by BC Manager » Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:14 am
I feel I've gotta weigh in here, though I'll mostly be repeating what I've already said:
- YF's total baseball stats are interesting but unless they're based on strat, I think they're irrelevant. You can't actually apply real life analysis to SOM in this case. For example, in RL, I believe it's been demonstrated that it's easier to hit 2B's and 3B's in Fenway, something that isn't factored in our version of strat.
- As long as I've played SOM (5 years), I've played under the assumption that the difference between a hitter's park and pitcher's park is almost entirely based on the BP HR numbers and this assumption has been consistently borne out. However the Murph/Fenway comparison is intriguing because they are almost exceptions to this rule -- Fenways singles ALMOST make it a hitter's park; Murphs singles ALMOST make it a pitcher's park. The fact remains that McReynolds played half his games in a park that increased his HR total. Bell played half his game in a park that increased his singles total. How much each benefited is impossible to really determine.
- Sykes' point that park should be irrelevant has some merit. In RL I don't think most writers factor in the ballpark when evaluating a season (though I have - ie., runs/HR's are slightly less valuable in a hitter's park such as Coors than they are in a park like Comerica). Most writers don't look at OPS or RC/27 either. In RL I believe most of those voting would look at these two players equal BA, McReynold's higher HR total, Bell's higher RBI total, McR's higher SLU and OBP, Bell's higher 2B's, Bell's 162 games and find it hard to choose between them. In today's game, they might look at these stats and choose Key, given how much harder it is to put together that strong a pitching season these days (and this could be said for SOM, even if it is the 80s)
- Sykes, you could show me 5000 Murph teams vs. 5000 Fenway teams and it still wouldn't prove anything. It's impossible to control for all other factors, especially with the mystery card. It's anectdotal evidence. It may be the case that it's easier to put together a team that performs offensively with Fenway's BP numbers -- RH sluggers + high BA/OBP guys, or whathaveyou.
- I'm not sure how to resolve this. No one's arguement seems strong enough to be convincing enough to pick one guy over the other. Again, I'm inclined to declare a tie (or give it to Key, a case there seems to be some momentum for)
Would someone like to throw this argument out to the broader community to discuss? The argument is an intriguing one.