Clutch Hitting

[JOHNEIGENAUER]

This post should probably go in a more general forum, but I find that posts there quickly get swamped. I hope that this forum will bring many responses, at least one from Bernie.

I find clutch hitting ratings to be completely unrealistic.

Reason One: Considerable research has demonstrated that there is no such thing as "clutch hitting." Numerous article have appeared in SABR, on the Internet, and in journals of sports psychology and performance and the conclusion is that there is no such thing. Period.

Reason Two: Limited and exaggerated RBI totals are a function of environement and not of player performance. Hank Aaron (in 1969) had only 97 RBI on 44 homers (and a .300 average) NOT because he was a poor clutch hitter, but because Felipe Alou and Felix Millan batted in front of him and Orland Cepeda and Clete Boyer hit behind him.

Reason Three: There is no need to limit RBIs (through clutch ratings on singles) because the environment will already do that. In a replay league, Aaron's RBI opportunities would be limited by the fact that players with low OBP will hit in front of him.

Strat-o-Matic ought to eliminate clutch hitting ratings. Since the company will not do that (because it sees this rating as a means of more accurately recreating RBIs), on-line players ought to have the option of turning off clutch hitting ratings, just as we have in the CD-ROM version of the game.

Bernie?