Sitting out for the batting title...

[tschock]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

I wonder if someone was tied in rbis and his team was out of contention but chose to rest the last game or if he was tied in some other main statistic that just counts and doesnt go by averages.

I not sure who the hit champion (total number of hits) was in the National League but i if someone won the batting title and had the most hits, i dont think anyone should care how many games at the end of the year that person sits out since has the most hits...

afterall all games count, maybe the guy that is chasing for the title already 'sat out' a game in the middle of the year.

First, I'm not sure what your first sentence fragment means, since it is incomplete, so I might totally be missing the point. But I'm not sure how the most hits has anything to do in justifying the winning or losing of the batting title, but I'll bite with this example.

Person A has 210 hits and 20 walks and has .334 average and decides to sits out the last game. Person B has 208 hits and 100 walks and has a .333 average and doesn't sit out. Person A and B are comparable in other categories (HR, 3B, 2B, etc). After the last game played, Person A will have missed 10 more games than Person B.

If Person B goes 1 for 3 with 2 walks in the last game, Person A still wins batting title but Person B is way more productive.

Since I don't think they give a major award for on base percentage (though I could be wrong), I could see why someone might care.

[packs]

A person who wins the batting title while sitting out has outhit everyone all year. I don't see the big deal in sitting out. It gives a person a chance to beat them, but it doesn't take away from the performance over a full season.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by packs

A person who wins the batting title while sitting out has outhit everyone all year. I don't see the big deal in sitting out. It gives a person a chance to beat them, but it doesn't take away from the performance over a full season.

Right, all games count. Sitting out a game the first month of the year is the same as sitting out a game the last game of the year. Players dont typically play all 162 games even if healthy.

I was making the stronger point though that if you have the most hits for the year (and highest batting average) even after sitting out the last 30 games or whatever games than i still have no complaints. You have the most hits out of any other player and still have the highest batting average. No amount of sitting to me would tarnish the batting title in that scenerio.

D.J. i dont think was the total hit champion but like i said above, all games count and you dont play typically in all games.

[Peter_Spaeth]

http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor

[packs]

Very interesting. While we were talking about space I brought up Minute Maid as being I think the largest park in the league, or at least the deepest to center. It seems as though despite being one of the larger parks in the league, it is actually pretty hard to get a hit there.

[Peter_Spaeth]

ESPN analysis of Coors prominently mentions field size.

1. Coors Field, home to Colorado Rockies
Runs: 1.427, HR: 1.323, HR (RHB): 1.310, HR (LHB): 1.342
Dimensions: 347' (8')-390' (8')-415' (8')-375' (8')-350' (14')
Altitude: 5,186 feet; Open-air stadium; Grass field

It's the No. 1 run-scoring environment in baseball, but not merely due to the distance a baseball travels at the mile-high altitude (a common misconception). Coors' expansive outfield, creating the largest amount of fair territory in baseball, results in the game's best venue for hits of all kinds (1.247 factor) and second-best for extra-base hits (1.298), and the offensive benefits are mostly balanced for rightes and lefties. In addition, the effects of the altitude upon a pitched baseball -- breaking pitches won't break quite so sharply and it's more difficult to keep pitches down -- force an adjustment for the Rockies when traveling and their opponents when visiting, with the more frequent trips for Rockies players a logical explanation for their extreme home/road splits. Breaking down Coors' park factors into the Rockies' and their opponents' stats, from 2011-15, opponents had a 1.199 run and 1.244 home-run factor; the Rockies had 1.669 and 1.409. This is why it's a dangerous thing to extrapolate a departing Rockies hitter's road stats, like Corey Dickerson's career .249/.286/.410 triple-slash rates, to a full season elsewhere. Take those Coors visitors' park factors to heart, too, as fantasy owners are often quick to exaggerate its impact upon a visiting player.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Looks like Coors is mostly bigger than Minute Maid.

14. Minute Maid Park, home to Houston Astros
Runs: 1.009, HR: 1.123, HR (RHB): 1.119, HR (LHB): 1.130
Dimensions: 315' (19')-362' (25')-435' (10')-373' (10')-326' (7')
Altitude: 21 feet; Retractable-roof stadium; Grass field

It's another one of those venues that is most favorable for "three true outcomes" players, with top-10 factors in terms of home runs, walks (1.026) and strikeouts (1.066). Minute Maid provides a boost to righties with pull power -- think Evan Gattis -- thanks to its Crawford Boxes in left field, but is otherwise neutral.

[clydepepper]

FYI:

Murphy hit .383 in inter-league play, while LeMahieu hit .294

...so, vs. NL pitching exclusively,

LeMahieu hit .355, while Murphy hit .340

however:


Home/Away splits:

Murphy - .361/.333
LeMahieu- .391/.303

Once again, Coors Field casts a large statistical shadow.

LeMahieu's final (possible) game was against the Brewers at Coors. Sounds promising, but he was only 1-for-6 against them this year...not enough of a sample to make any assumptions on how he would have done.


Finally, Jean Segura (famous for once stealing first base FROM second base...believe it! check YouTube) led the NL in total hits with 203. Corey Seager was second with 193 and LeMahieu third with 192.

[packs]

I think that's more coincidental than incidental. He only hit 11 homers. You have to be lucky to get a hit at all, so I don't see how Coors played a role in where the balls landed in a way that another stadium wouldn't.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I thought part of the Coors Field advantage for hitters was the larger outfield, so yes, more room for balls to drop without the outfielders reaching them. Not just altitude aided homers.

[packs]

I don't really see how that factors into anything like a batting title. The Astros stadium is 436 to center. Does that mean Altuve's titles are suspicious?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by packs

I don't really see how that factors into anything like a batting title. The Astros stadium is 436 to center. Does that mean Altuve's titles are suspicious?

The theory seems simple enough, if outfielders have a fixed range but more real estate to cover in a given park than another one, more balls will fall in? What's the logical flaw there?

[packs]

The flaw is assuming space has something to do with the probability a baseball will land where someone isn't. Having space does not dictate where a ball goes. Also the outfield is not so significantly larger than any other stadium, nor is it the largest. Winning a batting title requires you to do more than hit a ball into the outfield.