Let’s play baseball — a calculator may be needed

Not too many people enjoy mathematics. The vast majority of the world would rather poke sharp objects in their eye than to solve a parametric equation.

In the baseball world, though, statistics are king. How else would we know Brandon Webb’s usually super ERA; or how often Chipper Jones gets on base; or how few baserunners Cole Hamels allows every inning?

Almost every baseball fan knows the basic statistics that have been around since the dawn of baseball. A batting average, for example, is simply calculated by dividing hits by at bats. A batting average can be somewhat paradoxical; if a batter fails twice out of three times, earning an average of .333, he is considered well above the average. More advanced baseball statistics, however — called “sabermetrics” by some, “a headache” by others — are becoming more and more popular. Bill James can be thanked for that. After degrees in English and economics, James went on to invent dozens of extremely complicated baseball statistics. He is widely considered the Godfather of “Sabermetrics,” a term he coined after the acronym SABR; referring to the Society for American Baseball Research.

One example would be “runs created.” Intoduced by James, this stat attempts to estimate the total number of runs a player contributes to a team over the course of the season. The actual formula is very complex, but most people agree that it is the best way to measure a player’s true offensive value.

There are also simple statistics that are easier to understand and synthesize. On-base-percentage, or OBP, is a measure of how often a player reaches base compared to how many times they make an out.

Officially accepted as a MLB statistic in 1984, there is no questioning the usefullness of “on-base-percentage.” You have no doubt heard the terms “over-rated” and “under-rated,” but what do they really mean? One example could be a player who hits 30 homeruns in a season, but only gets on base just over 20 percent of the time. Most people would consider him “over-rated,” and a liability on offense.

Slugging percentage, or SLG, another key stat officially accepted by MLB, is found by dividing total bases by at bats. Baseball fans use this stat frequently when trying to find a hitter’s “power.”

For example, Barry Bonds amassed 411 bases during 476 plate appearances in 2001. That brings his slugging percentage to .863, the single-season record in all of baseball.

When on-base and slugging percentages are combined, the result is another popular stat aptly named “on-base plus slugging,” or OPS. It calculates the combined ability of a player to hit for power and get on base. Only six former players have an OPS higher than 1.000, and all are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Statistics are not limited to batters. The most common formula for pitchers is called “earned run average,” or ERA.

These numbers are almost always the first thing someone looks at when evaluating a pitcher. The statistic simply calulates the average number of runs a pitcher allows over nine innings.

While these numbers may suffer at times from small sample size, (a relief pitcher giving up a single run while only recording one out has an ERA of 30.00), an average earned run average ranges from 4.00 to 5.00. Jonathan Papelbon, the excellent closer for the Boston Red Sox, sported a 0.92 ERA in 2006.

WHIP is another statistic that is adored by baseball analyists. Standing for “walks plus hits per inning pitched,” it basically calculates how many baserunners a pitcher allows per inning.

Having a WHIP under one is extremely impressive. Only two pitchers — Addie Joss and Ed Walsh — have averaged a WHIP under one during their career and they were born in 1880 and 1881, respectively.

Some people enjoy fiddling with these statistics so much that they actually play games with them. Called “fantasy baseball,” a person can draft a team of their choosing in hopes of getting the best numbers in multiple categories. Indeed, having a “fantasy baseball team” to keep tabs on takes the leisurely activity of watching baseball to a whole new level.

Analyzing these statistics can also raise some humorous instances. It is April, and the baseball season is barely five percent finished. As such, the sight of Chicago Cubs’ catcher Ryan Theriot batting at a .550 clip can be dismissed. He will almost certainly regress to a lower number as the season wears on. The same applies to the Colorado Rockie’s Ubaldo Jimenez, who boasts an ERA of 0.00.

For those math-lovers out there, never fear — there are dozens of more statistics that go even more in-depth than what I’ve discussed here.

For example, defense independant pitching statistics, or DIPS, has several formulas that attempt to evaluate a pitcher by removing factors such as defense and luck.

In addition, statistics like VORP (value over replacement player) and PECOTA (Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm) are currently used as valuable tools for major league front offices to evaluate talent.

Advanced statistics can be a fun, albeit different, way to enjoy a baseball game.

Andrew Kneeland is a sophomore at Sahuarita High School. He is an intern at the Green Valley News.