{"id":20108,"date":"2015-11-12T10:45:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T16:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=20108"},"modified":"2015-11-12T16:47:36","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T22:47:36","slug":"lonnieball-teamwork-is-moneys-new-best-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lonnieball-teamwork-is-moneys-new-best-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Lonnieball: teamwork is money’s new best friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nick Zazulia<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lonnie Wheeler thinks sabermetrics is just great. The sportswriter and author of nine baseball books is constantly amazed by what advanced statistics can reveal about a player or team. He wants to make that clear, right up front.<\/p>\n

That said, they might just be missing something. Doesn\u2019t it seem likely there is at least a little bit of pretty important stuff that all of our WHIPs and WARs and VORPs cannot or do not take into account?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Wheeler\u2019s belief, anyway.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why he wrote \u201cIntangiball: The Subtle Things That Win Baseball Games,\u201d an ode to the mystical 10 percent Wheeler estimates the fancy stats still can’t pin down. The book was released Aug. 11, but seems to have made an impression. At least one major league team, which Wheeler wouldn\u2019t identify, has tried to bring him in to talk to its staff.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Intangiball:<\/a>
The cover to “Intangiball,” Lonnie Wheeler’s book about baseball’s immeasurables. (Lonnie Wheeler\/Courtesy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a recent telephone call with Medill News Service, Wheeler explained why he thinks sabermetrics can be overrated, talked about what he\u2019s seen around the game \u2026 and did he mention that he really does like sabermetrics?<\/p>\n

Question: Obviously, by the nature of what you\u2019re discussing, it\u2019s going to be difficult to provide any concrete proof, but what can you point to, to support the claims you\u2019re making to people who might scoff at the idea of intangibles making a significant difference?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer: The area that\u2019s left untreated or lands outside the zone of sabermetric expectation — the trend has been to attribute that to luck. I don\u2019t argue about the existence of luck in baseball, but it\u2019s kind of a cop-out if something doesn\u2019t match up with the sabermetrics (to just say), \u201cLuck was involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

A guy like Jonny Gomes, everywhere he goes, they win. It\u2019s easy, anecdotally, to say, \u201cHe\u2019s a winner, he knows how to do it, everywhere he goes they win.\u201d Well, of course the other 24 players and the organization makeup will play a role, but I think there\u2019s a study available that can bring some understanding to it and bring some appreciation to (what he does that helps teams win).<\/p>\n

(There must be a reason when a team such as San Francisco) succeeds and the players talk about (how) everybody on that team had such a profound effect on each other, and when there was no other plausible explanation for what the Giants accomplished having not been great in the regular season and not having a great lineup.<\/p>\n

\"Lonnie<\/a>
Lonnie Wheeler, author of “Intangiball,” and numerous other books on the sport. (Lonnie Wheeler\/Courtesy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cardinals are another example … When teams like that succeed, whether its mojo or chemistry or some sort of indescribable feeling, players will allude to that. Team after team, manager after manager \u2014 the guys who are close to it are seeing it year after year after year. Instead of dismissing it because it\u2019s not scientific, let\u2019s see if we can see what it is. I think you can identify it and explain it a little bit.<\/p>\n

(Sabermetrics pioneer) Bill James said something to the effect of, \u201cTo think that the dynamics that apply to every other field in life don\u2019t apply to baseball is just absurd,\u201d and that\u2019s what it amounts to.<\/p>\n

Q: OK, so, what\u2019s missing from the numbers? What can\u2019t they tell us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: The areas that I think remain pretty much untouchable, and I won\u2019t say entirely, are areas in which players influence other players. Sabermetrics guys would say that if anything is meaningful, it will show up in the numbers somewhere, and I don\u2019t disagree with that. Obviously, one number it will always show up in is wins.<\/p>\n

But I also think that everything positive, every contribution a player makes no matter in what respect, even if it\u2019s abstract, will show up in the numbers of (some) player, but not necessarily the player who is responsible for it.<\/p>\n

When a veteran pitcher (such as Justin Lehr) helps a Homer Bailey learn a split-finger changeup, (that is) Lehr\u2019s contribution. “(Analytics types say) if it\u2019s valuable, it will show up,\u201d and, to some extent, it did. But it showed up in Homer Bailey\u2019s bottom line, not in Lehr\u2019s.<\/p>\n

[field name=”gettybailey”]
\n

\nA hitter may suddenly improve his eye and perform more alertly and run the bases better, and he should get credit for that, but maybe there\u2019s somebody on the bench like Scott Rolen who contributed to his aggressiveness and state of mind and the way he runs the bases.<\/p>\n

Q: Do you see the trend toward advanced stats having a potentially negative impact on Hall of Fame voting in baseball?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: A Hall of Fame voter is, of course, going to look at the numbers first. I don\u2019t find fault with that. But maybe the Hall of Fame consideration is missing a little bit … An example of that would be Mike Piazza. (Besides rumors of PED use,) Piazza is criticized for being poor defensively because he didn\u2019t throw out many base runners. As far as that goes, it\u2019s true. But later studies that evaluate a catcher\u2019s influence and how he works with pitchers show that Piazza is more successful in the way he handled pitchers than any catcher of his time. So if you combine that in, he grades out as an excellent defensive catcher in addition to his hitting. (Editor’s note: Wheeler co-authored Piazza’s autobiography.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: What is your take on the way analytics versus intangibles are valued by different managers and clubs around the league?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: It differs from club to club.<\/p>\n

A guy like Joe Maddon is a master of both. He understands the game just so well on so many levels. The advanced metrics do not pass him by, and he will pay attention. Tampa was very clued in to analytics, and he was perfect there. But he also so understands the makeup of a ballclub and the personalities therein, and he\u2019s demonstrated that with the Cubs.<\/p>\n

[field name=”gettymaddon”]
\n

\nOne that surprised me when I was doing the book was Tony La Russa. Back in the day, he was known as the most statistical manager around. (When we talked to him, we opened by acknowledging that the metrics would take you) a long way, maybe 90-95 percent of the way, and he said, \u201cStop right there. No, I wouldn\u2019t even say they take you a long way, they take you a little bit of the way.\u201d And La Russa was very oriented, to my surprise, to players and personalities and team culture.<\/p>\n

Overall, the Reds are an organization that leans toward makeup. The Braves gravitate toward makeup. The Red Sox, having hired Bill James, became a more sabermetrically aligned team, but not exclusively. When they finally broke through and won the World Series, I think they were very much a team of personalities and culture.<\/p>\n

\n

Wheeler\u2019s
\nWritings<\/h1>\n

Pitch by Pitch
\n(with Bob Gibson)<\/p>\n

Intangiball<\/p>\n

Long Shot (with Mike Piazza)<\/p>\n

Stranger to the Game
\n(with Bob Gibson)<\/p>\n

Cincinnati Schoolboy Legends
\n(with John Baskin)<\/p>\n

I Had a Hammer
\n(with Hank Aaron)<\/p>\n

Sixty Feet, Six Inches (with Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson)<\/p>\n

The Road Back
\n(With Thomas E. Witte)<\/p>\n

Street Soldier
\n(with Joseph Marshall)<\/p>\n

Blue Yonder: Kentucky<\/p>\n

Hard Stuff
\n(with Coleman Young)<\/p>\n

The Official Baseball Hall of Fame Story of Mickey Mantle<\/p>\n

Bleachers<\/p>\n

Cincinnati Game
\n(with John Baskin)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Q: Going forward from here, do you see the trend continuing in baseball in terms of moving heavily toward the quantifiable, or do you think the market balances out after what has been an overcorrection?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I think the intelligentsia of baseball who does an examination of it will continue to expand on both ends (analytical and intangible). One American League team called and was interested in having me address their staff because it\u2019s an area of study that they\u2019re interested in and think can have an effect. I think there are several teams like that who may even look at intangibles as a market inefficiency because those contributions aren\u2019t valued in salary as much as statistical ones are.<\/p>\n

I think more than anything what\u2019s influenced me is about how strongly baseball people (such as Maddon and former MLB first basemen Carlos Pe\u00f1a) thought that intangibles are a huge part of the game. That, and how much (some) sabermetricians were trying to get a handle on how things work that are considered outside their domain.<\/p>\n

The best sabermetricians will try to examine everything, included the intangible.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Jonny Gomes and the Cincinnati Reds are a major focal point of Lonnie Wheeler’s “Intangiball.” (Copyright Keith Allison<\/a>)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nick Zazulia Lonnie Wheeler thinks sabermetrics is just great. The sportswriter and author of nine baseball books is constantly amazed by what advanced statistics can reveal about a player or team. He wants to make that clear, right up front. That said, they might just be missing something. Doesn\u2019t it seem likely there is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":20197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[509,31],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-20108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2015","category-sports","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nLonnieball: teamwork is money's new best friend - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lonnieball-teamwork-is-moneys-new-best-friend\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lonnieball: teamwork is money's new best friend - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Nick Zazulia Lonnie Wheeler thinks sabermetrics is just great. 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