A CITIZEN'S BLOG

The Phils continue to be an offensive juggernaut (note, I am not including Friday night's bloodbath):

GPA: (1.8 * .OBP + .SLG) / 4
1. Philadelphia: .269
2. Colorado: .265
3. San Francisco: .264
4. St. Louis: .263
5. Chicago: .261
6. Houston: .260
7. Cincinnati: .258
8. Los Angeles: .253
9. Atlanta: .251
10. Milwaukee: .250
11. Florida: .250
12. Pittsburgh: .250
13. Arizona: .248
14. New York: .245
15. San Diego: .246
15. Montreal: .228
(as of July 2, 2004)


(Five strike-outs on Friday night aside, Jim Thome is still carrying this team: .357 GPA / .387 ISO / .567 SecAvg.)

ISO (Isolated Power): .SLG - .BA = .ISO
1. Philadelphia: .183
1. Chicago: .183
3. Colorado: .177
4. St. Louis: .171
5. Cincinnati: .168
6. Arizona: .164
7. Atlanta: .160
8. New York: .157
9. San Francisco: .155
10. Houston: .152
10. Florida: .152
12. Los Angeles: .146
13. Pittsburgh: .144
14. Milwaukee: .142
15. Montreal: .138
16. San Diego: .118
(as of July 2, 2004)

What got my interest looking at these stats was the fact that the Giants accomplished their rise in GPA largely on the back of their ability to get on base, with an NL leading .354 OBP (.009 higher than the Phils.) This team, aside from Barry Bonds, simply cannot hit the ball very far with consistency.

SecAvg (Secondary Average): (TB – H + BB + SB – CS) / AB = .SecAvg
1. Philadelphia: .314
2. Cincinnati: .296
3. San Francisco: .289
4. St. Louis: .281
5. Colorado: .280
6. Chicago: .271
7. New York: .267
8. Houston: .261
9. Atlanta: .261
10. Milwaukee: .258
10. Arizona: .258
12. Florida: .253
13. Los Angeles: .241
14. Montreal: .234
15. San Diego: .221
16. Pittsburgh: .215
(as of July 2, 2004)

Secondary average is a fun stat because it includes steals, home runs, etc. Because it values base-stealing I can imagine that it is disfavored by sabremetrics types.


(Here's hoping Chase gets some playing time soon.)

Here are the Top 5 MLB teams in ISO and SecAvg:

ISO:
1. Chicago White Sox: .195
2. New York Yankees: .190
3. Texas Rangers: .189
4. Chicago Cubs: .185
5. Philadelphia Phillies: .180
(as of July 3, 2004)

SecAvg:
1. New York Yankees: .326
2. Philadelphia Phillies: .316
3. Chicago White Sox: .312
4. Boston Red Sox: .305
5. Cincinnati Reds: .295
(as of July 3, 2004)

Imagine what the Phils stats would look like with a DH ... (The Phils would also be fourth in the MLB with 429.6 runs created, behind the White Sox, Red Sox and Indians...)

Off subject: I remarked the other day to a friend that Survivor winner Jenna Morasca and Big Brother / Amazing Race contestant Alison Irwin both went to the University of Pittsburgh, my alma mater (they were probably freshmen when I finished). It made me think: I've never seen Penn State graduates win anything ...