fearful freebies are foolish fuckups

Because i can't leave well enough alone...

ESPN.com's baseball editor David Schoenfield opines on the soundess of the "Walk Bonds At All Costs" strategy:

OK, I've been holding back. I had ESPN.com engineer Dave Fishel run a query: how many runs do the Giants score when Bonds is walked and how many runs do the Giants score when Bonds doesn't walk?

The Giants have scored 600 of their 787 runs in innings when Bonds steps to the plate.

When he walks, the Giants average 1.09 runs per inning. When he doesn't walk, the Giants average 0.95 runs per inning.

And when he's intentionally walked, the Giants average 1.25 runs per inning.

Based on that, it's clear to me that teams should pitch to Bonds more often.

The statistics, as always, can be misleading; Bonds is often intentionally walked when men are on base, so it seems likely that people will score when he's IBBed, because that often means there are runners on second and/or third base (baseball parlance is "runners in scoring position").  Also, how do these stats compare to those of other MVP candidates, such as Albert Pujols or Manny Ramírez, for example?  Bonds's numbers are SO far ahead of everyone else's, i'm fairly sure the deeper analysis will still give him a significant edge... but it needs to be examined.

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Also, my title for tonight's debate: "The Neat Adventures of Chimpy and Douchebag!"

fearful freebies are foolish fuckups

Because i can't leave well enough alone...

ESPN.com's baseball editor David Schoenfield opines on the soundess of the "Walk Bonds At All Costs" strategy:

OK, I've been holding back. I had ESPN.com engineer Dave Fishel run a query: how many runs do the Giants score when Bonds is walked and how many runs do the Giants score when Bonds doesn't walk?

The Giants have scored 600 of their 787 runs in innings when Bonds steps to the plate.

When he walks, the Giants average 1.09 runs per inning. When he doesn't walk, the Giants average 0.95 runs per inning.

And when he's intentionally walked, the Giants average 1.25 runs per inning.

Based on that, it's clear to me that teams should pitch to Bonds more often.

The statistics, as always, can be misleading; Bonds is often intentionally walked when men are on base, so it seems likely that people will score when he's IBBed, because that often means there are runners on second and/or third base (baseball parlance is "runners in scoring position").  Also, how do these stats compare to those of other MVP candidates, such as Albert Pujols or Manny Ramírez, for example?  Bonds's numbers are SO far ahead of everyone else's, i'm fairly sure the deeper analysis will still give him a significant edge... but it needs to be examined.

---

Also, my title for tonight's debate: "The Neat Adventures of Chimpy and Douchebag!"