Baseball 101...Spring Training for the Fan

[Guest]

The IF fly rule is very stupid. It basically rewards a bad at bat. It doesn't make any sense that a guy can hit a 50ft popup and only get 1 out, but a guy can rocket a ball to the 3B and possibly make 2-3 outs. I understand that it protects the runners (if they run, they'll get doubled up....if they don't run, they'll get doubled up), but it's the hitter's fault for having such a weak at bat. His team deserves to take whatever consequences result from a popup.

The purpose of the Infield Fly rule is the same purpose served by the balk rule;it protects baserunners from overt deceptions on the part of the defense.

[burnt out cubbie fan]

I consider myself pretty Knowledgeable when it comes to stats and stuff. But there are two i have NO idea what they are....

 

BABIP, IsoD

 

BABIP is batting average on balls in play.

Also, it is used to show how lucky a player is. Their line drive percentage can be used to show what their expected BABIP is supposed to be. If a hitter has a BABIP that is much higher than expected, they are probably not going to keep their batting average that high. A prime example of this would be Richard Lewis last year. He had a ridiculously high BABIP and had a career year. While everyone was happy about his numbers, they were worried about how lucky he had been. Well, this year he has been slightly unlucky but it is had to not be when you are hitting below .200.

 

The formula for BABIP: (H-HR)/(AB+SH+SF-SO-HR)

[burnt out cubbie fan]

How is VORP calculated? I have always wondered how the value of a player can be calculated but have never seen a formula.

[erik316wttn]

And I'm still waiting for my equivilency average explination!!

 

Great idea for a thread, btw.

[Coach C]

What the bloody heck is "equivilency average" or whatever that stat is, and what does it determine?

 

*points up for someone who does know what the heck it is.*

[ltb]

EqA = [H + TB + SB + 1.5*(BB + HBP)] / (AB + BB + HBP + SB/3 + CS)

[UMFan83]

This is more of a trivia question here:

 

In what instances can a scorer award a win or a save to someone who does not qualify under conventional rules and can anyone show an example of this occuring (especially a win, saves are done a few times a season)

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Official MLB Rules

 

This is loooong and boring, but it is a good reference when seeing something odd during a game.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

ESPN Transactions Primer

 

This is another handy site explaining the rules governing waivers, options, DFA, etc.

[Coach C]

Would someone enlighten me what exactly is WPCT?

[erik316wttn]

EqA = [H + TB + SB + 1.5*(BB + HBP)] / (AB + BB + HBP + SB/3 + CS)

 

But what does this stat help determine? Offensive value?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

EqA = [H + TB + SB + 1.5*(BB + HBP)] / (AB + BB + HBP + SB/3 + CS)

 

But what does this stat help determine? Offensive value?

 

Baseball Prospectus[/url]"]EqA

 

Equivalent Average. A measure of total offensive value per out, with corrections for league offensive level, home park, and team pitching. EQA considers batting as well as baserunning, but not the value of a position player's defense. The EqA adjusted for all-time also has a correction for league difficulty. The scale is deliberately set to approximate that of batting average. League average EqA is always equal to .260. EqA is derived from Raw EqA, which is (H + TB + 1.5*(BB + HBP + SB) + SH + SF) divided by (AB + BB + HBP + SH + SF + CS + SB). REqA is then normalized to account for league difficulty and scale to create EqA.

 

 

BP's Stat Glossary contains pretty good explanations for many stats. Just search for the stat you are looking for at this link.

[ZiggyTaxi]

Not sure where you want this to go, but I figured this would be the appropriate place.

 

We have many young posters, fans who have never played baseball on the board, or some have little to no baseball knowledge and could not understand, so they just nod their heads and pretend to understand the conversation, thereby creating more confusion.

 

If you have a question, don't be afraid to ask it. Myself, someone who knows will explain it the best we can, or link it on the web. In this thread, there should be no such thing as a "stupid baseball related question".

 

For those who really know.....pick a topic and explain it in a way that a Jr High kid could understand.

 

What is OBP%? How do you calculate OBP%? What exactly is SLG? OPS? etc.

 

Let the questions and Answers rip. This could be a great educational experience. Lets go NSBB. Get the Rookies in Game-day Shape.

 

I hope you don't mean that fans who have never played baseball can't understand the game...

[ZiggyTaxi]

How is VORP calculated? I have always wondered how the value of a player can be calculated but have never seen a formula.

 

This is a good question. I searched BP, and couldn't find any formula.

[burnt out cubbie fan]

How is VORP calculated? I have always wondered how the value of a player can be calculated but have never seen a formula.

 

This is a good question. I searched BP, and couldn't find any formula.

Their book from 2004 had a whole section explaining what it meant and yet they never showed how they got the numbers.

[Holy Cow]

How is VORP calculated? I have always wondered how the value of a player can be calculated but have never seen a formula.

 

This is a good question. I searched BP, and couldn't find any formula.

Their book from 2004 had a whole section explaining what it meant and yet they never showed how they got the numbers.

 

I've noticed that VORP and Win Shares sometimes rank players in different orders (offensive contribution only). I tried to figure out what offensive contributions the two weighted differently, but could not find the formula for either anywhere. I wonder why it is such a mystery.

[Guest]

How is VORP calculated? I have always wondered how the value of a player can be calculated but have never seen a formula.

 

This is a good question. I searched BP, and couldn't find any formula.

Their book from 2004 had a whole section explaining what it meant and yet they never showed how they got the numbers.

While the exact formula may be a mystery, the general procedure isn't;

1. Determine how many runs a player has produced. BP probably has their own little method for doing this, but any old run esimator should do the trick; RC, XR, EQR, BaseRuns, etc.
   
2. Determine how many runs a typical player at that position would produce in a similar number of PA. This is a rather difficult for the typical fan, as comprehensive position-by-position data can be difficult to find. If you subtract step #2's number from what you got in step #1, you'll have the player's VOAP. (Value Over Average at Position.)
   
3. Finally, we must find the replacement-level from the average baseline. Just as there are numerous ways to estimate a player's run production, there are many different theories on how to define replacement level. The one I typically use is 71.3% of the average level. (The short answer as to why I do that is because an offense that produces at that rate would have a winning percentage of .350 given an average defense.) Subtract that number from the player's production to get his VORP.

Again, the hardest part is setting the production rate at each position. Other than that, it's a pretty simiple procedure.

[Slider]

Two questions (Please don't charge double):

 

1) What are the 5 tools in a 5 tool player?

 

2) How far does a batter have to go around during a check swing to be considered a strike?

 

Great idea--my baseball brain is growing by the minute. Just what my wife wanted to hear.

[UK1679666180]

1)Hitting for avg., hitting for power, throwing, fielding, and baserunning.

 

2)Breaking the wrists.

[Coach C]

Two questions (Please don't charge double):

 

1) What are the 5 tools in a 5 tool player?

 

2) How far does a batter have to go around during a check swing to be considered a strike?

 

Great idea--my baseball brain is growing by the minute. Just what my wife wanted to hear.

 

1. These are hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding, throwing, and baserunning. Willie Mays was an example of that.

 

2. It depends on which umpires are umpiring the game. Some umpires will call it a strike when a batter did or did not go around. But in my opinion, normally, when the player swing the bat half-way around, then normally it should be a strike.

[Slider]

 

2. It depends on which umpires are umpiring the game. Some umpires will call it a strike when a batter did or did not go around. But in my opinion, normally, when the player swing the bat half-way around, then normally it should be a strike.

 

So, I guess half-way would be considered the bat being parallel with the front of the plate? IIRC, and there isn't a whole lot in the MLB rulebook. Probably a judgement call like you say. Thanks.

 

One more, but a little less relevant to on the field action: Is it me, or does Wrigley have the dugouts backwards? Seems like when Fox holds me hostage to watching a Yankees game, they're sitting on the 1B side... Or are the Yankees backwards? (No tangents on that one please)

[Coach C]

One more, but a little less relevant to on the field action: Is it me, or does Wrigley have the dugouts backwards? Seems like when Fox holds me hostage to watching a Yankees game, they're sitting on the 1B side... Or are the Yankees backwards? (No tangents on that one please)

 

That's an interesting question. I know that Boston's dugout is by the first base, along with the Royals. Not sure what other team has the dugout by the 3rd base.

 

Not sure why that is. *shrug*

[MembersOnlyJacket]

 

One more, but a little less relevant to on the field action: Is it me, or does Wrigley have the dugouts backwards? Seems like when Fox holds me hostage to watching a Yankees game, they're sitting on the 1B side... Or are the Yankees backwards? (No tangents on that one please)

 

There is no rule actual written rule in baseball for where the home team dugout is located. It certainly seems that there are more AL teams with a home dugout on the first base side of the field. My personal opinion for why the Yankees and a lot of other clubs are on the first base side is so the owner/upper management box has a line of sight to the dugout. Also, there may have been more space to build a better home clubhouse on the first base side of the park, thus the dugout would be there as well.

[Slider]

 

One more, but a little less relevant to on the field action: Is it me, or does Wrigley have the dugouts backwards? Seems like when Fox holds me hostage to watching a Yankees game, they're sitting on the 1B side... Or are the Yankees backwards? (No tangents on that one please)

 

There is no rule actual written rule in baseball for where the home team dugout is located. It certainly seems that there are more AL teams with a home dugout on the first base side of the field. My personal opinion for why the Yankees and a lot of other clubs are on the first base side is so the owner/upper management box has a line of sight to the dugout. Also, there may have been more space to build a better home clubhouse on the first base side of the park, thus the dugout would be there as well.

 

Sounds like some research is in order...nation-wide road trip!

[ZiggyTaxi]

I also thought that there was no rule concerning checked swings, and it was pretty much all up to the umpires to determine if it was a strike or not.