Post by Rog on Aug 25, 2017 12:41:46 GMT -5
"Brandon Belt isn't a very good first baseman because he doesn't drive in at least 80 home runs a season." Let's admit it. We've been saying that or something similar here for quite some time.
None other Branch Rickey might beg to differ. We might want to hear what he wrote in Life Magazine six decades ago -- back in our youths:
"As a statistic, RBIs (are) not only misleading but dishonest. They (depend) on managerial control, a hitter's position in the batting order, park dimensions and the success of his teammates in getting on base ahead of him."
If Branch were here on this board right now, I believe he would say something like this:
. Don't base your judgment of Belt solely on RBIs, but rather on his full performance, including getting on base, fielding and running.
. If you ARE going to use RBI's, at least look at the specific opportunities he had. Yes, you're talking about looking at quite a few at bats, but without that information you're not prepared to evaluate Belt on his RBI's only, even if that were the proper way to evaluate him.
. Did you happen to notice that Belt hits in a pitchers' park that severely limits his home runs? That he has batted down in the lineup a lot more than he's hit third or cleanup? That most of his seasons have been less than full seasons due to injuries? That recently he's played for a team that doesn't score many runs? That they don't get many runners on base?
Branch would be telling us something to the effect of, you're missing (part of) a good game. But what does Rickey know about baseball?
I guess we could say in our defense that he hasn't known much about baseball for years now.
None other Branch Rickey might beg to differ. We might want to hear what he wrote in Life Magazine six decades ago -- back in our youths:
"As a statistic, RBIs (are) not only misleading but dishonest. They (depend) on managerial control, a hitter's position in the batting order, park dimensions and the success of his teammates in getting on base ahead of him."
If Branch were here on this board right now, I believe he would say something like this:
. Don't base your judgment of Belt solely on RBIs, but rather on his full performance, including getting on base, fielding and running.
. If you ARE going to use RBI's, at least look at the specific opportunities he had. Yes, you're talking about looking at quite a few at bats, but without that information you're not prepared to evaluate Belt on his RBI's only, even if that were the proper way to evaluate him.
. Did you happen to notice that Belt hits in a pitchers' park that severely limits his home runs? That he has batted down in the lineup a lot more than he's hit third or cleanup? That most of his seasons have been less than full seasons due to injuries? That recently he's played for a team that doesn't score many runs? That they don't get many runners on base?
Branch would be telling us something to the effect of, you're missing (part of) a good game. But what does Rickey know about baseball?
I guess we could say in our defense that he hasn't known much about baseball for years now.