Monday
Nothing doing again today. Hopefully this won’t last a whole week without any plays again. A couple of links:
1) Here’s a more thorough description of the Spanish soccer shenanigans that I mentioned a few days ago. One note that I forgot to mention is that in Spain, it’s legal to pay (bribe) a team to win but not ok to pay a team to lose. It’s the latter issue that is more problematic.
2) The Sabermetrics of Little League
You’re likely familiar with the defensive spectrum—the order of positions from easiest to fill to most difficult. The defensive spectrum in Major League Baseball is:
1B < LF < RF < 3B < CF < 2B < SS < C < P In my son’s league, the spectrum looks something like: C < LF < RF < LCF < RCF < 3B < 2B < SS < P < 1B There are some pretty big differences: First base could not be any more important at this level. Not only does your first baseman need to catch the ball (which by itself is very difficult at this age), but also catch balls thrown by other children. It’s one thing to catch a throw from an adult. But from another five- or six-year old? That’s tough. The defensive efficiency at this level can be seen in the team’s BABIP (batting average on balls in play). Right now, the Angels have 127 hits in 131 balls in play (I’m not calling anything by a five-year old an “error” because I’m not an ass). That’s good for a BABIP of .969. Yes, his team actually has statistics posted.
Pat really needs to do something like this for beer league softball.
