Interesting premise posited by Hayes Davenport over at Freakonomics Radio. He contends that the decline in runs scored in major league baseball is not due to better pitching, but better defense. Not sure he proves his point, but it makes for interesting reading.
The correlations are certainly nothing to write home about.
Statistics? Baseball's got plenty of 'em. Every baseball player is in some exclusive statistical club. I'm waiting for the next sportscaster to inform me that so-and-so is only one of three players in major league history to have 1,000 hits, 500 RBIs, 100 HRs, 150 stolen bases, and four ex-wives.
And what happened to all the home runs? Well, of course it is the lack of steroids and fabulous pitching. That's why a skinny ex-Pittsburgh Pirate who'd never hit more than 16 HRs in a season led all of baseball with 54 this year. No one else hit more than 42.
Great pitching. No steroids. Uh-huh.
"Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic." - Robert S. Weider, In Praise of the Second Season (1981)
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