Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Just When I Thought We Were Advancing as a Society

I mean, Sportswriters are using sabermetrics. ESPN talking heads throw around .OPS numbers, but no longer treat it like a silly, nerdy stat. We were making progress.

And then all of a sudden, "clutchiness" became the phrase of the day. I think it really started in 2005 with the Ortiz/Rodriguez MVP debate, where some people felt that the most important ability one can have is their "clutchiness."

Well now on MLB.com you can vote for the clutchiest players by position.

MLB (I suppose arbitrarily) chose three players from each position for the award.

Why is it that I increasingly feel like Clarence Darrow in a world of William Jennings Brians?

posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 6:07 AM   2 comments







2 Comments:

At 10/18/2006 10:54 PM, Blogger susan said...

You're certainly welcome to espouse the BP talking points, including lack of enthusiasm for clutch performance. There are many, many people in your camp. If you ever tire of this aspect,
you're welcome to learn about the greatest clutch athlete, or as one observer educated on the matter termed him, the "greatest money athlete of all time." Mariano Rivera. I've done a lot of work on the subject. He deserves this recognition, but those with the in the media with the ability to keep it from him spend most of their waking moments seeing that he doesn't get it. This is a fight worth fighting--he clearly doesn't have a great agent or one that's done any PR work for him at all.If this is off topic for you, sorry.

 
At 10/19/2006 2:07 AM, Blogger Mr. Faded Glory said...

I have never once run down Mariano Rivera in this space or any other.

Rivera is a very special player, a first ballot HOFer if there ever was one as he is an athlete who redefined his position.

As far as "clutchiness' goes? It's generally something thrown around by people who don't understand small sample sizes and choose to conveniently ignore facts that don't support their agendas.

Rivera is the definition of a clutch performer.

There are many who are made to seem as such, but are not.

 

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