Win a Free Copy of THT 2016!
Have you heard? The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2016 is now available for sale. You can check out the table of contents and read some excerpts from the book. When you finish that you can purchase it from our independent publishing platform, Createspace, in print form, or from Amazon in print form (the Kindle version should be available later this week).
But wait, there’s more! Because we’re giving folk, and since it’s the beginning of the holiday season and all, we want to give you a chance to win yourself a free copy of the book. So today, tomorrow and Wednesday, we’ll be running a trivia contest based on one of the articles in the book. The first person to post the correct answer in the comments will win a free physical copy of the book (sorry, no free Kindle version). It’s just that simple!
Today’s question comes from Brad Johnson’s postseason recap article, “To Err Is Human, But Not Royal.” In it, Brad examines the postseason through the prism of our very own ChampAdded stat. Here’s the stat’s description:
The stat has two components. First, the standard Win Probability Added (WPA). The outcome of a game is decided by each individual play. WPA measures the value of those plays by accounting for score, inning, base state (e.g. runner on first), and number of outs. The second ingredient is the leverage index for each game — the Championship Value. As a team moves deeper in a series, its chance to win (or lose) the series increases. Obviously, games take on greater significance in close series.
Let’s turn to the numbers. Game Seven of the World Series is worth one full championship since it’s winner-takes-all. ChampAdded assigns a value of 1.000 to the game since the winner will receive the Commissioner’s Trophy. All other games are worth a fraction of a championship.
At the end of the article, Brad lists the top 10 heroes of the postseason, in terms of total ChampAdded. The question before you today, dear reader, is this:
Can you name three of the five players who finished between sixth and 10th overall in total ChampAdded during the 2015 postseason?
Note: If you name more than three players, your entry will be automatically discarded.
Good luck!
Paul Swydan used to be the managing editor of The Hardball Times, a writer and editor for FanGraphs and a writer for Boston.com and The Boston Globe. Now, he owns The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Acton, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @Swydan. Follow the store @SilUnicornActon.
Murphy, Gordon, Volquez