Mid season report cards are certainly the topic du jour around the blogosphere as the All-Star break gives us a lapse from the everyday grind of game to game commentary.
I have to give Boston.com props for a pretty innovative approach to the report card feature this season. That said, there are a few items that could be improved.
1. Mazz can give a +/- on a letter grade, but we can’t? There were plenty that I would have given the same gradient as Mazz had I been able to. I ended up with alot of B’s where there was more variation between the players I gave that letter grade than I represented with the straight grade. I guess baseball isn’t as “easy as A, B, C” after all.
2. Aggregate grading isn’t weighted in structured way. The fact that I gave the Red Sox players most responsible for their performance all A/B grades and the long tail some C/D/F shouldn’t aggregate out to me giving the Red Sox as a whole a C+. The formula should be more intelligent (weighted by Win Shares or Innings Played) to derive a team score. Also it would be fun to see some roll ups of Bullpen/Starters/Infield/Outfield/Bench, etc.
Overall, I’ll give credit to Boston.com for a very well done interactive feature. Maybe even a B+ (if I could).
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I just went and did this, and gave Penny a C as well. But why did you give Theo a ‘B’ rather than an ‘A?’ Just curious…
Agreed. Subjective analysis + coarse granularity + a lack of relevant weighting = dubious (at best) results. Still, I find it amusing that RSN as a whole gives this first-place team a B-. We are hypercritical bunch, aren’t we?
[BTW - I'd give Fire Brand an A-, with points lost for the occasional missed game thread. You're still the class of the blogosphere, though. ;-) ]
The report cards are an interesting topic, because not only show how good or bad a player has being dong, but above else the point of view of the person who grade him. Despite all the sabermetrics, the truth is the analysis is always gonna have a big subjective element. Depends of the way you see and understand the game. It’s one of the things that make baseball a more deeper sport: You can see the game from more than one point of view.
And I love that.
I just want to know:
Who throws a harder pitch tonight?
Tim Wakefield
President Obama
hahaha