Stat Changes Needed Stat

by Robin Torrance

Now, I don't want statistics to record how many times a ball player scratches his balls... but refinement and complication of stats should be welcome, especially with the emerging popularity of fantasy sports. Unfortunately, how certain players help their team doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. Leagues should always to be working to codify a player’s contribution. That’s how we know how much players ought to get overpaid.
Of course, new stats come into being all the time. There was no on-base percentage when I was growing up. All a baseball player had was a batting average, not a percentage credit for a wimpy walk. Now if a leadoff guy doesn’t have a high on-base percentage, his value is much diminished. Who cares if his batting average is a healthy .290, perhaps even .300?
That’s how much of an impact a pertinent stat can have. The assist/turnover ratio in basketball is one of the major reasons behind the Chauncey Billups MVP talk this year.
Look, the four major sports record books aren’t the New Testament, the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Hebrew Bible—not that old, not that sacred and not so set in stone. It’s doubtful that God—anything natural—was behind Bonds’ 72 homers.
Records are made to be broken, even if they become easier to break due to alterations in the rules. We simply owe stat changes to present athletes, the sanctity of record books be damned.

Basketball
What’s the hardest thing to do in basketball? It isn’t hitting an off-balance three or getting a shot off with Shaq breathing down your neck. It’s taking a freaking charge. Have a 6’ 9’’ 250-pound man crash into you full-speed (the only padding between you and him a cup)… and then get no stat credit for it, just a pat on the bruised rear end?
Grave injustice. Hey, you ought to get a steal for the effort. The offensive player gets a turnover; why shouldn’t the defensive player get a steal, a “charge steal?” Same outcome as when he swipes at the ball. Plus, he ought to get a steal when, thanks clearly to a defensive effort, the ball goes out of bounds off the offensive player.
And announcers are always harping on the notion that players ought to get an assist when they set up a guy who is fouled and makes both shots. I agree. Fuck John Stockton’s place in the record book.

Baseball
The hitters and pitchers get the glory and the money, yet in the ESPN highlights of the night, the majority of what’s shown are fielding plays: great catches, throws and double plays. Let’s get our money’s worth out of the official scorer and have him dole out a GP, a great play.
What’s a great play? Well, what’s an error vs. a hit? Eventually the thin line will be drawn, and fans will boo if a GP is not awarded to the hometown 3rd baseman who barehanded a bunt and gunned down a speedy runner. Well, official scorer’s call; he didn’t think it was good enough to warrant a GP.
See, nobody talks about a player’s fielding percentage. All a defensive player gets is a measly put-out or assist… and no one gives a flying “F” about them. Outfielder’s assists are the only positive fielding stats that hold any cache.
On an offensive note, I want to see a revival of the GWRBI. Only this time you don’t get one unless you knock in the run that keeps the team ahead for good… in the 7th inning or later. So often one isn’t earned, they should be more valuable.

Football
Sacks are so hard to get, but some defensive ends essentially earn them when they draw a hold from a beaten offensive lineman. Might as well have sacked the QB when, due to their rushing effort, the opposing team loses 10 yards. Ought to get a sack for their efforts, really. They would’ve likely sacked the QB if the offensive lineman had let them go, hadn’t held them, hadn’t “cheated.” Give them a “coverage sack” and punish the offensive line.

Hockey
How about a steal when the puck is taken away from opponent and it quickly leads to a quality scoring chance (a nice little new hockey stat that says a lot about the flow of a game), or perhaps just a goal?

It is important to empower official scorers so they can do their best to fully represent a player's performance statistically. Sure, official scorers are fallible, but luckily they aren’t responsible for leading us to the Promised Land. Though with some guys and their fantasy teams…

"stat changes needed stat"

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