Posted By:
Darren J. DuetAll good points, and granted there are stats that matter and stats that do no matter as much. For certain winning matters, and baseball for one is a TEAM sport.
How do you measure some of the intangibles associated with winning? Derek Jeter is a winner with good but not great stats----intagibles. Nolan Ryan was a great pitcher with silly stats but only a bit better than 50% winning percentage(yet his ERA was quite decent). This year Clemens ERA is miniscule yet he has lost as many as he won.
Tradition says we must respect players who hit over .300, 40+ homers, 100+ RBI's, 20+ wins, less than 3.00 ERA, etc.; there are other parameters that may have more meaning or just as much. Runs scored, Wins per start, and TEAM wins that may paint a better picture. What good is it to have a triple crown or cy young winner if your team can't win half its games.
Bottomline, it's a team game.