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John Dewan's Stat of the Week
What two words are ominous for the Chicago Bears in the postseason?
January 04, 2007 They are not Rex and Grossman. They are Brown and Harris. In Chicago at least, Bears fans worry about which Rex Grossman will show up in the postseason. However, it has been demonstrated that a solid defense is key in the playoffs, even more important than in the regular season. [...]
Who are the Fielding Bible Award winners for 2006?
November 02, 2006 As a follow-up to my book, The Fielding Bible, Bill James had a suggestion: Why not assemble a “panel of experts” to vote on the best defensive players at each position prior to the announcement of the Gold Glove awards? Done. Here are the winners of the [...]
Who else has a chance at 700 home runs?
October 20, 2006 Barry Bonds has passed the 700 home run mark, and with 734 dingers he's moving up on Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755. And now, having just ended the 2006 season, we have another player who has established equal odds to reach the 700 milestone. They may boo him in New York, but [...]
How “god-like” is the “Greek god of walks”?
September 13, 2006 Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball called Kevin Youkilis the “Greek god of walks.” In the book, a Major League Baseball organization finally recognized patience at the plate. The Oakland A's wanted to find undervalued attributes in the baseball marketplace and latched onto plate discipline. They thought that then minor leaguer Youkilis might be [...]
Is Ozzie's "Bunting School" really needed?
July 26, 2006 Ozzie Guillen has been upset that at key times this year his World Champion White Sox have failed to lay down a sacrifice bunt when needed. In the last couple of weeks he has set up his "Bunting School," where selected players take extra bunting practice on a daily basis. [...]
What happens if they walk, but you don't?
July 07, 2006 That's the tune the Chicago Cubs are singing this year. They are last in the majors (not just the National League) in allowing the most walks by their pitchers. And they are last in the majors (not just the National League) in drawing walks by their batters. How often has a team [...]
Is every newspaper and website in the country wrong?
June 13, 2006 Batting Average is the best-known and the most historic statistic in baseball. The batting average leader boards are printed daily in every newspaper and every baseball website in the country. Here are the leaders through games of June 12th: American League AB H Avg Joe Mauer, Min [...]
Who should bat leadoff?
March 15, 2007 Should your leadoff hitter be: Player A with 5 stolen bases Player B with 57 stolen bases Player A with a .379 on-base percentage Player B with a .336 on-base percentage Old-school philosophy has always been to put the player with speed at the top of the order. However, the sabermetric [...]
The fewest RBI of all time?
May 31, 2006 The lowest RBI total for a regular player during a season is 12 shared by two players. Enzo Hernandez had 12 RBI in his rookie season for the Padres in 1971, and the aptly nicknamed Goat Anderson managed just 12 ribbies for the Pirates during his ONLY season in major league baseball in [...]
Who are the best first baseman at saving potential throwing errors by their fellow infielders?
April 20, 2006 In my book The Fielding Bible, I developed the Plus/Minus System to evaluate defense for individual players and teams. Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira came in at the top of the first base list with a +17 for 2005 meaning that he fielded 17 more plays than would be expected from an average first [...]