I’ve been thinking about this a lot as a casual baseball fan who is having a hard time caring any more. I realize the timing of this is odd during the off-season but are advanced metrics and analytics ruining the game? I am by no means a purist, but when ESPN now shows OPS before batting average on their stat line you know things are screwy. Apparently the most important thing to determining a player’s value is their WAR which is a completely theoretical stat. Average, rbi and home runs used to be the holy trinity of stats, with OBP and RISP also being good indicators of success but it seems like the numbers are being twisted around so much that awful players like Adam Dunn had a 10+ year career.
I’m not saying this is the only reason for the decline of baseball (god awful pace, less home grown, elite talent) but it sure is making it a lot less accessible.
I’m not saying this is the only reason for the decline of baseball (god awful pace, less home grown, elite talent) but it sure is making it a lot less accessible.