Underrated: 2016

[DrungoHazewood]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

No, you are misunderstanding me. I’m not saying the team shouldn’t use analytics to the greatest degree possible.    I’m just saying that from the fan experience point of view I think things arguably were more enjoyable when we had less of that information.    When I go to a restaurant and have a great meal, I don’t necessarily want to spend my time studying exactly how it was cooked.    I just want to hold each bite in my mouth and savor it.

What I'm saying is that you'd enjoy the analytics experience more if they said that David Hess' spin rate had him poised for a huge breakout, instead of just saying that most Orioles' prospects were getting by on luck and sleight-of-hand.

I do understand what you're saying.  I mainly watch soccer for the enjoyment of the flow of game and the emotion and the creative athleticism, and don't really get that much into goals vs expected goals and the like.

[Palmoripken]

I get what Frobby is saying too. Don't get me wrong. I don't discount analytics or think sabermetrics is a bunch of bs but sometimes I feel for me anyhow the increased statistical analysis takes some of the wonder away from the game. Like yeah maybe you know deep down that a Shane Spencer September 1998 isn't going to last or that Harvey Haddix throwing 12 perfect innings is just one of those freakish occurrences that do happen but you enjoy that as a fan. I do have to say this though, I have enjoyed seeing how the game has been viewed over my 25+ years as a baseball fan. That's interesting in itself not from a statistics pov but from a historical/sociological view of the game. It will be interesting to see how statistics are studied and analyzed 25 years from now. My opinion is that traditional and sabermetric stats can work well together. The same stats that say Willie Mays was one of the best all time 50 years ago are agreed with by modern stat analysis.  I no longer think a guy's a good hitter if he's hitting 300 like I did when I was a kid but I'm happy if a guy is hitting over 300 even if I know that doesn't tell the full story. Of all the major sports, baseball stats to me are the most fun to look at.