Thursday, May 23, 2013
At Home Plate
On Harold Reynolds
Written by Adam Adkins (Contact & Archive) on June 19, 2009
  

Are you dumb?  I don't mean to be crass, but, well, let's just see what 'HR' said:

"And one of the stats that has become real popular is OPS. On-base plus slugging. All of a sudden, it's this stat that defines whether a guy is a good ball player or not. And the fact of the matter is, if you're a power hitter then the situation will dictate what a pitcher does with you - either walk you or pitch you real careful. So more than likely you're going to end up on base and therefore you On-base percentage goes up. This is my mind has become the stat the everyone thinks is the be all and end all. It is not. If you have a ball club that's a great offensive team then that changes everything. But if you have a guy like Adrian Gonzalez, for example, his OPS is going to high - he's got a lot of home runs and walks a lot...because you're not going to pitch to him!"

Not to curse, but the what the f*ck does that even mean?

So, um, a slugger's OPS will be high, because he hits a lot of homers and draws plenty of walks, and that's because the pitcher won't pitch to the batter?

What the f*ck does that even mean?

Harold, my friend, I guess I thought you were smart because you sat next to this joker, but, as it turns out, you aren't.

Okay, let me help.  You only get on base through hits, walks, or being hit by a pitch.  I guess two out of those three can reasonably be created in the event of a pitcher 'not pitching' to a batter.  But to suggest that home runs come as a result of a pitcher 'not pitching' to a batter is ludicrious.  In fact, Harold, in the event of a home run, it would seem that the pitcher threw a pitch and the batter not only swung, but connected, and the force behind the swing drove the ball far, far away.

But I wouldn't expect you, the one being paid to talk about baseball, to know that.  I mean, talk about high expectations!

P.S.

Did you pass high school English?


Adam writes two pieces a week for AHP and also muses about lots of stuff on his blog.  So, you know, please read it.



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