The Most Important Offensive Stat? - It is the RBI
There are many baseball fans known as sabermetricians who espouse the notion that on base percentage (OBP) is the most important stat in baseball. They say that players need to get on base in order for the team to score runs and that OBP is much more a true barometer of offensive worth than the traditional batting average. That is true, but runs will not score unless players get hits and drive in those base runners.
They love the OBP stat so much that many influential writers (usually disciples of stat guru Bill James) have said that certain deserving players, such as Andre Dawson, are not Hall of Famers because their career OBP is less than the average player of his day. They also don't care that it was Dawson's job to drive in those runners who have gotten on base.
Don't get me wrong. OBP is important, but it is not the end all. Getting on base was always a basic, formal part of the game, similar to fielding the ball cleanly and making a good throw to record an out. A few decades ago, lineups weren't that strong top to bottom and easy outs were in abundance lower in the order. Top of the order guys in the lineup had the job of getting on base, and those guys in the middle of the lineup whose job it was to drive in runs.
In the real early days of baseball, the game was the same as it is today but was PLAYED DIFFERENTLY.
Now, it appears to be that every guy in the lineup is supposed to "work the count and build up the starters pitch count" so the opposition has to go to the bullpen, whose pitchers are not the same quality as the starting pitchers. Guys who have high walk rates such as Adam Dunn and Jason Giambi are revered because they get on base and offer power potential. But their flaws of striking out too much and not offering quality defense far outweigh their ability to get on base.
Besides, what good is getting on base if their are no run producers to drive home those runs? That is the rub say the saber guys. "My guy got on base but needs someone else to drive him in."
That is the team aspect in this individual stat oriented game.
It is so important to have guys who can drive in those runs, especially the all important runners when two are out in the inning.
Before the local Mets and Yankees began recent winning baseball, they both were slumping badly. All I heard from both sets of fans was that each team was failing miserably with runners in scoring position. In fact, up until this recent 6 game winning streak (they just swept the Minnesota Twins), the Yankees were fourth in OBP in the American League, but still only in third place in the AL East.
Why? At the time, they were near the bottom in hitting with runners in scoring position. We didn't hear anything about OBP, but averages of the slumping players with runners in scoring position. That is the importance of batting average, especially when it comes to knocking in runs. The RBI.
O feel that too many players today are more conscious of having a high OBP because of monetarily selfish reasons come contract time, that they are more concerned with getting that walk rather than getting that hit. It is funny, but with runners on second and third, most teams have more non-intentional walks drawn than base hits. That type of offensive approach is not going to help and team score more runs.
Before Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankee lineup, Mark Teixeira was struggling at the plate. Hovering below the Mendoza line*, Teixeira was roundly booed by the impatient Yankee faithful because he didn't hit and drive in runs. We were told by everybody from Joe Girardi on down that Tex would "right the ship" and that he was still "taking his walks" and not going after bad pitches. But nobody else was driving in runs behind Tex, so the Yankees weren't scoring enough to win games.
*The Mendoza line is named after Mario Mendoza, a light hitting short stop in the 1970's, who was always at the bottom of the Sunday newspaper batting averages, and usually no other hitters were listed below him, as they were below the Mendoza line.
No one really cared that Tex was taking his walks because his job is to drive in runs, especially when there was no A-Rod behind him.
Get on base is the new mantra, but it is far more important to drive the runners in.
They love the OBP stat so much that many influential writers (usually disciples of stat guru Bill James) have said that certain deserving players, such as Andre Dawson, are not Hall of Famers because their career OBP is less than the average player of his day. They also don't care that it was Dawson's job to drive in those runners who have gotten on base.
Don't get me wrong. OBP is important, but it is not the end all. Getting on base was always a basic, formal part of the game, similar to fielding the ball cleanly and making a good throw to record an out. A few decades ago, lineups weren't that strong top to bottom and easy outs were in abundance lower in the order. Top of the order guys in the lineup had the job of getting on base, and those guys in the middle of the lineup whose job it was to drive in runs.
In the real early days of baseball, the game was the same as it is today but was PLAYED DIFFERENTLY.
Now, it appears to be that every guy in the lineup is supposed to "work the count and build up the starters pitch count" so the opposition has to go to the bullpen, whose pitchers are not the same quality as the starting pitchers. Guys who have high walk rates such as Adam Dunn and Jason Giambi are revered because they get on base and offer power potential. But their flaws of striking out too much and not offering quality defense far outweigh their ability to get on base.
Besides, what good is getting on base if their are no run producers to drive home those runs? That is the rub say the saber guys. "My guy got on base but needs someone else to drive him in."
That is the team aspect in this individual stat oriented game.
It is so important to have guys who can drive in those runs, especially the all important runners when two are out in the inning.
Before the local Mets and Yankees began recent winning baseball, they both were slumping badly. All I heard from both sets of fans was that each team was failing miserably with runners in scoring position. In fact, up until this recent 6 game winning streak (they just swept the Minnesota Twins), the Yankees were fourth in OBP in the American League, but still only in third place in the AL East.
Why? At the time, they were near the bottom in hitting with runners in scoring position. We didn't hear anything about OBP, but averages of the slumping players with runners in scoring position. That is the importance of batting average, especially when it comes to knocking in runs. The RBI.
O feel that too many players today are more conscious of having a high OBP because of monetarily selfish reasons come contract time, that they are more concerned with getting that walk rather than getting that hit. It is funny, but with runners on second and third, most teams have more non-intentional walks drawn than base hits. That type of offensive approach is not going to help and team score more runs.
Before Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankee lineup, Mark Teixeira was struggling at the plate. Hovering below the Mendoza line*, Teixeira was roundly booed by the impatient Yankee faithful because he didn't hit and drive in runs. We were told by everybody from Joe Girardi on down that Tex would "right the ship" and that he was still "taking his walks" and not going after bad pitches. But nobody else was driving in runs behind Tex, so the Yankees weren't scoring enough to win games.
*The Mendoza line is named after Mario Mendoza, a light hitting short stop in the 1970's, who was always at the bottom of the Sunday newspaper batting averages, and usually no other hitters were listed below him, as they were below the Mendoza line.
No one really cared that Tex was taking his walks because his job is to drive in runs, especially when there was no A-Rod behind him.
Get on base is the new mantra, but it is far more important to drive the runners in.
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