Why all the angst?

[Scorekeeper]

A topic that seems to always cause lots of angry discussion is using statistics for all the amateur levels. I can understand why they would often be seen as not being valid, but I’ve never understood what the heck people are trying to do with them that causes so many to disavow their use.

 

[humpty]

When the coach is trying to use stats to justify playing time or batting order. Stats are only as good as the person keeping them.

 

[Sweet Lou]

One scorekeepers hit is another scorekeepers error.

Stats are great but as humpty points out they can be unreliable at many amateur levels. Or put another way...

There are lies, damn lies and statistics.

 

[James Smith]

I am not a stats person but they are a tool that should be used and are becoming more important as DD is getting older. It always seems like we are working on something with the players so the stats did not matter.

(Someone posted a couple days ago about thier younger DD being the starting pitcher and the older one the starting SS. Earned run or error. )

(Bragging post, DD pitches against the best teams in her league where other pitchers pitch against the weaker teams. I honestly do not know witch pitchers have better stats but I know who I want pitching.)

 

[humpty]

A biased score keeper can really murder the team stats. I've seen it happen firsthand. Alot of ROE becomes hits and vice versa depending on who ya like or dont like.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Given humans are not robots, I think it is impossible for a human to be unbiased.

I use to say to parents in our parent meeting at the beginning of the season, "How could you possibly unbiasly judge me in the choices I make given you all are bias in favor of your daughters." But then, you could see on some parents' faces the expression of "What the heck did he just say???!"

 

[Scorekeeper]

When the coach is trying to use stats to justify playing time or batting order. Stats are only as good as the person keeping them.

I have absolutely no argument with the numbers are only as good as the person keeping them. That’s the way it is when measuring anything in any walk of life.

But how else does a coach “justify” either of those things you noted without some kind of measure? Are you more comfortable with a coach using only his/her own reasons that would be very difficult to explain?

I have this vision of a coach a parent doesn’t trust for some reason, trying to convince that parent his/her decisions based only on his/her personal observations and feelings are any better justification than some numbers on a paper.

 

[Scorekeeper]

One scorekeepers hit is another scorekeepers error.

Stats are great but as humpty points out they can be unreliable at many amateur levels. Or put another way...

There are lies, damn lies and statistics.

But what is it you think they’re unreliable for?

 

[Scorekeeper]

I am not a stats person but they are a tool that should be used and are becoming more important as DD is getting older. It always seems like we are working on something with the players so the stats did not matter.

Agreed. They are only a tool.

I don’t quite understand what you mean by you are always working on something so the stats don’t matter.

…(Bragging post, DD pitches against the best teams in her league where other pitchers pitch against the weaker teams. I honestly do not know witch pitchers have better stats but I know who I want pitching.)

That’s a valid observation, and one I’ve tried in vain to deal with for many years. The sad truth is though, I haven’t found a way to create a reliable factor for the strength of the opponent. I’ve settled on the opponent’s winning percentage, but I’m afraid its not much more reliable than anything else.

 

[Scorekeeper]

A biased score keeper can really murder the team stats. I've seen it happen firsthand. Alot of ROE becomes hits and vice versa depending on who ya like or dont like.

An SK that doesn’t understand the scoring rules or doesn’t have much experience can be just as bad as a biased SK. It’s the HC who chooses the scorer, so if s/he doesn’t choose a good one then uses stats from that scorer to make team decisions, is it the fault of the stats or the coach’s ineptitude causing the problem?