Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 10:43 PM | 8 comments |
 

Inside the Numbers
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I wouldn't call myself a sabermetrician, but I take my share of crap from curmudgeons who think anything new in baseball is bad: "Back in my day we didn't have on-base percentages. And we liked it!" Despite such cruelty, I pick up The Bill James Handbook every winter. Thankfully, ACTA Sports, which puts out the book, just e-mailed some interesting stats about the eight postseason teams. Take a look:

Net Bases Gained
Measures the team’s overall performance on the base paths over the course of the season. Zero is average, plus numbers are above average and negative numbers are below average:

  1. Phillies +114
  2. Cubs +63
  3. Brewers +42
  4. Dodgers +35
  5. Rays +35
  6. Angels +22
  7. Red Sox +8
  8. White Sox -20

Team Manufactured Runs
Measures runs put together out of small parts -- infield hits, bunts, moving up on ground outs, stealing bases, hitting and running, scoring on fly balls, etc.

  1. Dodgers 186
  2. Angels 181
  3. Rays 168
  4. Cubs 154
  5. Phillies 153
  6. Red Sox 145
  7. Brewers 143
  8. White Sox 129

Plays Above Average
Measures the number of above-average defensive plays a team made over the course of the season. Zero is average, plus numbers are above average and negative numbers are below average.

  1. Phillies +77
  2. Brewers +44
  3. Rays +34
  4. Red Sox +29
  5. Angels -10
  6. Dodgers -16
  7. Cubs -27
  8. White Sox -44
Posted by Todd Zolecki @ 10:43 PM  Permalink | 8 comments
8
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:23 PM, 09/30/2008
    The manufactured runs stat really surprises me. It gives lie to conventional wisdom about this Phillies team.
    — Jeffrey
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:13 AM, 10/01/2008
    The manufactured runs stat doesn't surprise me. It's all about *small ball*. Something the Phils haven't done a lot of this season.
    — Norma
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:56 AM, 10/01/2008
    Todd, you definetly have to much time on your hands, really...
    — pat h
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:41 AM, 10/01/2008
    This is his job dude
    — davemarsh
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:49 AM, 10/01/2008
    Nice work Todd. I think Nate Silver, while working for BP, developed a formula which correlated to postseason success. His "secret sauce" was a combination of the strength of your closer (Wins above replacement level- WXRL), strong team defense (field runs above average- FRAA), and success of the team's pitchers' strikeout rates, adjusted for parks and league (equivalent ERA- EqK9). The Phillies are about league average in FRAA and EqK9 but are second in all majors in WXRL for Lidge, I think. This puts us close to the top third in MLB (mostly on the strength of Lidge). It would be interesting to see a comparison of all eight postseason teams side-by-side, as well as past playoff success with respect to the "secret sauce".
    — CyHamels
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:50 AM, 10/01/2008
    Have to give a lot of credit to Davey Lopes for Net Bases Gained. Great hiring by Gillick.
    — Lemur
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:26 AM, 10/01/2008
    Good Morning Phillies Fans, I'm writing to you as a gesture of good-will among or respective baseball teams. I look forward to a hard-fought, competitive series. All of us Brewers fans in Wisconsin...or across the country, have been waiting for this day for 26 long years. Your team has played at a high level all season, and all of us look forward to what should be an incredible post-season NLDS in Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
    — GoBadg
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:45 PM, 10/01/2008
    Right back at 'ya, GoBadg!
    — Norma


8 comments
About Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover












Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.

This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.

Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
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