This here is a (shitty) screen grab from ESPN’s latest push poll that asks readers what statistics they use to measure the value of a pitcher and I couldn’t help but call attention to the wording they use in their poll. The categories, in case you’re as blind as you are ugly, are as follows:

1. ERA
2. Win-loss record
3. Longevity
4. Peripheral stats (Strikeouts/walks/home runs per nine innings, WHIP, etc.) 25.2%
*emphasis added*

Peripheral stats? Peripheral? What an odd word choice. Peripheral, meaning on the outside, minor, auxiliary. They should have just worded it:

What do you care about when judging a pitcher?
1. Shit that matters like wins and losses?
2. Other shit that only nerds care about?
3. Answer the question, fag.
4. Say hi to your mother for me.

I also love that they differentiate between wins/losses, ERA, how long you did it for, and all that other shit. Everything else falls into the “other” category. Do you allow a lot of baserunners? Who gives a fuck? Are you good at striking out opposing hitters? So what. Do you induce a lot of double plays? Eat my shit.

The only pleasure I take out of this is that only 24.8% (at time of publication) of the respondents think Win/Loss record is the true measure of a pitcher. Only 24.8% of the people who felt compelled to respond to an ESPN poll that was trying to push them in an old timey direction responded that they think wins and losses are the most important measure of how good a pitcher is.

There is hope for the future but we’re fighting an empire.

Here at MLJ, we love Guest Posts.  We love providing an opportunity for our loyalist of readers (the ones with the MLJ tattoos) to have an opportunity to express their long winded opinions.  Up today, pkiguy, telling us why MLB Network’s baseball coverage is better than ESPN’s.  All words are his, but all neat effects are mine–bolding is hard work.

1. The game look-ins. ESPN does this every now and then, but MLB Network (from now on, they will be MLBN) just jumps in at key moments and hopes something happens. Last night they looked in on the Cards/Dbacks game and in the bottom of the 8th with 2 men on and the Dbacks down by 2, Conner Jackson hits a homerun. The coolest thing about this was that MLBN didn’t know that Jackson would hit a dinger, but they went to the game because it was a key moment and something like this could happen. ESPN only shows you what happened AFTER the fact, but MLBN actually has the balls to interrupt what they are talking about to watch a potential big play.

2. Random Discussions. During the short season, MLBN has had some random discussions regarding baseball that you would never hear discussed on ESPN’s show. These are discussions that I know my friends and I have had about this wonderful game. Topics like the DH, neutral field for the WS, Pitchers in the AL vs. the NL, are just a few of the things that they have talked about on the show. Now these are not the type like on Fox or ESPN baseball, where the host lobs a dumb question to the “experts”, these are actual discussions/arguments that the guys on MLBN have about baseball on a nightly basis.

3. Equal Coverage. This one is pretty cut and dry. ESPN’s version does cover all the games on the nightly show, but 99%, the conversations all start and end with Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Sawxs, and that cute little team that they are all shocked about because they were not picked by them to go very far. You watch MLBN, and you will get insight analysis on some Braves pitcher no one has ever heard of and why he is doing better this year because of his arm action or release point on his curveball. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t worry, this isn’t as sexy or gross as you thought it might be from the title. See, over the last couple weeks, I’ve become addicted to ESPN’s Streak for the Cash. I can’t stop clicking on that icon and making picks. It looks so easy! I just need to pick 27 consecutive choices correctly! And they’re all sports predictions! I mean, I’m a fan. I’m a citizen expert! A blogger. All I do is look at sporting events that are coming up and opine on what will happen.

27 in a row? Easy as cake. Now if I could only get a streak going. That’s the hardest part I think. Once I’ve got like 4 in a row, then it will just roll. That million dollars will be mine.

Who will have the lower third round score at the Bob Hope Classic – Chris DiMarco or Peter Lonard? The fuck if I know, but I’m still going to pick. 91% of Sports Nation think sit will be DiMarco. Better go with DiMarco. Unless this is one of those trick ones. Read the rest of this entry »

Which of these teams is not like the other ones?

We might need to create a new Nobel Prize to honor poor analysis in the field of Sports Mathematics.  And if anyone’s going to win the first one, it has to be John Hollinger whose brilliant mathematical mind devised a formula so groundbreaking, that it successfully ranked the Milwaukee Bucks fifth out of a field of thirty, the night after losing to the Charlotte Bobcats (ranked #22) by 10 points.  Please join me as we go down the list and marvel at Mr. Hollinger’s bravery and examine the many facets of the Bucks greatness that make them deserving of the five spot: Read the rest of this entry »