Henry Chadwick and Cricket; “Moneyball” and Baseball

Posted on November 3, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

Henry Chadwick: Father of modern-baseball statistics and historical study

National Baseball Hall of Fame writer (and one of the true architects of baseball as we know it) Henry Chadwick began covering New York area cricket games for Long Island newspapers when he was a mere seventeen-years old–before the start of the U.S. Civil War. Michael Lewis, in Moneyball, evaluates Chadwick from the point of view of history and thro the lens of Sabermetrics:

“Going right back to the invention of the box score in 1845, and its subsequent improvement in 1859 by a British-born journalist named Henry Chadwick, there had been numerate analysts who saw that baseball, more than other sports, gave you meaningful things to count, and that by counting them you could determine the value of people who played the game. But what got counted was often simply what was easiest to count, or what Henry Chadwick, whose reference point was cricket, had decided was important to count.

“Chadwick was the critical figure in this history. To anyone who asked, ‘How could baseball statistics be so screwed up?,’ Henry Chadwick was usually the beginning, and occasionally the end, of the answer….The more you examined these old measurement devices, the less apt they seemed. Chadwick, with help from others, had created a system of perverse incentives for anyone who trotted out onto a baseball field…” *

If you saw the movie Moneyball, you got a small sample of the newer forms of baseball statistics being used to define excellence (and Major League salaries) in what is called Sabermetrics. If you read the book, you’ll learn much more, and you don’t have to be a math maven–just a rabid fan.

*Lewis, M. (2003). Moneyball. New York: Norton, pages 69-71.

(Thanks to William Van Ornum for this blog)

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Test Match Cricket Is Back

Posted on November 3, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

After a frenzy of one-day internationals, Test match cricket (the version of the game that separates the men from the boys, and the women from the girls) is back! And it’s providing some interesting stories. Zimbabwe, once (late 19990s) an unlikely powerhouse before its rapid decline to also-ran status, is playing a one-off match with New Zealand, which is attempting, as ever, to punch above its weight. At the upper end of the rankings, an Australian side, still trying to get over their shellacking by England in the Ashes at the beginning of the year, is about to take on the always mercurial powerhouse South Africa in South Africa. Will Australia storm back, or will South Africa send Australia back to the drawing board?

Meanwhile, after several turbulent years, a newly resurgent and confident Pakistan is fighting it out with the always impressive Sri Lanka in Sharjah (Pakistan’s home ground, after a terrorist attack on this same Sri Lankan side in 2009 brought an end to international cricket in Pakistan itself). Pakistan are already one-up in the series as the final Test match ends its second day. If Pakistan draw or win, it sets them up nicely to play World Number 1, England, to revenge their humiliation in 2010. Lots of stories will unfold in the next few days.

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Guilty!

Posted on November 2, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook
From left: Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt, and Mohammad Asif

The Three Stooges: From left: Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt, and Mohammad Asif

It’s a story so big that it’s hard to know, like the blind men touching the proverbial elephant, just how big or even exactly what the story is. Two Pakistan players—Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif—were yesterday found guilty of “spot-fixing” during the Pakistan v. England Test series in 2010. (Another Pakistan player, Mohammad Amir, had pled guilty earlier. I’ve written about this case here.) Further investigations are already being launched, on the suspicion that more nefarious activity took place in other matches and with other players. Who knows what these investigations might reveal, and whose careers and reputations will be destroyed?

In praising the verdict yesterday in a British court, the prosecution talked expansively of the men’s betrayal of trust. But in my (Martin’s) opinion, that betrayal is conjoined with an even bigger betrayal: that of the future of the game. In the recently concluded thrashing that the India team delivered to England—one that had been eagerly anticipated by players, fans, and commentators, many of the grounds were half- or even less-than-half full. Some blamed the high ticket prices as a reason for the crowds staying away. But, surely, the problem is that there’s just too much cricket for an audience to enjoy—even one as passionately committed to the game (or, at least, the superstars and glitz and entertainment value of the shorter forms of it) as the Indian people.

In such a saturated schedule, who cares whether some games are won or lost, given that another series will come along (like the Number 42 bus) soon enough? And if nobody shows up or cares who wins or loses, what does it matter if a player makes a few tens of thousands of dollars on “spot-fixing” to keep the betting syndicates happy. At least, the gamblers are paying attention to what’s happening on the pitch.

Cricket is immeasurably more interesting a sport than it was thirty years ago. It’s got more money and more global reach; it’s more visible, more competitive, and engaging more women and children. All that is good. But sporting authorities are killing the game by squeezing every last ounce of juice from it, leaving players, fans, and even commentators tired and jaded. This guilty verdict will only add more to the global feeling of “Enough, already!”

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Had em All the Way

Posted on October 29, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

Legendary manager Tony La Russa explains how it's done. Then he retires.

Congratulations to future Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa for guiding the St. Louis Cardinals to his personal third world championship and to the eleventh in the Cardinals storied history. La Russa’s success, coming from far back in the National League standings as late as mid-September to overcome the Atlanta Braves, taking on two favored teams, before then defeating the Texas Rangers in a seven-game World Series, belongs to the ages. The St. Louis Cardinals take the title of best baseball team from another surprising club: the 2010 San Francisco Giants. The long 2011 baseball season is over.

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As Former Governor Ahnuld S. Might Say, “Whudda Game!”

Posted on October 28, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

Wild scene in St. Louis: Texas Rangers catcher Mike Napoli looks away.

As the World Series takes on more the aspect of Pluto, with the baseball season being the rest (or inhabited part) of the solar system, the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals played one of the all-time great Game 6’s fairly into the East Coast time-zone morning. There was no way to predict the outcome; the only truism being the home team enjoys last-licks advantages in such situations, especially when it comes to inter-league play. For cricket fans, this “especially” means in the National League city or ballpark, there is no designated hitter (DH) for the pitcher or weakest batter on the club. National League managers, like Tony La Russa who is one of the storied best, are more adept at the double-switches (player substitutions) needed to stay competitive, even when losing badly. This is not to make excuses. With their opposition down to their final strike, twice!, potentially the final strike of the season, the Texas Rangers did not prevail. It is difficult to imagine a more spine-tingling Game 7. As noted in an earlier blog, this was already one of the truly memorable World Series of recent…well, memory.

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Nogoodnik Howie Spira Speaks

Posted on October 27, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

Nothing quite says "1980s" like this photo.

A name from the dim past of the 1980s has resurfaced. Selected by the late George Steinbrenner to dig up dirt on his high-paid star, Dave Winfield, Spira now bares all in an interview with New York radio station WINS. The phone-conversation tapes, while not of Watergate proportions, do reveal a different George Steinbrenner from the one Yankees players such as Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada came to know. In his salad days (an expression from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra), Mr. Steinbrenner could be vicious. This is not to say that his under-performing superstar, Winfield, was perfect. But Winfield would eventually be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, an honor that has thus far eluded Steinbrenner. (The writers have long memories.) Incidentally, most baseball fans remember, speaking of long memories, that Dave Winfield was born the very day Bobby Thomson hit The Shot Run Heard Round the World.

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Phones in the Dugout, Part 2

Posted on October 25, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

Why is this relief pitcher smiling? Was he summoned and indisposed? Was someone else on the party line?

Turns out our blogger William Van Ornum was prescient in his recent decoding and deconstruction of bullpen-phone technology. A huge mix-up between baseball genius Tony La Russa and his bullpen coach, due to a supposed telecommunications miscue (in 2011!), helped make a Texas-sized hero out of catcher Mike Napoli. Whether the phone line was to blame, or the noise of the crowd, or something else, this is one of the most-bizarre occurrences in World Series history: wrong pitcher giving up the final two runs in the late innings of a tight game. Chris Carpenter had kept his Cardinals close. Now, however, Ron Washington and the Texas Rangers are on the verge of bringing home the first World Series Championship ever to the Lone Star State.

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The Reverse

Posted on October 25, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

This summer, the Indian cricket team couldn’t buy a win against England, in England. They not only lost every single Test Match, but were swept by England in the one-day series. “Just you wait,” said the Indian fans and players. “Once you come to our neck of the woods, we’ll show you who the champs are.” No Test matches were played, but in the five one-day matches that have just concluded, India showed their class and destroyed England just as conclusively (5–0) as England destroyed them.

What does the series prove? Not much. India always were a very good side, and they’ve reaffirmed it—especially in one-day cricket. It’s always been hard for non-native teams to win in the Indian subcontinent, and it’s proved that way again. England will claim they’re building a team to win the next World Cup (in 2014). India will reclaim their bragging rights. In the end, though, one can’t help wondering where that leaves either team.

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Chris Carpenter: Formidable St. Louis Starter

Posted on October 25, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

Should the Rangers defeat Chris Carpenter, they would have the upper hand.

If the Texas Rangers are to seize the upper hand of this World Series, now deadlocked, they must solve Chris Carpenter. The right-handed ace of the St. Louis Cardinals defeated Doc Halliday 1-0 to get his (Carpenter’s) team where they are. In days of yore, a Carpenter would have started Game 5 and been ready to pitch on short rest for Game 7 if needed. Today, it is difficult to imagine Tony La Russa returning to Carpenter in such a situation, unless a rain out or other unforeseen disruption of the Series were to occur. (Thus creating an extra day of rest for his hurler.) If we reach a Game 7, of course, it’s “all hands on deck.” I think that’s called synecdoche in the world of literary rhetoric. Whatever, the Series, now going to the first team to win two games, already has been one of the more-memorable ones in recent…memory.

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Phones in the Dugout

Posted on October 23, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

Landline phones are disappearing everywhere, but not the kind of phone that carries the manager’s voice to the bullpen. So far (despite an effort by the Chicago Cubs to devise a wireless system about five years ago), a single copper wire remains the only way to go in the rule book. Learn more about this in the October 23rd edition of New York Times.

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