Who’s the most clutch hitter on your team?
March 24, 2008 7 Comments
Whom do you want up when the game is on the line? Your team’s best hitter overall… or perhaps someone else. After all, there are some guys who just take it up a notch when the game is on the line, right? And then there are some guys who despite being good hitters in general… well, choke under pressure. And it’s better to have someone who’s “clutch” up in a close/late situation, right? (You’re waiting for me to talk about Jeter and A-Rod, aren’t you?)
Wanna bet? Not actual money, mind you, although Phil Birnbaum has actually made that offer. Fellow Sabermetric blogger Tom Tango is running his Great Clutch Project. Who is the guy who’s really clutch? After all, if clutch hitting is that easy to pick out with the naked eye, then you should be able to say who it will be in advance. Too often, we call someone “clutch” after he’s gotten a bunch of clutch hits. I can tell you a pretty good list of people who will likely hit 40+ HR this year and it will likely be mostly correct, but can you tell me who the good clutch hitters will be this year? Can you?
Here’s Tom’s idea. He’s taking votes on who you want up there in a key situation for your team (or anyone else’s team for that matter). That is, who’s the best hitter on the team when the game’s on the line? Tom’s betting that it’ll simply be the team’s best hitter. So, he’s tracking how the 30 “best hitters” on each team perform in high pressure situations against who the fans pick as the “clutch” players.
If you want to try, here’s the link. Good luck.
Way to step up the rhetorical questions, this was a very clutch post.
I love the debate about whether “clutch” is anything real or if it’s something we notice because we want to. The chapter on that very subject is one of my favorites in the BP book “Baseball Between the Numbers,” and it all makes for great fodder for late-night discussions.
One day, I want to make a post composed entirely of rhetorical questions. It’s a dream. I’m not there yet.
You can do it, Pizza Cutter. Don’t stop believin’.
9 questions in a total of 21 sentences.
You’re (almost) half way there. Woah, livin’ on a prayer.
Me. I’m the most clutch.
True, when StatSpeak needs a column, I want Eric to be up there writing it.