Behind the Stats

Sometimes, statistics in wiffleball tell a real story.  Often however, the statistics we look at casually do not describe the entire picture.  I am not a devout student of Sabermetrics, but I do look at statistics in very different ways than just the average Joe.

After reviewing the historical PWBL stats, I've compiled several groups of hitters that differ in what they bring to a team.  This was done by computing some different relationships of the statistics available, as well as looking back as far as 2011 to obtain statistics on hitters still playing today.  Some weight was also given to overall lifetime statistics, but with respect to the fact that Palisades has changed dramatically in terms of offensive numbers since approximately 2010.  Note that I also did not include those players who have not yet played 22 games, or one full season, since statistics need a chance to play out over some time.

In my experience, a lot of what fans and players alike observe about hitters is what that they did recently. It's only human nature to recall what just happened that day, or in the previous game, etc.  However, many times when the statistics are reconstructed, and looked at objectively, some different conclusions become apparent.  For example, the guy who hit the one monster homerun in the last inning to win a ballgame is suddenly viewed as the premier clutch power hitter around the league, when in fact he could be a fairly average hitter who hit one good shot. Conversely, sometimes a quiet player goes along, putting up some serious numbers, gets overlooked due to personality and a lack of team success.

My goal in writing this article is to confirm some beliefs about hitters around the league, as well as to possibly dispel some myths.  My secondary goal is to suggest that the PWBL might end up with more parity in 2014 if team owners look at players more objectively as opposed to drafting guys based on friendships, prior team affiliations, or pre-conceived notions of offensive production for the next year.

Category 1:  True Power Hitters

The PWBL prides itself on power hitting. When a game can be won with a single solo-shot, backed up by a staff ace, who wouldn't want power on their side, right?  I took AB's per HR, % of Extra-Base Hits, and Lifetime SLG% and asked, "which hitters satisfy two out of satisfy of these questions:  less than 16 AB's per HR, 40% or greater Extra-Base Hits, and a .500 Lifetime Slugging% ?"  Well, here they are:

Rich Guillod, Anthony Lando, Tim McElrath, Matt Fliesser, Garret Torres, Nick Anezoulakis, Jordan Robles, Pete Blickley, Nick Squitieri, John Colluzzi.

Obviously, this confirms such major power threats from future hall of famers in Goo, Lando and Colluzzi.  It also confirmed for me what I've thought for a while now, Nick Anezoulakis can rip the ball when he gets a hold of it.  But how about Pete Blickley?  This kid has only had a brief career, but the numbers don't lie. He's in elite company!

Category 2:  True Clutch Hitters

Being a "clutch" hitter is very hard to define, and often too easily assigned to a player based on one big hit.  In fact, clutch hitting is so tough to define that the die-hard Sabermetricians have said it doesn't even exist.  I, being old-school, say baloney!  I looked at RBI:Hit ratio, Lifetime Batting Avg., the number of Grandslams hit since 2011, which players had more than 40 RBI since 2011, and I also went back through all box-scores since 2011 to credit guys with what I termed a "Huge-Hit": A hit that either was a walk-off, a hit that put their team directly over the top in a big spot, or late in the game. Combining all these categories, here are your "true" clutch hitters.

Rich Guillod, Anthony Lando, Brett Bevelacqua, Garret Torres, Nick Squitieri, Nick Anezoulakis, John Colluzzi, Joe Schaefer, Kris Dooly, Joey Maniscalco, Mike Frezza, and Jay Paraskevas.

WAKE UP, Palisades League team owners!  Your own president, the sly fox that is Brett Bevelacqua has his ENTIRE TEAM populated this season with guys from this list.  If you think that's only coincidence, you'd better check yourselves, and step it up in next year's draft.  Also, there were a couple of rising-star clutch hitters who didn't quite make my current criteria, but who nonetheless are quite obviously "clutch":  Tim McElrath and Matt Fliesser.

Category 3:  Guys Who Get On

I think this is an underrated ability, especially in wiffleball. Even though you can't steal a base, pull a hit & run, or bunt someone over, etc., like in baseball, getting guys on-base is very important. It forces pitchers to throw more directly to the zone, which thereby improves the ability to hit overall. It also puts mental pressure on a pitcher in a subtle way. I looked at Lifetime OBP, BB:K ratio, and Lifetime Batting Average, and came up with a top ten.

John Colluzzi, Eric Lanks, Rich Guillod, Anthony Lando, Brett Bevelacqua, John Istorico, Mike Frezza, Chris Goldsmith, Joe Gallo, and myself.

Again, the 2013 Dodgers are loaded with these guys. How about Chris Goldsmith, John Istorico and Mike Frezza, though?  Not normally names that get all bounced around as guys who can spark an inning up.

Category 4:  Tough Outs

I love this category.  Nothing wears more on a pitcher, especially a brutal, hard-throwing PWBL pitcher, than a guy who doesn't go sit down on the bench easily.  To me, it's what I look for almost above all in a teammate at the plate. Everything else, including the opportunity to hit a bomb, hinges on this, because when you see more pitches, you tire a hurler out and may eventually get a mistake to hit.  I looked at what I call K%, the percentage that a batter strikes out per total plate appearance, including BB's,  BB:K ratio, and also Lifetime Batting Average.  What we're looking at here are hitters who don't strikeout, walk nearly as much or more than they wiff, and who also can rip a base hit.

Rich Guillod, Anthony Lando, Brett Bevelacqua,Chris Goldsmith,  John Colluzzi, Bobby Daly, Dakota Kenny, Joe Gallo, Mike Frezza, and myself.

This confirmed what I've always thought,  Bobby "Mr. Furious" Daly is one tough out!  My biggest surprises from this category were how Chris Goldsmith and Mike Frezza appeared again. These guys, particularly Mr. Goldsmith, are undervalued players.

The one name that I found missing from my four groups was Anthony Bevilacqua. How can this be?  This guy is in the running for MVP this summer, and literally carried the Tigers through the first half of the season.  How could he be missing from these groups of hitters around the league?  I realized that the answer lay in the fact that Anthony is an all-around great hitter. He has serious, but not legendary power. He just barely missed my criteria for clutch hitting. He gets on-base but not as much as some guys, and he strikes out just a bit too much to make my toughest outs category.

However, the fact that his stats are just below the charts for these particular arbitrary categories doesn't matter in the end, because all that truly matters is winning, and Anthony finds ways to do just that!