Today's six-inning 9-4 win for the home team was punctuated by several discussions of the several rules of our great game. Many feel that simple rules (and stats) are best, but when you delve in a serious manner into the origins and implications of these things you see that what you think is simple is not. It never is.
Take modern stats. People dislike OPS (On base percentage Plus Slugging) because they say it isn't a rate stat that tells me the likelihood of any event for the next at bat. The preferred "Batting Average" is thought to be an easy concept: hits divided by times at bat. But really, that denominator is very complex: it's plate appearances not counting the ones where you get hit by a pitch, or sacrifice yourself to advance a runner, or walk, but it does count the at bats where you advance a runner by a fly ball or ground ball but you are put out, unless the runner happens to score on a fly ball. Got that?
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| Affirmed! |
So, so what if we have a double play rule that requires there be at least one runner on, but a triple play rule that does not. And we're among friends, so we can have a rule that a foul ball can roll back fair provided it hasn't hit the batter or the wall (with this codicil: it must roll fair prior to reaching the first or third base bag). We know this.
Speaking of that, Tim was serving some codicils on a platter on his second go-round on the mound - to the tune of six late runs for the home team. Those six, plus three runs earlier were enough to overcome Kurt's latest mammoth blast onto the Smith School roof. That ball's never coming down. Glen and Matt turned crucial double plays to prevent big innings; Matt's coming in the top of the final inning when it looked quite possible that he'd give up the five run lead.
All in all: beautiful day; beautiful play.
Fred, Kurt, Tim - 4
Glen, Matt, Peter - 9
HR: Mosser
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