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The BA-WAR Correlation in 2013 For all the batting leaders

1. Summary
The intimate relationship between Sabermetrics, or the new stat Wins Above Replacement (WAR), which took the baseball world by storm, a few months ago (during the great 2012 MVP debate), and the familiar metrics of baseball, the age-old measures of excellence, such as the Batting Average (BA), Hits (H) and Home Runs (HR) is illustrated here using x-y diagrams and the year to date stats for the batting leaders in 2013 (through June 2, 2013). The idea of a baseball work function, akin to Einsteins idea of a work function from his photoelectric law, is also shown to be very useful to understand the relation between the Sabermetric WAR and the familiar metrics of BA, H and HR. Finally, it is shown that WAR increases with increasing number of games played following a fourth power law, y = Ax4. The characteristic of the fourth power law is the extremely broad and flat bottom, i.e., y increases very slowly at first for small x (the curve looks very flat, unlike the parabolic or cubic law curves) and then increases rapidly. The latter part can be approximated as a linear law. We see this with the WAR data for the batting leaders as the number of games played increases.

2. WAR and BA for Batting Leaders


This is essentially a quick follow-up of my article, see Ref. [1], click here, posted earlier today showing the incredibly simple and linear relationship between the new baseball stat Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and the age old stat, the Batting Average (BA). Only the career WAR figures for Miguel Cabrera, obtained from both ESPN and Fangraph, were considered in Ref. [1]. Figure 1 illustrates the same relation for all the batting leaders in 2013.

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2013 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), y Through Games indicated in June

5.00 4.50 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 0.000 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500

y = 15.909 2.386 Cabrera-Kelly-Santiago

Fister (2 Games)
0.600 0.700 0.800

2013 Batting Average (BA), x Through Games indicated in June

Figure 1: The BA-WAR diagram for the batting leaders for the 2013 season, through the games indicated in June 2013 (see Table 1). The WAR numbers were obtained from Fangraph (click here), found under the tab Dashboard. The scatter in the data as seen here can be understood by appealing to the idea of a baseball work function, which was also discussed in detail in Ref. [1]. This work function is related to the skill of baseball player and arises as follows which can be understood by looking at the individual game logs. Very briefly, if we consider the game-by-game batting stats of any baseball player, we find that the At Bats-Hits (x, y) data fall on a series of parallels having the general equation y = hx + c where x is the number of At Bats, y the number of Hits. The nonzero intercept c is related to the number of missing hits. For example, the legendary Babe Ruth reveals (x, y) scores of (0, 0), (1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3), (4, 4), (5, 5), as discussed in Refs. [2, 3]. In other words, y = x and Ruth had the PERFECT single game BA = y/x = 1.000 for these games. If we
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consider other games, we find the (x, y) scores (1, 0), (2, 1), (3, 2), (4, 3), (5, 4), and (6, 5). Now, the law relating At Bats and Hits is y = x + c = x 1 where the nonzero intercept c = -1 is the number of missing hits and slope h = 1. The Batting Average BA = y/x = 1 (1/x) is less than the PERFECT single game BA 1.000 and will increase as the AB values increase. Thus, BA = = 0.500 when x = 2, BA = 2/3 = 0.667 when x = 3, and BA = = 0.750 when x = 4 and so on. Likewise, we see scores such (2, 0), (3, 1), (4, 2), (5, 3), or y = x + c = x 2 and the nonzero c = - 2 is again related to the number of missing hits, and the BA = y/x = 1 (2/x) is again less than the PERFECT single-game BA = 1.000 but increases as the AB increases. The slope h is again equal to 1.

Table 1: The BA, WAR, and other Batting Stats from Fangraph for the 2013 Season Obtained on June 5, 2013 around 11:00 AM
Games At Bats Hits BA WAR HR (AB) (H) = H/AB Miguel Cabrera 56 230 85 0.370 3.5 17 Jhonny Peralta 52 204 69 0.338 2.2 6 Prince Fielder 56 212 60 0.310 1.1 12 Omar Infante 51 198 59 0.298 1.3 4 Andy Dirks 48 170 42 0.247 1.0 5 Tori Hunter 49 210 65 0.362 0.8 2 Matt Tuiasosopo 32 59 20 0.429 0.6 2 Don Kelly 42 77 14 0.182 0.5 2 Austin Jackson 34 151 41 0.272 0.4 2 Avisail Garcia 17 43 12 0.279 0.3 2 Brayan Penna 21 79 23 0.291 0.2 2 Doug Fister 2 3 2 0.667 0.1 0 Ramon Santiago 16 40 6 0.150 0 0 Data Source: Fangraph Dashboard tab for WAR values and Standard tab for AB, Hits
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=0&season =2013&month=0&season1=2013&ind=0&team=6&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

Player

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Similar considerations apply to all baseball players. Of course, we do not see the PERFECT games as with Ruth, or scores like (6, 5) but (5, 3) is still observed with many contemporary good hitters. When we start aggregating the game-by-game data into monthly data, and then into data for various seasons of a players career, we see the more general law y = hx + c with h < 1 and c being either positive or negative depending on the skill of the individual baseball player. This is been discussed in some detail in Ref. [1], with Cabrera, and also in Refs. [2,3] by considering the batting stats for both Babe Ruth and his Yankee team-mate Lou Gehrig. In the 1927 season, when Babe Ruth set the single-season home run record of 60 (which held until 1961 when it was broken by Roger Maris), Ruth had a negative intercept (c < 0) whereas Lou Gehrig had a positive intercept (c > 0). Hence, Ruths BA kept increasing as AB increased and Ruth just seemed to be getting better and better the more he batted. Gehrig on the other hand had more AB during the season (for same HR) and his BA kept on decreasing as the AB increased. Perhaps, this also explains, why Ruth eventually won the race with the month of September making all the difference. At the end of August, Gehrig has 41 HR and Ruth had 43 HR. Gehrig went up to 46 in September and Ruth went up to 60. But, a careful study shows the subtle differences in their BA. When Babe started hitting game after game in September 1927, Gehrig just could not keep up. The work function that Ruth displayed in September 1927 was superior to Gehrigs work function. The term work function, for the nonzero intercept c, in the law y = hx + c relating At Bats and Hits, is derived from Einsteins photoelectric law, which is also a linear law, K = hf W where c = - W is the work function for the metal from which electrons with the maximum energy K are produced when a stream of photons with energy = hf strikes the metal. Here f is the frequency of light and h is the universal constant called the Planck constant. Some energy W must be given up to do the work needed to overcome the forces binding the electron to the metal. This is a complex calculation and Einstein simplified it by stating that K < by the amount W, which will vary from one metal to the other. But, the K-f graph for various metals will be a series of parallels with the slope h, the Planck constant. The value of h can only be
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determined accurately by measuring the maximum K for the electron in each experiment with a single metal, and then with different metals. The movement of the AB-Hits data along a series of PERFECT parallels is thus akin to the movement of the K-f data in photoelectric experiments along a series of parallels; see Refs. [1-3] for more details. Now, take a look again at Figure 1 with this background. The data for three players, Cabrera, Kelly, and Santiago, line up nicely on a single straight line with the equation y = hx + c where the slope h = 15.91 is determined by considering the (x, y) pairs for Cabrera and Santiago. The data for Kelly automatically (WAR = 0.50 and BA = 0.182) falls right on this line. The data for all the other players falls below this line. All three players have the same work function. The difference arise due to the different games played, with Santigao having the least (16), followed by Kelly (42) and then Cabrera (56). This line would just like the K-f line for a metal with light of increasing frequency f above the cut-off value of W = hf0. The WAR number will be low when the number of games played is low and will only increase as more games are played. What is the difference between all the other players? If we believe in analogies and the idea of a work function as described, what we are observing here is like data for photoelectric experiments with different metals, each having a different work function. Or, if we use the baseball work function idea, the nonzero constant c was shown to be related to the number of missing hits, which decreases the BA for the same AB. If we examine Table 1, we see that Fister, with the highest BA = 0.667 has only played 2 games with AB = 3 and H = 2. The WAR number of Fister is therefore very low. Santiago has played 16 games, more than Fisters but his WAR = 0 compared to Fisters small and positive value of 0.10. In other words the baseball work function is also being manifested in the WAR numbers. As explained by both Nate Silver [11] and Sam Miller [12], in their excellent discussions of what WAR and the new stats mean, we are now in a position to measure different elements of the game, which was not possible in days gone
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by. This is what changes the WAR numbers and the skill of the player, and the details of each game, make all the difference in the WAR numbers. Thus, Cabreras teammate Fielder, who has played exactly the same number of games as Cabrera, had fewer AB and fewer Hits and so the lower BA but the different elements of this game, or what we call the work function, was enough to depress the WAR to 1.1 and the (x, y) pair for Fielder falls below the reference line defined by Cabrera-Kelly-Santiago. But look carefully again at the data. Omar Infante with 51 games has a WAR number only slightly higher than Fielders. Also, if we compare Fielder and Austin Jackson with fewer games (41) and a lower WAR = 0.40, we see an amazing pattern. The Fielder-Jackson (x, y) pairs are actually joined by a line with the equation y = 18.42x 4.61 with a slope h = 18.42, which is quite close to the slope h = 15.91 for the primary reference line. The nonzero intercept c = -4.61 is different (more negative) and this too has depressed the WAR values at the same BA. If we wishes, we can envision a series of PERFECT parallels with different value of the nonzero intercept c, as in the At Bats-Hits diagram. In other words, there is a nonzero work function c again being manifested here on the BA-WAR diagram when we examined the data for different players (in a single season and from different MLB leagues and different teams of the same league). The skill of the baseball player determines this work function as in the At Bats-Hits diagrams presented in the references cited.

3. WAR and Hits and Home Runs


We can continue this analysis further and also examine the relation between WAR and Hits and WAR and HR, which I have done. Once we accept the idea of a work function (Miller mentions accepting WAR on faith, well, I have faith in the idea of a work function), it is easy to see that there is again a primary reference line defined by the players with the highest Hits or the highest HR

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with other falling below this reference line, depending on their respective work functions.

2013 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), y Through Games indicated in June

4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

2013 Home Runs (HR), x Through Games indicated in June

Figure 2: The idea of a work function and the linear law (akin to Einsteins photoelectric law) is again seen to be useful to understand the HR-WAR relation for the 2013 batting leaders. Cabrera and his team-mate Fielder define the reference line with a slightly steeper slope and a negative intercept c, with the equation y = 0.48x 4.66. The negative intercept c < 0 and the steeper slope imply that the WAR numbers will rise rapidly as the HR increases once this level of AB and Games is reached. The Peralta, Hunter, and Fister (dashed) line follow a roughly parallel (strictly slightly smaller slope) and a positive intercept. For these players the WAR numbers will rise much more slowly as the HRs increase. Notice also that WAR values differ at the same constant HR (say 2) depending on the complexities of the game and the details of what is going on in the baseball field. The differences in WAR and HR for different players can be rationalized
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readily by appealing to the work function which has been shown to b e related to the skill of the baseball player, in the AB-Hits diagram.

2013 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), y Through Games indicated in June

5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 0.00 -1.00 -2.00 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

A B

Fielder Jackson

2013 Hits (H), x Through Games indicated in June

Figure 3: The idea of a work function and the linear law (akin to Einsteins photoelectric law) is again seen to be useful to understand the Hits-WAR relation for the 2013 batting leaders. The upper line A, with the equation y = 0.044x 0.266 is the line joining the (x, y) pairs for Cabrera and Santiago. The data for several players with small number of hits (due to lower games played and/or AB) can be seen fall along this reference line. Pena, Dirks, and Peralta, with increasing Hits, fall on a parallel to this line with lower WAR numbers. Fielder and Jackson actually fall slightly below this second parallel, on a third roughly parallel line (slope h = 0.0368 is quite close). The differences between the players and their WAR values are again a function of their skills, or the

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baseball work function as revealed in their AB-Hits diagram, a more fundamental measure of performance than the WAR-Hits diagram here.

4. Fourth power law WAR-Games


Thus far we have seen the linear law, y = x, with a nonzero c added, in our discussion of game-by-game baseball statistics. It is like any other natural law. It applies to every baseball player, every time. That is why it is a law. There are no exceptions of any kind. (But, after aggregating the game-by-game data it becomes y = hx + c with h < 1 which depends on the skill of the player.) Nonlinear laws, such as the parabolic law y = x2, are also observed in nature. This represents a very rapid increase in the value of y as x increases. Galileos law relating distance and time is an example of this parabolic law. We also have the three-halves power law y = x3/2 (intermediate between linear and parabolic) which was discovered by Kepler and relates the period of an orbiting body (variable y) and the semi-major axis of the orbit (variable x, applies to planets orbiting the sun, or moons orbiting a planet, like the moon of Jupiter and Saturn). An even more rapid increase in x is revealed by the cubic law y = x3. The natural example of this is the volume of sphere, or a spherical particle, which increases as the cube of its radius (while the surface area of a sphere increases as the square of its radius). The next in this progression of power laws is the fourth power law, y = x4 . The characteristic feature of the fourth power law is the essentially flat and broad bottom that the graph reveals, at small values of x after which the graph begins to rise very rapidly and overtakes the parabolic and cubic laws very quickly. This is illustrated in Figure 4. Notice the very broad and flat bottom of the fourth power law for x < 1 and then the cross-over point of all curves at x = 1 since y = 1 when x = 1. Quite interestingly, I noticed an exactly similar behavior in the pattern of increase of WAR with games played. The fourth power law has engaged my
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attention for many years since I discovered a similar law with a very flat and broad maximum during my research at NASA (on the growth of snowflakes and the snowflake-like, or tree-like structures called dendrites, observed when a metals and alloys freeze, or water freezes, as you can see on your window panes, or car windshields, on a cold winter day; you can Google it, if it is of interest). We will not got into those details here but that is why I thought of the fourth power law immediately when I saw the games played versus WAR graph for all the batting leaders, which I have plotted in Figure 5. The data has already been compiled already in Table 1.

4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

y = x4

y = x3

y = x2

x
1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6

Figure 4: The illustration of the fourth-power law and the broad and flat bottom of this curve for small values of x before the rapid rise. This is being presented to illustrate a similar pattern in the games played versus WAR graph, see Figure 5.

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4.00 3.50

Players WAR, y

3.00

2.50
2.00 1.50 1.00

0.50
0.00 0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Games Played, x
7.00

6.00

2013 Batting leaders Through June 2, 2013

y = (4.65 E-07)x3.92

Players WAR, y

5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00

y = (3.4E-07)x3.85
0.00 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Games Played, x
Figure 5: The illustration of what is very nearly the fourth-power law for the games played versus WAR relation for different players. Notice the very flat and
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broad bottom of this curve for small values of x (games played) before the rapid rise in WAR numbers. The data with and without the theoretical curves has been presented here to illustrate the nature of this intriguing law. The linear law, with varying values of the intercept c, may be viewed as short segments in the rapidly rising portion of this curve. Projections based on the linear law are always preferred to the nonlinear law, which usually implies a more rapid change in the variable y for a small change in the variable x (as in global warming studies where nonlinear projections indicate an exponentially rising global average temperature, as opposed to a more gradual rise).

In summary, the results here indicate that the new stat, WAR, is directly correlated to the traditional measures of performance in baseball, such BA, Hits, and Home runs. The fourth-power law relating games played the WAR merits further research.

Reference List
1. Miguel Cabreras Career WAR and Batting Average: An Amazing Correlation http://www.scribd.com/doc/145839586/Miguel-Cabrera-sCareer-Wins-Above-Replacement-WAR-and-Batting-Average-BA-AnAmazing-Correlation 2. Babe Ruths 1923 Batting Statistics and Einsteins Work Function, Published April 17, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/136489156/BabeRuth-s-1923-Batting-Statistics-and-Einstein-s-Work-Function 3. Babe Ruth Batting Statistics and Einsteins Work Function, To be Published April 17, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/136556738/BabeRuth-Batting-Statistics-and-Einstein-s-Work-Function 4. The Method of Least Squares: Predicting the Batting Average of a Baseball Player (Hamilton in 2013), Published May 7, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/139924317/The-Method-of-Least-SquaresPredicting-the-Batting-Average-of-a-Baseball-Player-Hamilton-in-2013

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5. What is the Big Difference Between the Wilson and Cabrera Eras? Published June 3, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/145626322/What-isthe-Big-Difference-Between-the-Wilson-and-the-Cabrera-Eras-in-Baseball 6. What is Wrong with Ratio Analysis? Baseball Offers an Interesting Example with Wide Applications, Published May 31, 2013. http://www.scribd.com/doc/144798463/What-is-Wrong-With-RatioAnalysis-Baseball-Offers-an-Interesting-Example-with-Wider-Applications 7. Is Miguel Cabrera on Pace to Break Hack Wilsons Single-Season RBI Record?, Published May 28, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/144083838/Is-Miguel-Cabrera-on-Pace-toBreak-Hack-Wilson-s-Single-Season-RBI-Record-YES-Can-I-Changed-MyMind-on-This-Read-On-Now 8. Trust Me, the Financial World will Change Forever if Wall Street Starts Analyzing Financial Data like we do Baseball Stats, Published May 26, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/143781795/Trust-Me-the-FinancialWorld-will-change-forever-if-Wall-Street-starts-analyzing-financial-datalike-we-do-baseball-stats-Miguel-Cabrera 9. Instablog at Seeking Alpha, Trust Me, The Financial World will Change forever if Wall Street Starts Analyzing Financial Data Like we do Baseball Statistics: Miguel Cabrera, Posted May 26, 2013, http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/958073-vlaxmanan/1894301-trustme-the-financial-world-will-change-forever-if-wall-street-starts-analyzingfinancial-data-like-we-do-baseball-statistics-miguel-cabrera 10. Instablog at Seeking Alpha: What is Wrong with Ratio Analysis? Baseball Again Offers an Interesting Example, Published on May 31, 2013,
http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/958073-vlaxmanan/1910731-what-iswrong-with-ratio-analysis-used-by-wall-street-baseball-again-offers-aninteresting-example

11. Statistical Case Against Miguel Cabrera for MVP, by Nate Silver, November 14, 2012, http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/the-statisticalcase-against-cabrera-for-m-v-p/ A very nice discussion about new stats versus old stats and the Trout for MVP debate in 2012.

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12. WAR is the answer, by Sam Miller, ESPN The Magazine, February 19, 2013, http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8959581/why-winsreplacement-mlb-next-big-all-encompassing-stat-espn-magazine 13. Baseball Therapy, A Sabermetric case for Miguel Cabreras MVP Candidacy, by Russell A. Carleton, September 28, 2012, http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18493 14. What Is Sabermetrics? And Which Teams Use It? By Bradley Woodrum, February 9, 2012, http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/what-issabermetrics-and-which-teams-use-it/ 15. Stats Revolution does not have enough political muscle to reward ALs true MVP: Mike Trout, by Jeff Passan, November 15, 2012, http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-s-stats-revolution-doesn-t-haveenough-political-muscle-to-reward-al-s-true-mvp--mike-trout-.html Like
those who ignore the truths of climate science and evolution of fact the people who dismiss Nate Silver allow their preconceptions and egos to get in the way of the ultimate goal: the truth. If the best path to that is subjective observation, may our eyes be forever honest. Should we find otherwise, however, may our pride step aside to let the greater authority guide us. My colleagues in the BBWAA failed to do that, and when Cabrera wins I'm guessing he gets at least 20 of the 28 first-place votes it will not be a travesty, a sham, a mockery or a traveshamockery. It will just be wrong. A fight 15 years in the making will continue until not just the electorate but the public beyond accepts that when it comes to appreciating baseball, math is not some scary android trying to take away our game. It's here, more than anything, to help us understand it and love it even more.

16. AL MVP Award 2012 Voting Results: Why Mike Trout Got Totally Screwed, November 15, 2012, by Zachary Rymer, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1410684-al-mvp-award-2012-voting-resultswhy-mike-trout-got-totally-screwed 17. Overrated Stats Could Give Miguel Cabrera an MVP He Doesnt Deserve, by Zachary Rymer, October 15, 2012 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1372296-overrated-stats-could-givemiguel-cabrera-an-mvp-he-doesnt-deserve Traditionalists love Cabrera because
he just had the league's first Triple Crown seasonhitting .330 with 44 homers and 139 RBIin 45 years while leading the Tigers to the playoffs. With these accomplishments on his resume, he's surely a slam dunk for the MVP. 18. The new-age crowd loves Trout because he led baseball in WAR and seemingly every other sabermetric stat, and the new-age crowd will gladly tell you that these stats measure a player's value far better than the old-school stats can. 19. If you've been following along with the situation, you'll know what happens as soon as everyone puts their cards on the table. Typically, loud yelling ensues. Trout supporters argue that Cabrera isn't all that great, and Cabrera supporters argue that the advanced stats are nothing but a bunch of mumbo jumbo.

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20. Sabermetrics Doesnt Have A Monopoly on Not-stupid: Mike Trout is the AL MVP, by EJ Fagan, October 4, 2012, in General Musings, http://www.yankeeanalysts.com/2012/10/sabermetrics-doesnt-have-amonopoly-on-not-stupid-mike-trout-is-the-al-mvp-45618#comment766301 Mike Trout is the most valuable player in the American League. Miguel Cabrera is not.
This is as clear as it could possibly be, and is not a matter of opinion, but rather an objective, verifiable, mathematical fact. Another who argues otherwise either is a) defining most valuable player in an illogical, arbitrary way b) has not seen the math or c) is stupid.

21.

Lets start with the pure arithmetic: Without even considering position, Mike Trout was the best hitter in the American League. His .324/.397/.561 was good for 170 OPS+, .421 wOBP and 174 wRC+, all tops in the league. His 57.2 batting runs contributed edges out Miguel Cabreras 56.1 batting runs contributed, despite playing 22 fewer games. Add in the production of a replacement player filling in for those 22 games and purely on hitting Trout is the clear MVP by a significant margin. Of course, thats not everything. Miguel Cabrera plays third base, poorly. Mike Trout plays center and left field, incredibly well. How well? We dont really know. If UZR is your choice metric, . You get the idea by now, if not you are stupid, as EJ would put it.

22.

23. Revenge Against Baseball Nerds, by David Roth, November 16, 2012, http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2012/11/16/revenge-against-baseballsnerds/ Heres the most fascinating part of the great Mike Trout-Miguel Cabrera MVP debate:
The zealots on both sides cant even believe theres an argument, the Seattle Post-Intelligencers Larry Stone writes. Its a little too clichd to paint this Most Valuable Player vote as another battle in the war between the saber-nerds and the traditionalists the staid Luddites of the Baseball Writers Association of America vs. the WAR-loving eggheaded sons of Bill James. In the Detroit Free Press, Mitch Albom delivered an equally heartfelt Take That, Nerds column. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports decried the slow pace of intellectual change in the game.

24. Mitch Albom: Miguel Cabreras award a win for fans, defeat for stats geeks, November 16, 2012,
http://www.freep.com/article/20121116/COL01/311160108/Miggy-s-award-a-win-for-fansdefeat-for-stats-geeks In a battle of computer analysis versus people who still watch baseball as, you know, a sport, what we saw with our Detroit vision was what most voters saw as well: Statistics geeks insisted Cabrera was less worthy than Angels rookie centerfielder Mike Trout. Not because Trout's traditional baseball numbers were better. They weren't. Cabrera had more home runs (44), more runs batted in (139) and a better batting average (.330) than Trout and everyone else in the American League. It gave him the sport's first Triple Crown in 45 years. But Trout excelled in the kind of numbers that weren't even considered a few years ago, mostly because A) They were impossible to measure, and B) Nobody gave a hoot.

25. Miguel Cabrera: Sabermetrics Dont Help True MVP, by Ryan Masters, http://www.rantsports.com/clubhouse/2012/10/03/miguel-cabrerasabermetrics-dont-help-true-mvp/ Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers should
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be the AL MVP this season. Many people think that Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels deserves it more because his sabermetric statistics are better. I question how accurate these numbers even are and what they really mean. They have not been around for that long so it is still plausible that corrections need to be made in some of the formulas. The newest statistic that everyone is focusing on is Wins Above Replacement. Trout is leading the league in WAR by a substantial margin. This number seems to be inaccurate right off the bat. I would like to see people vote for Miguel Cabrera. He is accomplishing one of the most remarkable feats in sports but could get overlooked by a rookie due to some mathematical formulas that dont belong in baseball.

26. Miguel Cabrera Worthy MVP, despite complaints, by Nicke Cafardo, The Globe Staff, November 18, 2012, http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/11/18/miguel-cabrera-worthymvp-despite-complaints-sabermetriclobby/0FpCnczaRU9bv2tLbOXQdL/story.html Some of the rhetoric got downright
nasty. This is getting like Republicans vs. Democrats, Fox News vs. MSNBC. Cant we all get along? From Aug. 1 to Oct. 3, Trout hit .287 for the Angels with 12 homers, 28 RBIs, 49 runs, 18 stolen bases, and 67 strikeouts, while Cabrera hit .344 for the Tigers with 19 homers, 54 RBIs, 42 runs, no steals, and just 39 strikeouts. 27. Do these numbers mean anything to those who are so adamant that Trout should have won the MVP race? This was framed as a close race before the voting, but in fact, it was not a close vote. It was like Obama-Romney. If you listened to Fox News, Mitt Romney was going to win in a landslide, but the election turned out overwhelmingly in Barack Obamas favor. 28. Nate Silver, who has correctly predicted the results of the last two presidential races, presented a strong case for Trout in his FiveThirty-Eight blog last Sunday, pointing out that Trout added 12 runs with his base running while Cabrera cost his team three runs, and Trout saved 11 runs defensively while Cabrera cost his team 10. And when Silver speaks, we listen, because hes usually right. 29. Its very interesting, and you can make a strong case with the numbers he presented. But you cant ignore the fact that Cabreras team made the playoffs and Trouts team didnt.

30. Jacoby Jones, Mike Jones, Sabermetrics, and You, By Poseur, March 12, 2013, http://www.andthevalleyshook.com/2013/3/12/4093856/jacobyjones-mike-trout-sabermetrics-and-you 31. On WAR, Trout, Cabrera, Leyland, sabermetrics, and the MVP, by Kurt Mensching, Sep 21, 2012, http://www.blessyouboys.com/2012/9/21/3369482/on-war-troutcabrera-sabermetrics-and-the-mvp 32. Cabrera Increasing His Value Even More with Situational Hitting, May 26, 2013, Posted by Lee Panas, http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/beyondbattingaverage 33.

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