Stats

What The Stats Tell Us So Far
Even though we have only played two games with stats so far, there are some interesting insights in the numbers.

The disparity in runs per batter's faced (R/BF) for Trot between the two games highlights the impact of defense on a pitcher's stats. Had a few plays been made on Wiffmorial Day, Trot may be sitting atop the standings.

Ox is off to a fast offensive start. Most impressive is the lack of walks, a total of 3 over 33 plate appearances. Ox is swinging the bat and doing the damage. In contrast, Unit has become much more selective at the plate recording 8 walks, while he had a total of 19 for all of last year. This patience has helped to raise his OBP to 0.667. Ox has also jumped out to a fierce pitching start racking up 10 K's in contrast to the 20 total K's he had all of last season.

Guap and Hot Rod, two of last year's best pitchers, are off to very rough starts. It is early but they both have holes to climb out of.

The league is slightly fearful of J-Rod ability to not only show up to games but boost impressive numbers. Same goes for the Preacher, who has a batting average of 0.563.

Lots of wiffle left to play, lots of numbers left to review.

PLEASE NOTE - there was a glitch in the calculations for this set of pitching that misrepresented hits allowed. This has been corrected and subsequent season stats reflect the change.

I am introducing a new stat for this season, the Wiffle Aggregate Rating (WAR). This is basically the best attempt to construct a full picture of a Wiffler's overall contribution. It is essentially offensive contribution minus runs allowed while pitching. The actual stats used are Gross Production Average (GPA) for offense and simply runs allowed per batter faced for pitching. GPA is generally regarded as the best representation of one's offensive contribution. It is a combination of On Base Percentage (OBP) and Slugging Percentage (SLG) with an appropriate weight on OBP.

It is all calculated in the spreadsheet so it is not going away, sorry.

Now these awards are completely editorial and solely based on my input alone. You can look at the notoriously late stats below and draw you own conclusions. Since I have been up for nearly two days straight reupping this site, I feel I can take the liberty to declare these awards (which are complete fabrications from my mind).

LOWBALLER OF THE YEAR: LONNY "LONICHIRO" EDWARDS
Much like the NBA MVP ambiguity, the selection of the LOTY is based on far more than simple stats and can be met with much debate. Obviously, all folks that brave the wrath of W.O.W. to partake in the joys of a child's game deserve a measure of acclaim. However, there are those that rise above the average plastic hurler. In my mind, there really is no debate as to the 2007's LowBaller of the Year.
Take a look at the stats down below, take a look at the most important one; games pitched and at bats. Lonichiro crushed the competition logging 11 games pushing off of the rubber and a whopping 142 at bats. Through those 142 plate appearances, the man managed to hold a .451 average, only wingsauce slapped the ball more often. Now remember that these stats don't even include the Summer Classic or "The Last Wiffle". That's another 36 some odd innings of action. This award doesn't simply go to the guy that shows up the most often, no there is more and the championship games are where Lonny shone. He was the only person to be on both winning teams, the only one. To top the whole gambit off, he not only sang the National Anthem at the summer's classic, he also busted out a celebratory frontflip mid season. Seriously, is there really a debate?

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: MICHAEL "EL GUAPO" MORIATY

This award goes to the most dominant overall player in the league. Guap booted the most pieces of plastic over the wall and came in second in RA from the mound. As an opponent in many of these contests, I can attest to Guap's capability in the crunch. There is no more formidable opponent.

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Finally, about 6 months behind schedule, the final stats for 2007 are released. In keeping with tradition, stats from "The Last Wiffle" were not included as it was a championship game. I was generous with the cut-off criteria at 30 at bats and 10 innings pitched. I propose that for 2008 the cut-off for final stats should be 10 games played. This would constitute around a 50% attendance of games. It is up for debate.

Without doubt a new system for stats is in order. Unfortunately there is no easy way to get around the manual input portions. I will spend some time brainstorming and try to come up with a better plan.

Starting next week, there will be a minimum at bats and innings pitched to make the leaders board.

These are the stats through last Sunday's game. I am trying a new method of updating. Hopefully it will make it a bit easier. I will add in Tuesday's game as soon as I get the scorecard.