From Peter Gammons:
Years ago, managers just snubbed their noses at sabermetrics. Now, it’s mostly media members and former players who reject such studies. Not managers.
Washington’s Manny Acta will lay an occasional “VORP” on you, and Brewers manager Ken Macha was so intrigued by “The Fielding Bible,” compiled by John Dewan and Bill James, that he copied sections and gave them to players. He wanted the players to understand the relationship of bases and outs to runs, and how outfielders cutting balls off and hitting relay men and how baserunners’ aggression and hustle add up at the end of the year. So add the Brew Crew to the list of teams using sabermetrics.
I was thinking about this very thing when the Yankees flipped Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon earlier this week. The company line was that the Yankees liked the lefty-batting Damon’s ability to move the runner over, and therefore decided to make the switch. However, there are multiple statistical reasons to flip Jeter and Damon, and I am fairly confident that Joe Girardi considered factors such as contact rate and GB% when making his decision. The Yankees hired Joe because he was a student of the new type of thinking that the Yankees wanted to employ, and we have slowly begun to see the results of that mindset. Although this is a minor move, it is very encouraging, as it is representative of progressive thinking in the Yankees organization. Teams like the Red Sox, Indians, and A’s have been exploiting market inefficiencies for a few years by utilizing statistical analysis to discover undervalued skills. It is good to see the Yankees getting in on the party.
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7 Responses to Managers Using Statistics
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TIQ IQ
Bingo. Actually, they’ve been on board for a few years, and if you read the Torre book one of the reasons Torre and Cashman grew apart was Cash’s increasing belief in statistical analysis. Torre didn’t go any further than platoon splits.
Interestingly, Verducci goes on at length about how the reason why the Yanks fell behind in in Torre’s later years was how the Red Sox, Indians and others were getting on board with the new methods. Yet Torre keeps trying to argue that “trust” (whatever that means) was more important. He “never forgave” the Yanks for passing on Bernie, even though anyone who looked at his numbers knew he was done.
This is why I wanted Torre fired for years. I never felt he added much, and the terrain had shifted from under his feet. Also, the wars between him and the front office were becoming an additional obstacle.
Yeah, that was actually my biggest problem with the book- it was not ideologically consistent. It placed heart over stats, but said the Yankees fell behind because other clubs were using the numbers. And while the Yankees have been toying with stats for a while, they never really bought into them while Torre was around.
They tried, but Torre had no interest. It was reported after Joe was fired that he would have a pile of stats on his desk every day with match ups for the upcoming series, advance scouting reports, all sorts of useful data. And it would lay on Torre’s desk unopened. Every day. Torre would stroll in an hour before game time, spend 1/2 an hour on the treadmill, then smack a few guys on the butt around the batting cage and that was it. Then he tried to stay awake on the bench during the game. This was nothing new, they said the same things about him after they fired him in Atlanta.
Cashman has a few assistants whose job it is to gather and analyze data. They also have a ‘Director of statistical analysis’ (or something) who has been there since Cash took full control of Baseball ops.
If that stuff is true, Cash should have let him go after 2006. You need a manager that fits with your organizational philosophy.
I would have, but don’t forget how popular Joe was. They let him stay another two years, his results didn’t improve and it was STILL WW3 when they let him go. Despite all the extra ammunition they had against him.
In 2006, he was a manager who made the playoffs every year, won 4 WS with 6 WS appearances in 10 years on the job. Its tough to fire a guy with that resume. Plus business was good, they were breaking attendance records every year, no need to rock the boat.
I think he had to at least be taking it into consideration. I wonder if they care about sabermetrics out in LA?
Have you ever seen Ned Coletti or heard him speak? He is the archetype of the ‘Old School Baseball Man’.