"Forget about on-base percentage. What about *contact* percentage?!"
Even for McCarver, that is amazingly stupid.
Let's say "contact percentage," which is not a thing, is calculated just like it sounds -- the percentage of at-bats in which a player neither walks nor strikes out. Thus, it is basically the opposite of OBP, or OPS, wherein a player can be punished for not making an out. This is tantamount to a quarterback being punished for not throwing an interception. Or punishing a student for not failing a test.
Christian Guzman's Contact Percentage this year is .794. Tony Womack's is a stellar .809. Compare that to Manny Ramirez's terrible .689, and I think we all know who would be hitting clean-up on McCarver's All-Star team.
Hell, in 2002, Barry Bonds had what I considered the greatest offensive year in the history of baseball -- boy was I wrong! His contact percentage was a paltry .592! I thought that guy was supposed to be good. Thanks for setting me straight, Tim McCarver, you incomparable numbskull!
Labels: tim mccarver
