Effectively Wild Episode 1168: Winning is for Losers

by
January 27, 2018

EWFI

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan talk about the Brewers’ trade for Christian Yelich and signing of Lorenzo Cain, how the Brewers stack up in the NL Central, whether they’re the new model for a rebuilding team, how Yelich and Cain could perform in their new park, what the Cain contract says about the slow-moving market, and where the Yelich move leaves the Marlins. Then they talk to Patrick Dubuque of Baseball Prospectus about how moving away from a “winning is everything” mindset can make baseball better for fans.

Audio intro: Flogging Molly, "What Made Milwaukee Famous (Made a Loser Out of Me)"
Audio interstitial: The Avett Brothers, "My Losing Bet"
Audio outro: John Lennon, "I’m Losing You"

Link to Patrick’s article about fans not needing their teams to win
Link to Short Relief archives at BP

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Alan
7 years ago

Baseball can also be appreciated because it is a mirror of the human condition. As with most modern endeavors, sensors and computation continue to increase their role in baseball thinking. Though they have many successes and are still making progress, they are clearly imperfect and likely to stay that way.

Baseball is a noisy and dynamic mix that has eluded conquest by algorithm and humbled those who thought otherwise. Appreciate the resilience of this untamed process.

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Ben LindberghFanGraphs Staff
7 years ago
Reply to  Alan

Patrick has written about that, too!

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/31306/cold-takes-how-computers-killed-a-sport/

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