Monday, April 11, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Measuring run production in baseball (or proof Ichiro is overrated)
I was listening to Felger and Mazz on the radio the other day, and Tony Massarotti was talking about how overrated Ichiro Suzuki is. Mazz's basic premise was that Ichiro's high number of hits doesn't mean much, because he doesn't score a lot of runs.
I had some issues with this argument, mainly the comparison of hits to runs scored. After thinking the issue through, I realized it's more fair and thorough to compare the number of times a player gets on base to the number of runs he produces, either by driving them in or by crossing home plate himself. So I devised this formula:
(runs scored + runs batted in - home runs) / (hits + walks)
(A home run counts as both a run scored and a run batted in, so subtracting home runs from the sum of runs scored and runs batted in ensures that this formula doesn't inflate run-production numbers.)
The resulting number represents how many runs a hitter produces each time he reaches base. For example, Alex Rodriguez led the majors in 2010 by producing 0.845 runs each time he reached base.
I had some issues with this argument, mainly the comparison of hits to runs scored. After thinking the issue through, I realized it's more fair and thorough to compare the number of times a player gets on base to the number of runs he produces, either by driving them in or by crossing home plate himself. So I devised this formula:
(runs scored + runs batted in - home runs) / (hits + walks)
(A home run counts as both a run scored and a run batted in, so subtracting home runs from the sum of runs scored and runs batted in ensures that this formula doesn't inflate run-production numbers.)
The resulting number represents how many runs a hitter produces each time he reaches base. For example, Alex Rodriguez led the majors in 2010 by producing 0.845 runs each time he reached base.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Radiohead, The King of Limbs: My review
The King of Limbs is Radiohead's latest album, which I picked up over the weekend for only six bucks. I'm glad I didn't pay any more than that. Here's a one-sentence review of each of the eight tracks on The King of Limbs:
"Bloom": This song has a repetitive, awkward drum beat that critics will invariably hail for "pushing rhythmic boundaries" and lots of bland, ambient noise that "introduces the listener to this new sonic world in which The King of Limbs lives."
"Morning Mr. Magpie": This song has two sections comprised of a repetitive, awkward electronic beat, broken up by a slower, acoustic but equally repetitive section in the middle.
"Little By Little": Oh my God there's actual bass and guitars and a verse-chorus-verse structure and I hope this marks a turning point in the album!
"Feral": Nope.
"Lotus Flower": I liked the remix better.
"Codex": Sorry, I fell asleep during this one.
"Give Up the Ghost": And this one.
"Separator": With its disco beat and almost-catchy chorus, this song is the best so far and I can't wait to hear the rest of the al-- oh, it's over already?
"Bloom": This song has a repetitive, awkward drum beat that critics will invariably hail for "pushing rhythmic boundaries" and lots of bland, ambient noise that "introduces the listener to this new sonic world in which The King of Limbs lives."
"Morning Mr. Magpie": This song has two sections comprised of a repetitive, awkward electronic beat, broken up by a slower, acoustic but equally repetitive section in the middle.
"Little By Little": Oh my God there's actual bass and guitars and a verse-chorus-verse structure and I hope this marks a turning point in the album!
"Feral": Nope.
"Lotus Flower": I liked the remix better.
"Codex": Sorry, I fell asleep during this one.
"Give Up the Ghost": And this one.
"Separator": With its disco beat and almost-catchy chorus, this song is the best so far and I can't wait to hear the rest of the al-- oh, it's over already?
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