be the mark of an ace and 200 innings proved you were a workhorse. Then came the “quality start” which basically hailed you a hero if you had an ERA of 4.50 (three earned runs over six innings). Sandy Alcantara was hailed for two consecutive seasons with more than 200 innings. In 2022, eight hurlers reached that mark. In 2012, that number was 31. Seems we settle for less and less as time goes by. Forget about Cy Young’s 511 wins. In fact, forget about 300 being the benchmark for a Hall of Fame plaque. Justin Verlander, at age 39, leads active pitches with 244. Zack Greinke, 38, is next with 223, followed by Max Scherzer, also 38, who just won his 201st this year. Clayton Kershaw, 34 but showing signs of strain, has 197. Adam Wainright, 40 and most likely retiring, has 195. The only other active pitcher with more than 150 wins is David Price, 37, who has also said this would be his final season.

I could go on with all kinds of minutiae. Computers have made it so damned easy to calculate just about anything. But the one thing that prompted this piece more than anything was a different kind of record, one I feel depicts the heart and sole that some fans put above wins and home runs: Wainright made 328 starts for the St.Louis Cardinals with Molina catching, the most for any battery in major league history.

Sure, it’s not as sexy as an individual accomplishment; kudos to their teammate Albert Pujols for having a magical swan song. His 703 home runs may not be the all-time high, but it was a sweet story nonetheless. But when it comes to Molina and Wainright, well, talk about a record that will never be broken.

Here are a few books about records and statistics I have enjoyed over the years, in no particular order: