The three stupidest stats in baseball are Wins, Saves and Errors. The first two are worthless because they tell you nothing of a pitcher’s performance, but rather the circumstances under which he was put in and taken out of the game.
The problem with errors is the illogical nature in which they are judged. The latest example happened yesterday, when Carlos Gomez hit an inside the park homer on a grounder down the right field line. The point of the article is the amazing ways in which technology has affected the scoring of baseball games. But the key quote comes from Giants outfielder Cody Ross, the subject of the call in question:
“I missed it. It should be an error, actually,” Ross said. “It should not be an inside-the-park home run. I blew it, basically. It’s not a home run for sure. It definitely shouldn’t go against [Giants left-hander Jonathan Sanchez]. I went down to go get it and I whiffed. It got by me. Error. That’s it. It shouldn’t be a home run.”
I fully agree with him in one sense: If we’re going to have errors, why can there only be one when the ball was touched? This was an atrocious play on a solidly hit single, but in the record books it was a home run. Had Ross touched the ball, it would have been better for his team, as it would have slowed the ball’s progress, yet it would have been called a single and an error that gets him to second or third. The whole notion of contact as a necessity for an error is, quite simply, stupid. Let’s remember that most inside-the-park home runs are a result of shoddy play in the field. If an outfielder who completely misjudged a ball doesn’t get recognized for it, and a third baseman who can’t get to an easy grounder is not penalized, the system is broken.
Further, why do pitchers get taken off the hook for unearned runs? Last I checked, their job is to prevent runs from crossing, no matter how the runners got there. (And even as it is now, how is there any grounds for forgiveness when the pitcher himself committed the error?) In football, they don’t minimize a QB’s incompletion just because the receiver couldn’t reel it in. Nobody spares the save % of a goalie who had a puck deflected in by a team mate. So why do pitchers get to deduct runs from the main portion of their ledgers? Sure, the runs are recorded, but they are never recognized when discussing a pitcher’s efficacy.
In fact, the whole notion of the official scorer making judgement calls is quite silly. If a player has the awareness to take second on a throw into third, he should be given a double. The third baseman bobbled your hard-hit grounder? Good job on putting it in play for the fielder to have to deal with- here’s your single. Sure, we’d have the occasional play like yesterday result in a home run, but that’s fine by me. Last I checked, a player still must put in the work on the bases to take advantage of a fielder’s miscue. Why negate that?
The Truest Yankee 
May 30, 2011 at 9:43 am |
I don’t see, in the rules, anything about the fielder having to touch the ball… Rule 10.12: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/official_scorer_10.jsp
May 30, 2011 at 11:55 pm |
It may not be an official rule, but it’s pretty much adhered to, and in the instance of this home run, it was the determining factor.