Jason Whitlock on sabermetrics, the forecast calls for a strong chance of facepalm.

[NAHSTE]

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/sabermetrics-moneyball-stat-geeks-are-ruining-sports-092211

See if you can get past the third paragraph, I couldn't.

I won’t be going to see "Moneyball." The movie celebrates the plague ruining sports: sabermetrics.

That is not intended as a shot at Bill James, Billy Beane or Michael Lewis.


James (the inventor of sabermetrics) and Beane (the most adept user of sabermetrics) are baseball visionaries worthy of glorification. Michael Lewis (the author of the book "Moneyball" that celebrated Beane’s use of sabermetrics) is one of the most important writers of this era.

:michaelscott:

 

[Goober]

Those damn sabermagicians! How is a normal fan supposed to grasp complex math such as adding two numbers! Fuck OPS!

 

[EmpireWF]

lmao...the movie doesn't celebrate sabermetrics. It's about Brad Pitt leading his team to some kind of victory.

 

[Swarley]

Ooooh Whitlock. Every time you write something I wonder to myself how you still have a job in sports journalism.

 

[FedEx227]

The PLAGUE.

Choke on a chicken wing you fat fuck.

 

[FedEx227]

Oh and also Billy Beane is probably middle of the road in terms of general managers using sabermetrics.

He's more value-based than purely stat-based but who am I to know about things before I write them.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The only hope this movie has is that Aaron Sorkin has some sort of hand in the writing. He made the story of facebook entertaining...however, at least facebook ended up conquering the world. What in the fuck has Billy Beane ever done, really? Holla @ me when "Moneyball" ends in a World Series win for Beaner, otherwise, what in the fuck is the point of this movie?

 

[FedEx227]

You're better than that Liquid.

The movie and the book is about finding value to build a good team in an unregulated, uncapped league. No, he didn't win a World Series but he kept a floundering, cheap franchise competitive for a number of years and really kickstarted an entire revolution of baseball thinking in the front office which has led to probably 90% of MLB GMs being Harvard MBAs as opposed to ex-players.

 

[FedEx227]

Terrible article. Once I get time I'll rip it to shreds.

 

[NAHSTE]

Terrible article. Once I get time I'll rip it to shreds.

It's not even worth it. Not only is the premise misguided, the "arguments" he presents are terribly set up and even not thoroughly developed. (Which is made obvious by his concluding line which just says "I hope the stat geeks STFU". Classy, Whitlock. And very persuasive.)

I've read some terrible strawman columns on why "stat geeks" are ruining baseball, but this is by far the worst one I've ever read. Additionally, I've read some terrible "Whitlock talking out of his ass" columns, and this is by far the worst one I've ever read.

 

[Sharkweather]

The only hope this movie has is that Aaron Sorkin has some sort of hand in the writing. He made the story of facebook entertaining...however, at least facebook ended up conquering the world. What in the fuck has Billy Beane ever done, really? Holla @ me when "Moneyball" ends in a World Series win for Beaner, otherwise, what in the fuck is the point of this movie?

Not every sports movie needs a fairytale ending, see Friday Night Lights.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

I never said he wasn't influential...but as a movie? It is utterly pointless fare.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Not every sports movie needs a fairytale ending, see Friday Night Lights.

Permian actually won the state title the next season.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

How does Whitlock get away with calling Lebron a "whiney-ass", and using "STFU"? Is he posting on a message board, or writing a professional article for a major website? I've submitted stuff with far less offensive verbiage to places like B/R and have been sternly warned and edited.

I get his overall theme. There are some who take advanced stats too far and assume the game is played in a vaccum. There are some stats I like, and some that are useless and overrated. But his argument is awful. He's the old guy a the bar who dismisses anything new before understanding it.

 

[Senser81]

Holla @ me when "Moneyball" ends in a World Series win for Beaner, otherwise, what in the fuck is the point of this movie?

The point of the movie is that even with sabermetrics and Moneyball, it doesn't hurt to also have a couple guys on steroids in your lineup (Giambis).

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

And Beane's underlings were the saberheads, not really Beane himself. I doubt Whitlock read the book.

 

[EmpireWF]

The point of the movie is that even with sabermetrics and Moneyball, it doesn't hurt to also have a couple guys on steroids in your lineup (Giambis).

And Tejada

 

[NAHSTE]

And Beane's underlings were the saberheads, not really Beane himself. I doubt Whitlock read the book.

Clearly not if he thinks Billy Beane "is the most adept user of sabermetrics."

 

[Senser81]

And Tejada

Completely forgot about Tejada. The A's actually had a pretty good team.

 

[Senser81]

Clearly not if he thinks Billy Beane "is the most adept user of sabermetrics."

Because we all know the most adept user of sabermetrics is Lefty34.