Wednesday, April 2, 2008

James on Freakonomics

Bill James answers reader questions at Freakonomics. A LOT of questions:

Q: How important are good-hitting pitchers to the success of an offense in the N.L.?

A: Exactly as important as good-fitting underwear on a long drive.

Q: Has looking at the numbers prevented you from actually just enjoying a summer day at the ballpark? Have we all forgotten the randomness of human ballplayers? By reducing players to just their numbers can we lose sight of the intangibles such as teamwork, friendships, and desire.

A: Does looking at pretty women prevent one from experiencing love? Life is complicated. Your efforts to compartmentalize it are lame and useless.


And people still call this guy a "stats guru."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

APBA Guy-

This was fabulous. Thanks for the link. I especially liked his answer that he is not interested in the numbers. That's our impression of what he does. That's a great mind at work.