In case you're only a casual baseball fan or just plain unlucky not to know this, there is a great baseball writer in this world, and his name is Joe Posnanski. Anytime his name is mentioned and a link is provided, you, dear reader, should click on that link and immediately read what is written on the other side
↵He has an article up at Sports Illustrated that's sort of about Wins Above Replacement, a statistical concept you'll see us here cite now and then. It's not about how WAR works and is calculated, though, rather about the ideas behind it, MVP arguments and how it's not the death of all that is right with baseball.
↵I very much encourage every person reading this -- even non-baseball fans -- to click that link and read the article immediately. It's excellent. And it includes the best Posnanski side note ever on the masculinity of the number eight. I personally think 8 looks very curvy, but that's another argument.
↵Read it.
↵↵↵If you want to believe that baseball is won entirely by heart, that RBIs and wins are the two most important numbers, that defense can be measured best and entirely by what you see, that Jack Morris and not Bert Blyleven belongs in the Hall of Fame, that numbers deaden the sport, you are absolutely entitled — more than entitled, you are empowered to see the game as you want to see it, enjoy it as you want to enjoy it. I’m not sure what you’re doing here, 2,000 or so words into this essay about WAR, but you absolutely should watch all sports for the joy of it. I just hope you’re not running a team I like.
↵