As usual, Mark Bellhorn brings out the worst in bad sports commentators.
In today's Sox-O's game, Tim McCarver mentioned that Bellhorn walks or strikes out 46.2% of the time. Yes, he mentioned the two-tenths of one percent.
He went on to say, "On-base percentage? How about
contact percentage?!"
And then a great line: "I only care about on-base percentage if you can run. If you can't run, I could care less about on-base percentage."
I think we can extrapolate from that statement that if Tim McCarver were managing a player like David Ortiz, he would recommend that David just make an out every time he comes up.
Labels: contact percentage, mark bellhorn, obp, tim mccarver
Atlanta Braves vs. Boston Red Sox, TBS, 1 pm EST:
The commentators weigh in on the Sox' lack of sacrifice bunts on the year when Mark Bellhorn steps up to the plate. The play-by-play man remarks, rather accurately, that some of the "new-school" general managers can show you statistics that show that "hacking away" is actually a more effective strategy.
The color man remarks, rather inanely, that "as always, I think a mix of the old ways and the new ways is probably the way to go." Probably true, but not too incisive. He then comments that some teams use statistics and charts, while others "go with the flow and situations." What? Finally, he sums it up with "well, hey, if there were one best way to do things, then everyone would be doing it!"
This is simply not true.
That's not true in any industry. If there's one best way to make cars, why isn't every car factory exactly the same? Because people use rational thought and trial and error to continually improve what they do.
More importantly, I guess, if I worked at a lab that was trying to cure cancer and the head researcher said he was just going to make decisions based on "going with the flow and situations," I wouldn't feel too confident about our chances at curing cancer.
Labels: mark bellhorn
