I'm A Big Baseball Fan

Baseball Toaster: Catfish Stew : Beer Run: How to Defeat a Sabermetrician in an Argument: "http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2008/01/a_public_letter.php "

'via Blog this'

I am a sports nerd. More specifically, I am a baseball nerd. I spent most of my day (possibly literally, more likely figuratively) reading about baseball statistics and analysis. Although I enjoy reading about all sports, my true love is baseball. My understanding of sports has advanced as I've gotten older and consumed more and more literature about it. Somewhere along the way, my affection for the story lines that underlie sports has melted away. It bothers me sometimes when I pass by ESPN.com and can't bring myself to read the headline stories about the good story Pirates or the good story Indians or the bad story Giants.

C feels differently. He openly disregards advanced analysis because he does love the heart behind sports. He still embraces the connection to sports that he had when we were on the same travel baseball team in elementary school. When we argue about baseball, we are arguing past each other. He is arguing something that he wants to believe because it is consistent with his fundamental belief that sports is a story, and without heart, sports are just heavily structured, rule oriented battles. On the other hand, I am arguing something that I need to believe because it is consistent with my fundamental belief that my teams need to win. If my teams are not using the most advanced reasoning to make their decisions, then they are failing. Perhaps this is a small difference, but it has a significant impact on how we watch sports. C watches sports with his heart. I watch sports with my mind. I am jealous of C.

The article I linked is one of the best I've found that tries to resolve the conflict between C and me. The middle ground is something that I have championed for a long time. I hope that both types of sports fans can use this to better understand the counterargument.

D

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