"What is the evidence, and what does it mean?" Bill JamesThis article was posted to the rec.sport.baseball.data newsgroup on Oct 15, 1995.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball.data Subject: League Hitting Stats in One Screen Date: 15 Oct 1995 04:43:36 GMT
League Hitting Stats in One Screen
{produced from Clay Davenport's park-adjusted EqAs for 1995}
Cle Bos CWS Cal Sea Oak NYY Bal Min Kan Tor Tex Mil Det 6.13 5.51 5.47 5.43 5.35 5.31 5.15 4.95 4.88 4.69 4.65 4.58 4.39 4.32 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Bel9 Vau7 F.T9 Sal9 E.M10McG10O'N7 Pal7 Kno7 Joy7 Alo6 Gon7 Sur6 Whi7 Tho9 Val7 Ven7 Dav8 T.M7 Hen7 B.W7 Bai7 Puc7 Loc6 Ole6 Tet6 Sei6 Gib6 Ram8 Can7 Mar6 Edm6 Buh7 Ber6 Bog6 Hoi6 Cor6 Gae6 Gre6 Cla6 Cir5 Fie5 Mur7 Nae7 Rai6 G.A6 Gri6 Jav6 Sta6 And6 P.M6 Nun6 Mol5 Gre5 Ham5 Cur5 Lof7 O'L6 Dev6 Phi6 Blo6 Bro6 Vel5 Man5 Sta5 Col6 Whi5 Rod5 Oli5 Fry5 Sor6 Gre6 Joh6 Sno6 Soj5 Ste6 Mat5 Rip5 Mea5 Goo5 Car5 Nix5 Vau4 Hig4 Bae6 Tin5 Dur5 DiS6 Cor5 Bor5 Ley5 Goo4 Lei4 Gag4 Spr5 McL4 Val4 Fla4 Viz5 Ali5 Kar4 Mye5 Wil5 Paq4 Fer4 Bar4 Wal3 How4 Gon5 Fry4 Hul3 Gom4 Pen4 Mac4 Gui3 Eas3 Dia4 Gat4 Kel4 Bas4 Bec3 May4 Mar3 Gil3 Lis2 Bau2 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Rip11Hos9 Sno7 Hud5 New6 Wil7 Str6 Bon7 Cla7 Dam6 Mal6 Pal9 Jah7 Sam6 Lev6 Jef6 Mou6 Sch4 Ama5 Ald6 G.W5 Zau5 Law6 Vit5 Huf4 Mal6 Nil5 Ste5 Per6 McG5 Kru6 Owe3 Col5 Sie6 Dav5 Gom4 Col6 Tuc5 Ced4 Wor4 War5 Stu5 Alo6 Don4 Lyo6 Fab3 Bra4 Gia6 Sie5 Smi4 Reb5 Bor4 T.P3 Pag3 Mie5 Tra4 Kir3 Has4 New6 Per3 Str4 Tar5 Jam5 Ham4 Coo5 Cac4 Kno3 Ort3 Lor4 Tin4 Esp3 Sta4 Gre5 All2 Rod4 Tom4 Tar5 Hus4 Mer4 Hia4 Par3 Val3 Vin4 Cla4 Win3 Shu3 Mar5 Ald2 Kre3 Her3 Pol4 Ale3 Hal4 Lin3 Ste3 Voi3 Mat3 Nev3 Ama2 Whi2 Sab4 Mar2 New2 Gal2 Jet4 Van2 Mas4 Ham3 Del2 Fra3 May3 Fle3 Tuc2 Cha1 LaV4 Lin1 Fer1 Hel2 Sil1 Nok1 Maa3 Ran2 R.P2 Bel2 Sin2 Cuy3 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Cle Bos CWS Cal Sea Oak NYY Bal Min Kan Tor Tex Mil Det
Just sharing something produced for personal interest (to demonstrate clearly that the Jays' star hitters were much worse than most other teams' best hitters). To compress Clay Davenport's park-adjusted EqAs to one digit (in most cases) I squared them and multiplied by 75 (except that negative EqAs were mapped to 0, as were NaNQs, while INFs were mapped to 99). This gave each hitter a number that roughly corresponds with the RC/27 numbers that Nelson Lu posts. So most hitters get a number between 1 and 10 with 5 being average, corresponding roughly to the number of runs that a lineup of that player projects to score (with less accuracy as you move from 5 in either direction, since EqAs are based on how a player impacts an average team, which a lineup of star players wouldn't be). The teams' numbers are again 75 * (team EqA)^2 but to two decimal places.
For each team the players with the nine most plate appearances (eight in the NL) are in the first group, and the next nine most in plate appearances are in the second group. This separates the regulars from the backups and injured. Each group was sorted by the hitters' integer scores (before rounding to the nearest integer).
It's plain from line 1 that almost every team's best hitter was better than the Jays' best hitter. Cleveland had at least five hitters better than the Jays' best. Cleveland's 2nd-best, 3rd-best and 5th-best hitters were clearly better than all of their counterparts in the league. The Jays' actually had among the best 8th-best hitters (look across line 8), so their problems came from their top-producers being relatively bad.
Maybe it's just me but I was surprised to see that Detroit and Texas had among the worst-hitting teams while Chicago was near the top.
The compressed National League stats have Colorado in the bottom-half in hitting (Florida hits better). I wouldn't have guessed San Diego and LA were among the best. The Phillies have sure fallen from 2 years ago:
Hou Cin SDP Los ChC Flo NYM SFG Col Mon Atl Pit Phi StL
5.84 5.71 5.35 5.31 5.19 5.15 5.15 5.11 4.80 4.80 4.73 4.54 4.43 4.32
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Bag8 R.S8 Gwy8 Pia9 Gra7 She10Bon8 Wil9 Bic7 Ber7 Kle8 Mer6 Eis6 Lan7
Big8 Lar8 Cam7 Kar7 Gon6 Con7 Hun7 Bon9 Wal7 R.W6 Jus6 Kin6 Jef6 Gil6
Mag7 Gan8 Fin6 Mon7 Sos6 Ver6 Bro6 Car6 You6 Seg6 Lop6 Mar5 Hol5 Jor6
Bel7 San6 Aus6 Off6 McR6 Pen6 But6 Hil6 Cas6 Fle6 McG6 C.G5 Dau5 Mab5
Hun6 Bra6 Rob6 DeS6 Dun5 Col5 Ken6 Cla4 Gal5 Alo6 Jon6 Lir5 Mor5 She4
Eus6 Mor6 E.W5 Wal5 Her5 Abb5 Eve6 Tho4 Kin4 Cor5 Gri5 Joh5 Hay5 Coo4
Mou5 How5 Ree5 Kel5 San4 Joh5 Viz5 Man4 Wei4 Tar5 Lem4 Bel5 Dyk4 Oqu4
Mil5 Boo5 Ced3 Fon5 Zei4 Car4 Alf5 Lew4 Gir3 Lan5 Bla4 Bru5 Sto3 Cro3
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Can8 M.L7 Liv7 But6 Han10Mor5 Seg7 Sca6 Van7 Sil6 Mor6 Weh5 Lon7 Zei6
May7 Wal7 Pet6 Han6 Ser7 Tav5 C.J6 San6 Hub6 San6 Pol5 Par5 Whi6 Pen5
Sim6 Tau6 Cia5 Hol5 Bul6 Ari5 Bog5 Lam5 Bur5 Kel4 O'B5 Cla5 Gal6 Bat4
Gon5 Ant5 Pla5 Ash5 Tim6 Daw5 Ors5 Ree5 Owe5 Lak4 Smi4 Sla5 Web5 Col4
Gut5 D.S4 Nie4 H.R4 Joh4 Gre5 Tho5 Phi3 Bat4 And4 Dev4 Cum4 Mar5 Bel4
Ser4 Har3 Joh4 Ing4 Wil4 Dec4 Buf5 Ben3 Tat2 Gru4 Kel3 Peg4 Van4 Pag3
Shi4 D.L3 Hol4 Gwy3 Bue2 Bro4 Sti4 Fan3 Bri2 Fra3 Oli2 You3 Dun4 Smi2
Tho4 Ber3 Cla3 Her1 Pra0 Dia3 Hus3 Pat3 Mej1 Flo1 Bel2 Enc3 Var3 Hem1
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Hou Cin SDP Los ChC Flo NYM SFG Col Mon Atl Pit Phi StL
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Tuc8 Owe99New6 Bus8 Par7 Nat5 For23Aur16Pul13Ben8 Per7 Aud4 Els4 Lee99
Pla6 Wor6 Hye4 Cas5 Rob5 Whi2 Och5 Ben8 McC4 Spe6 Gio1 F.G1 Sef4 Swe5
Wil6 Dun6 Bea3 Pri4 Kma4 Zos1 Led4 Ben6 Cou3 Sid6 Sha1 Sas1 Ben4 Car3
Don5 Gib4 McD2 Pye4 Fra4 Spi3 Leo5 Cas2 Fol3 Kow1 Lie3 Bra3
Haj5 Hun4 Mun4 Rho2 Cas1 McC4 Nok1 Tre3 Flo3 Sab2
Gof4 Wil4 Par4 Hub1 Ote1 Fon3 Sch3 Per1
Sta2 Gre1 Ced4 Bar1 Rod3 Jor2 Oli0
Bor1 Web2 Pri1 Rea1 Gia0
Bru0 Sch1 Hul0
Nev0 Gar1
R.W1
Tre0
Hou Cin SDP Los ChC Flo NYM SFG Col Mon Atl Pit Phi StL
For completeness, here are the AL stats I left off the above (these players wern't in the top 18 in plate appearances):
Cle Bos CWS Cal Sea Oak NYY Bal Min Kan Tor Tex Mil Det
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Gil17Hat10Cam3 Gon7 Thu5 You4 R.R4 Voi99Bri7 Mil8 Bat4 Mar4 Unr2 Pem5
Bur15C.R6 Bra2 Pal5 Poz4 Har4 Een1 Dev4 Hoc3 Jam7 Har4 Pen5
Bel4 Mah4 Tre0 Flo4 Pir2 Cru3 Els1 Oba3 Dun3 Gro6 Fox3 Rod2
Bel2 Cor3 Wid2 Pos0 J.B2 McC3 Mer5 Hor1 Whi1
Hol2 Gal2 Buf1 Raa2 Sam4 Hat1 Hal0
S.R1 Tur2 Ing1 Mot4 Bue0
Rho1 Dal1 Nor3
Jam1 McG2
Row0 Swe2
Sty1
Coo0
Jos0
Cle Bos CWS Cal Sea Oak NYY Bal Min Kan Tor Tex Mil Det
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Stephen Tomlinson Ottawa, Ontario
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