Here on FanGraphs, we don’t do a lot of writing about other writers. It’s actually a site policy, and when someone joins FanGraphs, we make a point of telling them that our goal is to talk about baseball, not talk about the people who cover baseball. I have little to no interest in media criticism, or in advancing any kind of notion that the “traditional” and “new” media outlets need to be at war with either. But yesterday, Bob Ryan published a piece in the Boston Globe that I think is worth responding to.

In some ways, the piece isn’t that different from what hundreds of other sports writers have written over the last few years. However, I think this one is worth a response, or put more accurately, I think Bob Ryan is worth responding to. He’s one of the most respected sports writers in America, generally, and his body of work suggests that this article was born out of a genuine belief system, not just an attempt to stir the pot and generate discussion. My experience in reading and listening to him has always led me to perceive him as a reasonable man, and so I’d like to offer a reasoned response to his column.

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Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
Houston at Los Angeles AL | 22:05 ET
Dallas Keuchel (53.0 IP, 73 xFIP-, 1.2 WAR) faces Garrett Richards (52.0 IP, 81 xFIP-, 1.5 WAR). The former has produced surprisingly excellent numbers largely owing to his slider, the virtues of which pitch Eno Sarris documented recently at RotoGraphs. The latter has begun to record the sort of numbers one might expect given the quality of his repertoire — a trend which Jeff Sullivan recently examined at FanGraphs.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Houston Radio?

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A feature that gets a lot of attention here, probably, is our playoff odds page. That page uses updated player projections and manually updated team depth charts to determine playoff probability and expected record. I look at the page probably two or three times a day, and though the numbers mean only so much, there’s no better way to get an idea of where a team truly stands. Current standings tell you about the now; projected standings tell you about the significance of the now.

A feature that gets a lot less attention here, probably, is our playoff odds page based on season-to-date performance. It uses the same depth-chart information, but instead of using player projections, it uses what players have already done. For example, in the former case, the Rockies are projected with a half-decent Charlie Blackmon. In the latter case, the Rockies are projected with a terrific Charlie Blackmon. It’s evident why the former page is preferred, but the latter page can serve a purpose, especially if you’re wondering about potential under- and over-achievers.

I thought it could be interesting to compare the two pages. We’ll leave the playoff odds alone — those get complicated, and they’re not what this is about. Both pages have projected rest-of-season winning percentages. With which teams do we see the greatest differences? Is this as predictable as it seems like it would be?

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Ben and Sam banter about the Dodgers and run differential and then discuss a surprising trend in managerial ejections thus far.

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Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
Tampa Bay at Los Angeles AL | 15:35 ET
David Price (62.2 IP, 67 xFIP-, 1.4 WAR) faces Matt Shoemaker (11.2 IP, 105 xFIP-, -0.1 WAR). After his most recent start, during which he recorded a 12:0 strikeout-to-walk over 9.0 innings while also conceding just a single run at Seattle (box), Price’s run-prevention numbers now more closely resemble his excellent fielding-independent ones. Of note with regard to his opponents, the Angels have thus far produced a park-adjusted batting line, park-adjusted home-run rate, base-running runs total, and defensive-runs figure all about a standard deviation or better than league average.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Tampa Bay Radio.

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In 1992, Gene Lamont took over as manager of the Chicago White Sox. The following season he led them to 94 wins and a playoff berth. In 1994, his team was on pace to win close to 100 games when a players’ strike ended the season in August.

Why were the 1993 and 1994 White Sox serious title contenders?

“We had really good players,” said Lamont, now the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers. “Once Jason Bere and Wilson Alvarez came in, we had five good starting pitchers. We had a good offense, but if you look at most teams that are really good, they have good pitching. We had Jack McDowell, who won a Cy Young one year. Alex Fernandez was awful good. Scott Sanderson was good. Tim Belcher was our fifth starter the year we got in the playoffs.

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Episode 449
Jeff Sullivan is a frequent contributor to the electronic pages of FanGraphs. He’s also the guest on this edition of FanGraphs Audio — in which edition is explored Sullivan’s deep depths.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 1 hr 17 min play time.)

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If you missed the inaugural post of The Best Of FanGraphs, you can do so here. In case you don’t feel like clicking through though, here is how this post is structured:

We’ll pull from the whole FanGraphs family, picking 10-15 stories that we feel you really should read before the week draws to a close. The links are color coded — green for FanGraphs, burnt sienna for RotoGraphs, purple for NotGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community. They are listed in this order as well in each day, just for the sake of consistency.

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Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
Los Angeles NL at Arizona | 20:10 ET
Clayton Kershaw (20.2 IP, 41 xFIP-, 0.8) faces Chase Anderson (5.1 IP, 62 xFIP-, 0.1 WAR). The virtues of the former are manifest. The virtues of the latter aren’t entirely, but largely, summarized by means of the animated GIF below, which animated GIF depicts Chase Anderson’s fantastic changeup.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Los Angeles NL Television.

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