Take the Records to the Curb

Posted by Bill Baer on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 6:05 pm

Wins and losses for pitchers are vestigial in baseball’s stat-keeping world. It used to be that they were the holy grail, but now, in the era of frequent five-inning starts and platoon match-ups with relievers, wins and losses tell you as much about a pitcher as a tarot card reader will tell you about your future. In other words, they don’t tell you anything anymore. Nada, bupkis.

Of course, you’ve heard the anti-record arguments before, but nothing has become of them outside of the Sabermetric community.

I turned on ESPN a few minutes ago and they were discussing Randy Johnson’s quest for his 300th win. I look at the bottom of my screen and I see tonight’s pitching match-ups: the Arizona Diamondbacks (Garland, 4-4) at the L.A. Dodgers (Billingsley, 6-3). Just the pitcher’s name and his record. That’s it, nothing else.

As an example of one of many problems with W-L, Garland has a .500 record with a 5.75 ERA. Other similar offenders are Bronson Arroyo (7 wins, 5.37 ERA), Brad Penny (5 wins, 5.63 ERA), and Shairon Martis (5 wins, 5.62 ERA). Put Cliff Lee (2-6, 3.16 ERA) next to Garland and try to figure out which pitcher is having a better season using only their records. You will unfailingly make the wrong selection in this instance.

Another example: a starter who gets 14 consecutive strikeouts on 42 straight swinging strikes is not eligible for a win, but a pitcher who allows 10 runs in five innings is eligible if his team has scored 11 by the time he is officially out of the game. Extreme, yes, but hilarious decisions similar in nature abound in every season of baseball, which you can usually read about in Jayson Stark’s archaeological digs.

A pitcher’s record is ingrained in baseball culture, so weaning ourselves off of it won’t come easy, if we even attempt it at all. But it’s something that should be done. Thinking about a pitcher’s record in this day and age is like worrying about how much gunpowder you should put in your musket. It’s outmoded like Zubaz and pogs. See what I’m getting at?

On the other hand, the wealth of in-depth pitching statistics that can be found at Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, The Hardball Times, and a host of other sites are waiting to be introduced to the average American baseball fan. Most Saber-savvy bsaeball fans ignore W-L already, so now it’s time to get the less-nerdy baseball fanbase to let go.

We do not enhance our enjoyment and understanding of baseball by shutting off our brains and refusing to ask questions that challenge the status quo, even for something as innocuous as a game where grown men attempt to hit a ball and then strive to make a series of left turns afterwards.

Is the use of W-L the biggest issue in baseball today? Not even close. It’s one of those issues that are small in relative meaning, but if changes are made, it can affect an entire fanbase’s perception of the game. We have seen how the ubiquity of the save statistic has altered how managers utilize their bullpens; discarding W-L can have as strong an effect, if not greater. All it takes is an open mind.