Comments on: The Situation of “Winners” and “Losers” http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/ Fri, 24 May 2013 09:25:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: The Situation of “Genius” « The Situationist http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-14697 Mon, 11 May 2009 04:03:12 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-14697 [...] “First Person or Third,” “The Unconscious Genius of Baseball Players,” and “The Situation of ‘Winners’ and ‘Losers’.” Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)The Market as Situation and Situational [...]

]]> By: terry watkins http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-13360 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:40:07 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-13360 Very interesting article, The scientific aspects you covered, were great fro someone like me that is not a sports “Fan”

]]> By: Stereotype Threat and Performance « The Situationist http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-12553 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:26:36 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-12553 [...] McCann’s “Race Attributions and Georgetown University Baseketball” and “The Situation of ‘Winners’ and ‘Losers.’” For previous Situationist posts examining the causes and consequences of stereotype threat, [...]

]]> By: The Implicit Value of Explicit Values « The Situationist http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-9802 Fri, 23 Nov 2007 05:23:59 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-9802 [...] click here. For some Situationist posts discussing stereotype threat and its effects, see “The Situation of ‘Winners’ and ‘Losers,’” “Gender Imbalanced Situation of Math, Science, and Engineering,” [...]

]]> By: skyking162 » Around The Web 11-3-07 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-8898 Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:14:16 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-8898 [...] thought: what if ARod was more like Manny? Does not treating baseball as a life and death situation make Manny a better [...]

]]> By: Rob R http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-8679 Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:23:28 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/the-situation-of-winners-and-losers/#comment-8679 I enjoyed reading the post, but I’m afraid you are attempting to explain a phenomenon that does not exist. In fact, comparing the two men who are the subject of your post, anyone who listens to the mainstream sports media would be shocked to learn that A-Rod has actually been a very capable postseason performer. Some statistics:

Career Regular Season Stats (Presented in the common form: batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage/OPS (on-base plus slugging, which is the best single basic statistic to determine a hitters worth). I use these stats because they are the most useful basic statistics in determining a hitter’s performance):

Manny – .313/.409/.593/1.002
A-Rod – .306/.389/.578/.967

Both are clearly excellent hitters (league average during their careers has been about .270/.340/.430/.770). Taking into account the effects of their home stadiums, for his career Manny has been about 54% better than league average at the plate (25th all time, 4th among active players) and A-Rod has been 47% above league average (41st all time, 7th among active players).

Now, on to the postseason. Postseason hitting statistics as a whole are lower than regular season statistics due to the high quality of pitching among postseason teams and the cold weather of October. Here are their career postseason numbers:

Manny – .269/.376/.513/.889
A-Rod – .279/.361/.483/.844

As the statistics show, the two men have enjoyed similar success in the postseason over their careers. Considering the lower levels of performance across the board in the postseason, both are still far above average hitters. Manny does have a slight edge at the plate, but considering A-Rod’s above average defense at shortstop and third base and Manny’s slightly below average defense in left field, they have been about equally valuable in postseason play over their entire careers.

The statistics you link to in this post are a prime example of “cherry-picking” statistics. If you take any stretch of a players career favorable to your argument, you can make stats say anything. Looking at career stats however gives a larger, more reliable sample size. In fact, here are their stats from the fateul 2004 ALCS where the Red Sox finally overcame the Yankees in the postseason:

A-Rod – .258/.378/.516/.894
Manny – .300/.400/.333/.733

Just looking at the numbers, A-Rod actually outperformed Manny in this series. Has A-Rod had poor postseason series? Absolutely. So has every player who has any significant number of series played. Even the great David Ortiz, widely regaled for his postseason exploits, once put up the following line in a postseason series (2003 ALDS against Oakland): .095/.174/.143/.317.

The problem is, many in the media have a problem differentiating between individual and team success in the playoffs. The Yankees failure to win a World Series since A-Rod’s arrival is a failure of the team, not of A-Rod personally. This year’s Yankees-Indians series is a perfect example of this phenomenon. A-Rod was once again blamed for the Yankees postseason failure. Forgetting the fact that the Yankees would not have been in the playoffs if not for A-Rod’s fantastic regular season, A-Rod was perceived to have another poor postseason. A-Rod’s stats for the series: .267/.353/.467/.820.

His performance was right in line with his otherwise excellent postseason career. The Yankees problem in this series was not A-Rod’s failure. Two other numbers tell the story of why the Yankees fell to the Cleveland Indians: 5.89 and 19.06. Those numbers were the ERAs of the Yankee pitching staff for the series and their ace Chien-Ming Wang respectively. The team’s inability to keep runs off the scoreboard far outweighed its ability to put runs on it.

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