As I have found, there is not only a plethora of information out there about sabermetrics, but within the study of sabermetrics there are many things to learn. I am not going to try and attack this subject all at once, since I will probably be overwhelmed with statistics and language that I have never heard before. I mentioned in my first post about the statistic 'runs created'. This was one of Bill James' first breakout statistic that caught nationwide attention. After years of putting James on the back burner, as baseball executives viewed him more as a disgruntled fan who thought he knew more about baseball than he actually did, James was recognized for his brilliance.
The first model that James had for runs created was fairly simple to what it has transformed into today. His model:
Runs Created = A + B/C where A is on-base factor, B is Advancement factor, and C is opportunity factor
More in depth, the formula is simply this :
Runs Created = (Hits + Walks) x Total Bases/(At Bats + Walks)
With this formula, James figured he could correctly estimate the amount of runs a player SHOULD produce in a given season, or career, or whatever other time period he wished to know. Instead of focusing on a players batting avereage, rbi's or even hits alone, James believed that this was more valuable to know; after all, the point of a baseball game is to score as many runs as possible, not to collect the highest batting average.
I have decided that I will take a few players who I personally like and think are valuable and apply their stats to this formula. I have also decided to take some players who are viewed as valuable, but in fact are not as valuable as their rbi and batting average numbers make them seem. I will blog my findings in the near future.
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