Our world is messed up big time. Humanity is splintering--from national borders to the disintegration of the family and beyond. I remember back as a teenager in the late 1970’s reading about a dustup downtown of the burg where I lived. It was a gang rumble of sorts--however their differences were based on musical tastes.

Music!

It wasn't any "Jungleland" thing either--no guitars flashed like switchblades hustling for the record machine.   

At the Rogers Centre in Toronto in the 500 section, a combination of alcohol, stupidity, and natural selection clearly having been laid off and currently working at a McDonalds in some rural area has resulted in altercation after altercation. Over what were they fighting? I’m guessing it may have been anything from a spirited debate as to whether there is an “X” in Eckstein or whether metrosexuals burn their lips on tailpipes.

Anything can set folks off nowadays.

I think we can agree that all this division has increased the gravitational pull the planet exerts since the earth is really starting to suck.

To begin with, I’m going to reference a hilarious article from the good folks at Fire Joe Morgan that I read the other day. It was a critique of an anti-stats tirade by a fellow named Jim Armstrong.

Now, you sick masochists who read my stuff on a regular basis know that I am neither fish nor fowl (well, maybe a little foul) when it comes to the great stats debate. I appreciate sabermetrics for what it means to me--an added element to understanding a game about which I both love and love to write. I do not wholeheartedly embrace the Church of Wolverton and I have issues with some of their canon. Then again, the value of what they have accomplished is undeniable. Further, exploring the game hasn’t diminished my enjoyment of the game one iota.

I'm like Otto from "The Simpsons" I don't need stats to enjoy this--just to enhance it.

I look at some traditional measures from a completely new viewpoint. I think it’s awesome that not all 100 RBI or 20-win seasons are created equal (and doesn't always mean the player had a good year). It has helped me appreciate the contributions of players with unremarkable triple crown stats. A favourite is Max Bishop’s 1930 season--.252 AVG 10 HR 38 RBI. It was good for a 109 OPS+ in a big hitting year across-the-board (.288/.351/.421 lg. avg.). Not bad for a slick fielding second baseman. Of course, his 128 BB and .426 OBP translated into a superb leadoff man for a World Series winning ball club.

To me, they don’t entirely replace traditional measure as they do clarify them. With a 100 RBI season we now ask questions that may not have been asked in the past--the most important being how many outs did the player use to get those 100 RBI? In 1989, Joe Carter spent 513 outs for 115 RBI while Barry Bonds used only 390 for 114 RBI.

Maybe you’re not into stats at all--that’s cool too. Some folks enjoy just watching the athleticism of legging out a triple, or the timing of a 3-6-1 double play, or the cannon in the right field corner nailing the tying run at the plate.

Some enjoy the drama of a pitcher’s duel between division rivals in a pennant race in mid-September, others just enjoy the sights and sounds of the ballpark--the emerald green grass, the sound of Canadian Maple hitting horse/cow/Dr.Jekyll-and-Mr/ hide, the smell of hot dogs etc.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

Others like getting into the numbers at a micro-level and wish to figure out the difference between a winning ball club and an also-ran in a given season. It’s like folks who enjoy puzzles or brainteasers.

The bottom line is that it all has one thing in common--baseball!

Some like the AL style, others the NL. Many are aficionados of the minor league experience while others follow Japanese or Latin American Leagues. There are fans that are history buffs; still others enjoy the business side of the sport. I did a little rant on Baseball Think Factory on a thread devoted to the FJM piece cited earlier where I … pontificated(? ... there was beer involved with this opinion if memory serves):

I like stats--I'm not real good at it but it's part of the fun of the game.

To me, anything baseball is good. If it's baseball-related is focks the hucking rouse.

I may never fully comprehend some of the more advanced metrics but in discussing them--does it mean we gotta talk baseball?

I'M THERE!!!!!!

I mean, Jesus Huckleberry Alou there are 1000 ways to make chicken wings and all (or most) of them are awesome--got a new recipe? Let's try it fergawshsakes if it means we're eating chicken wings.

We have a different way to talk baseball? Let's do it then.

It's. Baseball. Dude.

If they don’t like the new turf--then nobody’s asking anyone to tread on it. However, if they decide to urinate on it--don’t expect a thank you for trying to pass off their critique as helpful fertilization.

Of course, it never hurts if the new generation understands that the old guard has spent their life covering the sport (and have been told that they’ve done a good job) only for a bunch of interlopers whipping out concepts that they don’t comprehend that prove that they have spent their lives demonstrating that they don’t understand their own life’s work.

My solution?

The five B’s: baseball, beer, bratwurst, belching and bonding. I propose a ballpark promotion where they get the media and a bunch of guys from Baseball Prospectus, The Hardball Times, Fire Joe Morgan etc. and put them into one section of a stadium for a doubleheader. Keep the beer and brats coming until they start talking baseball.

Then maybe folks will realize that we’re on all the same side after all.

Something I want every Jays fan to read…

Amble over to Drunk Jays Fans … especially if you’re one of those folks who go to the ballgame trying to get a soccer match to break out. DJF has being doing a nice job this week chronicling what happens when booze has blasted your brain-cell genocide past the overdraft limit.

Check out their posts from this week’s home stand.

It may seem a bit odd for a site called “Drunk Jays Fans” to be calling out the items on natural selection’s ‘to-do’ list for the rest of the month but hear me out--yeah, DJF likes their suds and Jays (and don’t we all). The thing is, they subscribe to one inviolate cardinal rule--they don’t wreck the game-experience of their compatriots (and no--the root word of compatriot is not riot).

Read and learn--embrace the Zen of DJF. If you’re unable to do that--at least learn to contain your inner jackass; your progeny will thank you because if you don’t, chances are good you won’t be around to procreate (especially if Stoeten and Dustin are in the house--I have unofficially deputized them for this purpose since my young muscle left around the same time the Jays won it all--time to pass on the jackass-kickin’ duties).

Oh yeah--the latest…

See windmill … tilt at windmill … rinse, lather, repeat (The Hardball Times)
The Pujols Award: Week 14 (The Hardball Times)
There's no need to fear the beasts of the AL East (MSN Canada)

Best Regards

John