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While you’re at it, bring back sanity
November 20th, 2008, 3:32 pm · 4 Comments · posted by Mark Whicker, ocregister.com
Well, I see Planet VORP has now moved beyond Pluto.
Tim Salmon, my favorite alltime player, had 211 at-bats in 2006. Bernie Williams had 420. Salmon had nine home runs and 27 RBI. Williams had 12 and 61.
To say Salmon had a better year on the basis of a superior OPS+ when he played half as often as Williams is to invite arrest for BUI _ Blogging Under The Influence.
It’s also a case of using statistics like a drunk uses a lamppost _ for support, not illumination. (I wish I could take credit for that, but it was longtime NHL coach Mike Keenan who said it.)
I guess if Bobby Grich had come out of retirement, hit a home run in his only at-bat and then re-retired, he would have been better than both. His OPS would have been phenomenal.
Salmon also missed the entirety of 2005 and played only 60 games in 2004, so his comeback in 2006 was remarkable, he got an amazing sendoff from the Angel organization, and he left the game with no regrets.
I hope Bernie Williams was treated similarly when it all ended in New York, because his one-team career was fabulous, too, OPS+ notwithstanding..
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First, I’ve gotta say, I’m loving the nerd vs. dinosaur thing you guys have going… Thanks…
Meanwhile, Mark, I think the words you’re flailing for are “sample size.” If Salmon had, say, 50 ABs, I’m guessing (I flunked stats) that would indeed be too few ABs to say anything one way or another. And if Sam had used such a tiny number to say something as outrageous as “Salmon was an old stud at the end of his career,” then he - Sam - would be a dweeb. (Ok, technically, he’d be an even bigger dweeb than he already is.)
That said, 211 ABs isn’t inconsequential. It’s roughly an AB every day of the season; a tick more than one-third of a typical ML playing every day. And, while annoying, the other stat Sam notes is also telling. It showed that Salmon’s 211 ABs were roughly 9 percent better than the ML average 211 AB’s That’s a big difference, 9 percent; too big, in fact, to be statistically irrelevant.
But screw the stats. Instead, ask yourself this: Would Scocia trot Salmon to the plate 211 times, in games that count, if Salmon wasn’t still at least decent at that point?… That’d be quite a goodbye kiss.
Timmy is my all time favorite Angel. I’d much rather he continued his graceful ride off into the sunset then potentially embarress himself with a potentially botched comeback. After all… other than hitting one more home run… what else is there left for him to do?
Salmon remains the man. He always portrayed class, dignity and grace. I hope his retirement continues in the same vein.
Tim shoudl come back…as our hitting coach. Fire Mickey Hacker!!
Totally agree with Marcos - bring back Salmon as hitting coach.
Also, Bernie wants to come back so he can play in the new Yankee Stadium. It’s probably Pettitte’s motivation too. Maybe he just needs to make some money because he lost so much of his retirement in the stock market. HAHAHA