HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: roger@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig)
Subject: Re: What are those little thingys
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 14:57:50 GMT

In article <1992Aug12.002025.1@gallua.gallaudet.edu> 
11dmcvay@gallua.gallaudet.edu (Daniel T. McVay) writes:
>Looking in this area complexed my mind up. What the heck is a RC/27? Can
>someone in here please send me an email explaining any and all meanings of
>any statistics abbrevation? like how do you compute SLG avg and so on.

Might as well post this, since I'm suer lots of people want to know.

RC is Runs Created, a formula devised by Bill James for evaluating total
offensive production by a player.  It involves three things, which he
calls A, B, and C:

A is number of times reaching base.  Hits, walks, etc.  Subtract Caught
Stealing and the like.

B is runner advancement.  Include Total Bases (i.e., 1 for a single, 2
for a double, etc.), sac flies, and a few other things.

C is opportunities.  Basically total plate appearances.

RC = A * B / C.

If you calculate this for teams, you get a value that's pretty close to
actual runs scored.  You can find the actual formula in any Bill James
abstract, or in Total Baseball, which gives it for all ML players.  The
formula varies over the years because some info wasn't always available,
e.g., sacs and CS.

The 27 part involves norming RC for number of outs a player made.  By
dividing by the number of outs the player has been responsible for
(incl. CS, DP, and sacs) you get a number that supposedly tells you how
many runs a team made up of nine of this player would score if they made
up a lineup--runs per game, that is.  Keep in mind that 5 R/G is a
pretty good offense these days, esp. in the NL, and that <4 is bad.  So
a guy with a 5 or more is helping his team at the plate, and someone
with a 3 had better field like a god.

(Oops, I forgot to mention: to get the per-game stuff, you don't just
divide by outs--you also have to multiply by 27.)

For those of us whose mental calculators don't work so fast, there are
other ways to evaluate batters.  You mentioned SLG: that's Total Bases
(mentioned above) divided by official at-bats.  No walks, etc. in either
numerator or denominator.  That tells you how well a player advances
runners, more or less; add to that the on-base average
(self-explanatory, no?) and you have a figure that gives a good
impression of a hitter's value: under .700 is usually bad, over .800 is
a star.  (Ballparks matter, too; those levels need to be inflated for
Wrigley, dropped for the Astrodome.)

Enough for now.  Go meditate on Barry Bonds' RC/27.

Roger
From: dbloom@bnr.ca (David Bloom P025)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Bill James (Mazzilli,Zeile,HoJo)
Date: 13 Aug 92 14:29:39 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, BNR-RTP

> "Sometimes things you write are more interesting than they are at
> the time you write them.  A year ago I wrote about Mazzilli, 'He's
> a major property at a critical point in his career, and as such he
> represents a test for the new Met management.  If they continue to
> shuttle him around, give him jobs to which he is not suited, he'll
> never become the ballplayer he should be.  A good organization 
> decides what position a player like this is best for, and then 
> moves around the Mike Jorgensons and Rusty Staubs to accomodate
> _him_.'
> "Well, they failed the test with flying colors.  They played him 
> in center for three years, moved him to first, benched him to get
> Kingman in the lineup and returned him to the outfield.  They talk
> a lot about his throwing arm--'He doesn't throw well enough to 
> play center.'  Well, I don't doubt that.  What I am saying is that
> the cost of keeping his throwing arm in center field could not
> possibly have been as great as the cost of moving him around like
> he was a nobody.  Joe Torre took a young man who two years ago
> was convinced he was going to be a great ballplayer and succeeded
> in convincing him him that he is not.  And for that, no matter 
> what else he might have done, he deserved to be fired."

     --Bill James, _1982 Baseball Abstract_


 This sounds like what the METS have done to HOJO as well.
 
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: brianm@engrg.uwo.ca (Mr. Brian McNeilly)
Subject: Re: infield fly II ?
Organization: DA&MRL, Engineering, UWO, London Ont. CA
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 19:31:16 GMT

In article <1992Aug13.194520.13189@cs.mcgill.ca>, hfrg@cs.mcgill.ca (Peter Choi) writes:
|> In article <1992Aug13.155140.26482@julian.uwo.ca> brianm@engrg.uwo.ca (Mr. Brian McNeilly) writes:
|> >In article <1992Aug13.154417.25531@julian.uwo.ca>, brianm@engrg.uwo.ca (Mr. Brian McNeilly) writes:
|> >|> In article <92225.225402U43461@uicvm.uic.edu>, <U43461@uicvm.uic.edu> writes:
|> 
|> [... explanation deleted ...]
|> 
|> I'm a scorekeeper for Baseball Quebec. What we are told about the infield
|> fly rule is as follows :
|> 
|> 	If the ball is a pop fly (within fair territory) and inside the
|> 	infield, and that the infielder(s) can catch the ball effortlessly,
|> 	then it is an INFIELD FLY (batter automatic out), runners run at
|> 	thier risk. This applies even if under the above condition, the
|> 	infielder does not catch the ball (not due to an error).
|> 
|> Usually when the ump calls the infiled fly, the ball is dead. I have yet to
|> see other scenerios.
|> 
|> 			Peter


The ball cannot be dead on an infield fly rule or runners "could not advance
at their own risk"
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: jon@sybus.com (Jon Pessano)
Subject: bye bye san fran!!! hello tampa bay
Organization: Sybus Corporation, Largo, FL
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 20:17:47 GMT

for a city that loves it baseball team so much,  
how come they only get around 15000 fans the
last couple of days.

face it, san fran does not deserve a team.
we already have reservations for 23000 
season tickets.            

also, i am sure the tampa bay baseball group
and lurie would not have gone public and 
called a done deal unless they were positive
it would happen.  neither lurie or tampa bay
wants to make an ass out of themselves.

say goodbye san fran.  
start watching the a's

jon

Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: tedward@cs.cornell.edu (Edward [Ted] Fischer)
Subject: Frank Thomas Watch
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 06:52:41 GMT

Frank Thomas is (through 8/9) on pace to reach base via a hit or a
walk 325 times (plus surely a few HBP), with 315 total bases!

His numbers of .324/.453/.549 are practically identical to the
.319/.453/.553 he hit last season, and a distinct improvement over the
.330/.454/.529 he hit as a rookie.  However, he is currently on a hot
streak and may well finish the year with even better numbers!

If Thomas were to go 0-4 in each remaining game (an 0-212 streak), he
would finish with a .316 OBP and .355 SLG.  Dan Gladden has a .321 OBP
and .358 SLG.  (Now we know the offensive difference between Thomas
and Gladden.  A simple little 0-212 slump!  :-)

Earlier today I noted that Clemens has allowed fewer H+BB than IP, and
asked who the last AL pitcher to achieve that was.  Nolan Ryan came
*very* close last year, with 102 H and 72 BB in 173 IP.  (No
intentional walks for the Legend! :-) But that isn't good enough!
Previous to that, the last pitcher to achieve this feat was Bret
Saberhagen in 1989.  He threw *262.1* innings with 209 H and 43 BB for
a total of 252 baserunners!  Before that, Higuera in '88 had 227 H+BB
in 227 IP, and Clemens in '86 had 246 H+BB in 254 IP.

So it isn't quite as rare as I had remembered...

Cheers,
-Valentine
-- 
Ob. woof: Clemens is the best pitcher ever!	tedward@cs.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: ecaxron@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov (Ron Graham)
Subject: Re: Village Voice Quiz answers 1-10
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
Date: 18 Aug 1992 09:41 EST  

In article <1992Aug17.154200.7953@panix.com>, wlarkin@panix.com 
     (W*rd L*rk*n) writes...

Stuff more likely to belong in the alt.sex family than in r.s.baseball.
Or talk.bizarre.  Does the fact that baseball players are on the line
justify this?  Ah, well, consider the source of the post.

RG
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: sgs@milton.u.washington.edu (Steven Smith)
Subject: Birthdays
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 19:26:34 GMT

Baseball Birthdays

August 21
John Stearns, 1951
Murry Dickson, 1916
Gerry Staley, 1920
Felix Millan, 1943
Owen "Chief" Wilson, 1883
Bruce Berenyi, 1954
Frank Pastore, 1957
Frank "Bald Eagle" Isbell, 1875
John H. Johnson, 1956
Shawn Hillegas, 1964

August 22
Carl Yastrzemski, 1939 (HOF)
Urban Shocker, 1890
Paul Molitor, 1956
Ray Burris, 1950
Wally Schang, 1889
Oscar "Happy" Felsch, 1891
Doug Bair, 1949
Darrin Jackson, 1963

August 23
George Kell, 1922 (HOF)
Sherm Lollar, 1924
Dale Mitchell, 1921
Julio Franco, 1961
Mike Boddicker, 1957
John Romano, 1934
Ron Blomberg, 1948
Lonnie Frey, 1910

--Steve
-- 
 sgs@u.washington.edu             * 
 Steve Smith                      * "We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher." 
 University of Washington HR-20   *    			-- Bill Plummer
 Seattle, WA 98195                * 		
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Base-ball Dream Team
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 14:56:56 GMT

In article <1992Aug11.214739.7616@leland.Stanford.EDU> claudius@leland.Stanford.EDU (Nelson Lu) writes:
>In article <7bri02z41dka01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> msw10@nepenthe.as writes:
>>
>>In article 1656g0INN9nn@malibog.hal.COM, rc@hal.COM (Rolland Crunk) writes:
>>>In article <1992Aug10.004928.29073@leland.Stanford.EDU> claudius@leland.Stanford.EDU (Nelson Lu) writes:
>>>>2B	Chuck Knoblauch
>>
>>Robbie Alomar
>
>Alomar is not from the United States.
>
>>>>C	Ivan Rodriguez (if American)/Chris Hoiles

Both Alomar and Rodriguez were born in Puerto Rico, which is, I believe, a 
protectorate of the US. Technically, they can be called Americans, and if
overseas (in Japan, eg) they can avail themselves of the US embassy.

Mike
-- 
Disclaimer - These opiini^H^H damn! ^H^H ^Q ^[ .... :w  :q  :wq  :wq! ^d  X ^?
exit X Q  ^C ^? :quitbye  CtrlAltDel   ~~q  :~q  logout  save/quit :!QUIT
^[zz ^[ZZZZZZ ^H  man vi ^@  ^L  ^[c  ^# ^E ^X ^I ^T ? help  helpquit ^D  ^d 
man help ^C ^c help exit ?Quit ?q CtrlShftDel "Hey, what does this button d..."
From: snichols@adobe.com (Sherri Nichols)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Say it's so! Baseball in Tampa Bay!!!
Date: 12 Aug 92 21:13:01 GMT
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated

In article <92225.131344ENVIRON@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU> ENVIRON@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU writes:
>     Hmm.  I guess I had never really thought about that.  If you don't have
>any kind of emotional attachment to a team, I guess it doesn't matter where
>they go as long as there's a team around.

I never said I didn't have any emotional attachments to teams; I do.  In a
perfect world, the Pirates would be playing their home games in a
convenient location for me, and the Reds would be right beside them.  Every
Pirate game would be televised, in case I couldn't make it to the ballpark,
and the Pirates would win every game, except when they're playing the Reds.

However, it's still the case that having *any* team around is vastly better
than having *no* team around.

Sherri Nichols
snichols@adobe.com
From: sgs@milton.u.washington.edu (Steven Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Dick Williams as Manager of the Padres?!?!?
Date: 21 Aug 92 20:22:31 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <37108@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> demers@cs.ucsd.edu (David DeMers) writes:
>Yes, players tend to hate [Dick Williams].  He is a bit of a jerk.  But 
>everywhere he's gone, he's won.  He knows how to manage his players and get
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>the most out of the team.

With the exception of his most recent assignment, with the Mariners.  
Williams took over the M's in midseason. I can't remember the year, but
I do know that in that year's Abstract Bill James wrote that if Williams
were the M's manager they'd win the pennant.  They didn't.  And the next
year, the much-awaited "Dick Williams' First Full Year", the team struggled
again, and our savior completely gave up on the team by August.  He didn't
even last the whole year.  One wonders how much his reputation was hurt
by the Mariners fiasco. 


--Steve
-- 
 sgs@u.washington.edu             * 
 Steve Smith                      * "We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher." 
 University of Washington HR-20   *    			-- Bill Plummer
 Seattle, WA 98195                * 		
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: mjw@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Michael Wolverton)
Subject: Re: Support-Neutral W/L Report -- NL
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 18:19:32 GMT

Valentine writes:
>Paul Krueger writes:
>>Michael Wolverton writes:
>>>
>>>Pitcher       Team    E(W)  E(L)    W  L   Diff.
>>>------------------------------------------------
>>>Glavine        ATL   11.6   7.0    17  3    9.4
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>   
>>   If this doesn't prove that it's better to be lucky than good,
>>   I don't know what will! Just imagine lucking out to back-to-back
>>   Cy Youngs. This guy oughta play the lottery!!!
>
>This is a bit unfair, as I don't believe these numbers are park
>adjusted.  Besides, isn't a 12-7 record pretty good?

The numbers *are* park- and league-adjusted.  Glavine is getting lots
of credit for playing in Fulton County.

You're absolutely right -- 12-7 is a very good record.  It's easy to
talk about how lucky guys like Glavine, Kevin Brown, and Jack McDowell
have been while ignoring that they've also been very good.  Glavine
has certainly been one of the top 10 starters in the NL this year,
probably one of the top 5.  Still, his record is very deceptive --
*nobody* "deserves" a 17-3 record, at least not this year.  Glavine
hasn't been anywhere near as good as Greg Maddux or Bob Tewksbury this
year, and it'd be pretty surprising to me if he's good enough (and
they're bad enough) the rest of the year to catch up to both of them.

(BTW, Glavine *did* deserve the Cy last year, IMHO.)

-Michael
-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Wolverton                       "Is that clear?"
mjw@cs.stanford.edu                     "No, but it's consistent!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: nissim@mary.fordham.edu (Leonard J. Nissim)
Subject: Dodgers 4, Reds 3
Organization: Fordham University
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Keywords:  Dodgers
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 20:30:00 GMT
X-Posted-From: mary.fordham.edu
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

Just heard on the radio that the Dodgers beat the Reds this afternoon, 4-3,
in "a see-saw game in which Reds' reliever Norm Charlton was ejected." 

As Charlton is one of my most hated players (last year he hit Mike Scioscia
with a pitch, boasted that he had done it on purpose, and promised to hit him
the head next time), I am curious for more details.  Did N.C. hit someone on 
purpose (in the umpire's judgement), or just argue a ball/strike call, or 
commit some other offense?  Thanks in advance for the info.  

Leonard Nissim, nDf
From: glenn@quark.umd.edu (Glenn VanderWoude)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Oriole News
Date: 18 Aug 92 14:03:18 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: /etc/organization

dbloom@bnr.ca (David Bloom P025) writes:
>Lu says:
>
>>Murray's OBP is pathetic, and that means that when he walks
>>up there, *68%* of the time he will make an out.
>
>Ok, using this logic I guess if you hit .300, then 70 % of time you
>walk up to the plate, you don't get a hit.

Exactly.  But wouldn't you agree there is a noticable difference between
batting .300 and .280?  That's a difference of 70% and 72%, only 2%.
And there is a _huge_ difference between .300 and .250.  But that's only
a difference of 70% and 75%, 5%.  

But Milligan makes an out about 60-61% of the time compared to Murray's 68%.
7-8% really makes a big difference.  For comparison, wouldn't you rather 
see someone batting .300 than .225?  Milligan's walks are that important 
in terms of getting on base and letting his teammates have an extra chance 
to hit _with_ runners on base.

--Glenn VDW
glenn@quark.umd.edu

Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: claudius@leland.Stanford.EDU (Nelson Lu)
Subject: Re: Kevin Gross Info
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 19:15:28 GMT

 In article <l93pm3INNqum@mizar.usc.edu> pcaster@mizar.usc.edu (Dodger) writes:

>As for Gross....can anyone answer this question?
>How old is he?
>I've seen 31, 32, and 36 in three different stories about the
>no hitter.
>I think his birthday may actually be today.
>Does anyone know his real age for sure?

According to the GABSB, Gross was born 6/8/61, which makes him 31.

===============================================================================
GO CALIFORNIA ANGELS!
===============================================================================
Nelson Lu (claudius@leland.stanford.edu)
From: jasdzews@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Gary James Jasdzewski)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Twins win--gain ground in AL West
Date: 15 Aug 92 18:23:26 GMT


I would like to announce that I witnessed scary Aggie's performance
Friday night (Espn Mn/Sea), and the man did NOT blow a 3 run lead,
although he gave up a lead off double.  I always wonder why Kelly
doesn't continue with his set up man into the ninth and pull him the
second something goes wrong?

Also, West was not dominating.  When he came in he could have been in
big trouble had the Seattle hitters laid off ball four several times.
Organization: University of Maine System
Date: Thursday, 13 Aug 1992 23:53:00 EDT
From: Ryan Robbins <IO20456@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: ANSWER: RULEBOOK TRIVIA 15

RULEBOOK TRIVIA 15's play was as follows:

With one out in the top of third inning with a runner on first, the
batter hits a liner into left center field that drops in for a hit.
Rounding the second base bag, though, the runner from first misses
the bag, scoring on the play. The batter-runner trots into second.

Noticing that the runner from first missed touching second base,
the second baseman asks for the ball from the third baseman and
makes an appeal to the second base umpire, who quickly declares the
runner from first out.

As the official scorer, how do you score this play in regards to
the runner and the batter-runner? Who gets credited with what and
why?


THE CALL
The batter-runner is charged with a time at bat, but receives no
credit for a hit, as a preceding runner failed to reach the first
base to which he was advancing (Rule 10.06). Because this is an
appeal play, no assists and no put outs are recorded.
 
+===============================================================+
||   RYAN ROBBINS                    INTERNET:                 ||
||   UNIVERSITY OF MAINE             IO20456@MAINE.MAINE.EDU   ||
+===============================================================+
From: rdetweil@boi.hp.com (Richard Detweiler)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Emotional Attachment to Teams
Date: 13 Aug 92 22:10:41 GMT
Article-I.D.: mail.Bsy09t.JIB
Distribution: usa
Organization: Hewlett Packard - Boise Printer Division (LAFS)

In article <1992Aug13.203900.5098@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> sinhaa@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Anand Sinha) writes:
>In article <1992Aug13.192643.801973@locus.com> aardvark@locus.com (Warren Usui) writes:
>>When I first became a fan of the home team as a little kid, I think it was the
>>players that I rooted for.  I still like these guys even though I know that 
>>two of them are answers to the Village Voice quiz.
>
>Interesting question.  Could it be that what you really root for is
>*your own* childhood innocence? You've been a fan of the team since you
>were a child, with your childhood memories/dreams/heroes and villians.  As
>the players moved on, you continued to root for the team because they
>are a throwback to when you were a child and everything seemed more
>"cut and dried".  Logic was not needed then. 
>>

I think your right about this.  I do ask myself sometimes why in the hell I
care so much about the St. Louis Cardinals.  Tradition, I guess.  Your 
childhood thesis probably is close to the truth.

As a side note I've always been a little chagrined at the fact that until they
moved to LA, I was a big Oakland Raider football fan.  After that I couldn't
really get excited about them and there is no rational reason why.  And when
I ask myself if they ever moved back to Oakland would I follow them again, I
always respond yeah, probably.  I guess its been ingrained that I'm an
OAKLAND Raider fan.  I've always thought that was funny - probably aught to
see a shrink...

Oh well.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: jch@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (jeffrey.c.halle)
Subject: Re: AL Cy Young update
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 21:14:25 GMT

Re: Clemens vs Eck et al.:

If Reardon still played for someone else, the Rocket would be 18-6 instead
of 15-7, and his ERA would be about .1 lower.  Who would you vote for then?
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket
From: shamim@.bellcore.com (Shamim Naqvi,MRE-2E342,829-4813,,21272)
Subject: Re: English Umpiring, hello Rajeev
Reply-To: shamim@.bellcore.com
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Morristown, NJ
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 13:13:59 GMT

In article 1677@uceng.UC.EDU,  bnataraj@uceng.UC.EDU (Bhaskar  Natarajan) writes:

>Just to test out my theory, Shamim, how long did it take the umpires to give
>the decision in the Gooch and the Shepard incidents ?
>
>-Bhaskar-
>                                                                                                                

Shepherd usually gives his decisions immediately as he did for Asif's run out. 

Your theory gets support also from the Miandad incident at Lords. Let me elaborate. 
JM came down the track to drive Tufnell, got beaten in the air, and was 
stranded. Alec Stewart, the keeper, collected the ball, and went for a stumping. 
But he completely missed the stumps on the first attempt. He then knocked 
off the bails on the second attempt. But by that time Miandad had regained his ground. 
If Alec had dislodged the bails the first time, JM would have been clearly out. 

OK. Now the interesting part. When Alec missed the stumps the first time, Shepherd 
had already raised his finger to signal that JM was out! When Alec did knock the 
bails off on the second try with JM back in the crease, Shepherd wagged his 
raised finger to signal not out and reversed his decision. 

So it was clear that when JM was beaten, and before the bails had been
dislodged, Shepherd had already "assumed" that JM was out. When Alec
missed the "sitter", Shepherd had to reverse his decision.


	--SAN

Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket
From: 10702830@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (RAJIB DATTA)
Subject: Warne: a good idea?
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Monash University 
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 23:28:33 GMT


Was it really a good idea to take Shane Warne to Sri Lanka? I think he would 
have been better off playing a few domestic seasons in Australia before 
being thrust into international cricket. I think he may develop to be a good 
spinner, but he has to develop more variety if he is to become a world class 
spinner. In the test he played against India in Sydney last year he showed 
little or no variety in his bowling and was whacked accordingly.


Comments welcome.


Raj