Question!

[BlueInCanada]

OK so I like watching the Blue Jays whenever I can catch one of their games, when I was little my dad was working down in Toronto and the family was living down there. Well one thing to keep me busy was we would go to the baseball game down at the Rogers Center and watch them play, so I've always pulled for 'em. Anyways I don't claim to know all that much aboot baseball, hell I can't even figure out that stats. Anyways I was able to watch the game on Monday when they beat the Athletics or whatever the Oakland team is, then the announcer dude says they are still playing them on Tuesday, Wendsday, ect.

 

Now what I am asking is...in regular season, you play the same team multiple times in a row like a best of series? or is this just some crazy baseball scheduling?

[Virginia Giant]

Yes, any given team will play any other given team from the same league (like conference in football) in a series ranging from 2 to 4 games, with 3 being the normal number.

 

 

There 162 games per team per season, 14 teams in the American League (Toronto's league) and 16 in the National League. The whole season is played in 2, 3 or 4 game series, and teams will play multiple series against each other per season.

 

 

 

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. This section could certainly use some more participants.

[mickeef2]

Just to expand on what VG said, while they play 2, 3, or 4 game series, it's not really a "best two out of three" scenario during the regular season. They group the games together to cut down on travel. Of course you like to win every game, and most players and managers look at each series with the mindset "Let's take two out of three", but there's no penalty for "losing" a regular season series (other than hurting your overall won/lost record).

[Virginia Giant]

Just to expand on what VG said, while they play 2, 3, or 4 game series, it's not really a "best two out of three" scenario during the regular season. They group the games together to cut down on travel. Of course you like to win every game, and most players and managers look at each series with the mindset "Let's take two out of three", but there's no penalty for "losing" a regular season series (other than hurting your overall won/lost record).

Yeah I should have made that more clear. Thanks for having my back Mic.

[BlueInCanada]

162 games?!? holy sassafras!

 

No wonder why teams have 2828437 pitchers, they must get freakin sore by season end.

[Virginia Giant]

162 games?!? holy sassafras!

 

No wonder why teams have 2828437 pitchers, they must get freakin sore by season end.

Yeah, people say baseball isn't a physical sport, but they play 162 games during the hottest months.

[BlueInCanada]

Another question!

 

How does that batting average stat thingy work? What the hell does that percent mean? The higher the better? or the lower the better?

 

Another question..whats an ERA? Announcer guy was saying some pitchers ERA was like 2.30 and being good.

 

lol these stats confuse the hell out of me.

[Virginia Giant]

Another question!

 

How does that batting average stat thingy work? What the hell does that percent mean? The higher the better? or the lower the better?

 

Another question..whats an ERA? Announcer guy was saying some pitchers ERA was like 2.30 and being good.

 

lol these stats confuse the hell out of me.

OK, the batting average works by averaging out the numbe of hits per at bat. 3 hits out of 10 at bats is a .300 batting average, which is considered good. Anything higher than say, .330 is considered exceptional. Nobody has hit .400 since Ted Williams in 1941 (.406)

 

 

The era is based on how many earned runs per 9 innings pitched. There are earned and unearned runs. An earned run is a deserved run, best i can explain it, an unearned run is say, a run that scores because of an error, a guy hits a line drive that is dropped and he gets on base when he should have been out, then scores.

 

a 2.00 era means that for every 9 innings the pitcher pitches, he is allowing on average, 2 runs.

 

 

 

 

Think thats confusing, we havn't even covered the balk and infield fly rules. lol

[Ggirl]

Learning it can be difficult but once you do, you too will...

 

Love that game!

[LorfTVP]

162 games, twice as much as any other sport. Baseball is a marathon. Stats are also vital in enjoying the sport, or at least they'll enhance it to some degree. Check out the leaderboards for a general gauge on what is average and what the high water marks are. In each league, there are three divisions, East, Central, and West. Every team usually plays about 18-19 games against each divisional opponent and maybe about 6 versus everyone else in the league. So, that means that the Blue Jays play the Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays about 18 times each, putting them in one of the tougher divisions in baseball.

 

As far as percentages go, hitters want higher numbers and pitchers want lower numbers.

 

With a batter, let me use Alex Rios, of the Blue Jays.

 

.284/.331/.424

 

The first number is the batting average, a marker of the average percent of balls that land for hits.

The second number is the on base percentage, which is basically ((Hits + Walks)/At Bats). This is a measure of how often the player reaches base when he goes up to bat. So, basically, Rios gets a hit 28.4% and reaches base 33.1% of the time, including walks.

The third number is the slugging percentage, (Total bases/AB), which is a measure of how prolific a hitter is. Or rather, it's a gauge that says whether the player is a singles, doubles, or homerun hitter. AVG and OBP are the more common stats.

 

Hope I'm not making this more confusing. For pitchers, let's go with the beast, Roy Halladay.

 

2.77 / 1.02 / .230

 

As VG explained, the ERA is equal to ((Earned Runs + Innings Pitched) / 9). This is a gauge of how many runs a player would give up in a nine inning period.

The second number is WHIP, or Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched, which is a valuable tool. Basically, that number is equal to how many baserunners per inning the pitcher allows.

The third number is Batting Average Against, which is basically the opposing batters' batting average against that particular pitcher.

[Clarence the Blue Puppet]

Yeah, people say baseball isn't a physical sport, but they play 162 games during the hottest months.

 

and anybody who has spent time in a batting cage will tell you it's physical. It's pretty tiring swinging a bat multiple times. Stand in there and watch a ball zip past you at 90mph and tell me that hitting baseball isn't one of the hardest things to do in sports.

[Ditto]

For me it's the waiting till they pull the tarp off the field.

[gateb]

As VG explained, the ERA is equal to ((Earned Runs + Innings Pitched) / 9). This is a gauge of how many runs a player would give up in a nine inning period.

lorf maybe you missed a sign but wouldnt that mean if a pitcher went 6 and gave up 3 runs his ERA for the day would be 1?

[Ditto]

Hmm! Good catch! I missed that, too. Should be ER / IP x 9.

[LorfTVP]

lorf maybe you missed a sign but wouldnt that mean if a pitcher went 6 and gave up 3 runs his ERA for the day would be 1?

 

Oops, how the heck did that happen. I must've been thinking of two formulas at once...sorry, baseball gods.

 

But yes, you're right. The league average usually hovers around 4.25-4.50. Or at least in this day and age...it's been going down a bit since the steroid era "ended". So, a 3 ERA usually means a good pitcher.