The Jeff Samardzija Defenestration Thread

[Slaky]

Dave Cameron could be replaced by a robot and no one would know the difference. He just spits out dollar/WAR projections and holds it all as absolute fact. I'm not sure why he even bothers to write columns anymore.

I like facts. But the way baseball writing has gone in the past 3-5 years (an estimation) really turns me off.

[Saul Goodman]

Dave Cameron could be replaced by a robot and no one would know the difference. He just spits out dollar/WAR projections and holds it all as absolute fact. I'm not sure why he even bothers to write columns anymore.

I like facts. But the way baseball writing has gone in the past 3-5 years (an estimation) really turns me off.

What's happened, exactly?  I only read articles here or there, so I don't see trends like you do.

[InternetApex]

Dave Cameron could be replaced by a robot and no one would know the difference. He just spits out dollar/WAR projections and holds it all as absolute fact. I'm not sure why he even bothers to write columns anymore.

I like facts. But the way baseball writing has gone in the past 3-5 years (an estimation) really turns me off.

What's happened, exactly?  I only read articles here or there, so I don't see trends like you do.

Two words: Laptop. Science.

It's filled with things I know I need to understand, but reading it, processing it and projecting it onto what I see feels a lot like work. Basketball writing is going the same way but the play is so much more fast-paced and action oriented, when you break down a couple of plays by the Spurs and Heat and then look at the clip it's poetry in motion, then a shot chart revealing tendencies and effectiveness. Then an insightful quote from an insider. Cool.

With baseball it's numbers, numbers, numbers... A video of one pitch, which may be shot from a horrible angle by Yellon on a gigantic baseball field. And numbers.

Don't get me wrong, I love baseball. But I truly understand why it's dying with the under-21 crowd. By the time the Cubs win the World Series, the only people talking about it may be us.

[Eli]

Dave Cameron could be replaced by a robot and no one would know the difference. He just spits out dollar/WAR projections and holds it all as absolute fact. I'm not sure why he even bothers to write columns anymore.

I like facts. But the way baseball writing has gone in the past 3-5 years (an estimation) really turns me off.

What's happened, exactly?  I only read articles here or there, so I don't see trends like you do.

Two words: Laptop. Science.

It's filled with things I know I need to understand, but reading it, processing it and projecting it onto what I see feels a lot like work. Basketball writing is going the same way but the play is so much more fast-paced and action oriented, when you break down a couple of plays by the Spurs and Heat and then look at the clip it's poetry in motion, then a shot chart revealing tendencies and effectiveness. Then an insightful quote from an insider. Cool.

With baseball it's numbers, numbers, numbers... A video of one pitch, which may be shot from a horrible angle by Yellon on a gigantic baseball field. And numbers.

Don't get me wrong, I love baseball. But I truly understand why it's dying with the under-21 crowd. By the time the Cubs win the World Series, the only people talking about it may be us.

I think there are plenty of useful stats that have helped us all understanding the game better. But people are throwing out metrics that aren't fully vetted and still using them as if they're gospel (Cameron and his WAR/dollar stuff is just one example). This isn't to say we should all revert to using RBIs and batting average to gauge players, but it's tough to gauge which ones are worthwhile sometimes.

On the flip side, there also seems to be a trend of more and more bloggers/Twitterers/random people out there pretending to be scouts, which might be even more annoying. As always, I blame Jason Parks.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Dave Cameron could be replaced by a robot and no one would know the difference. He just spits out dollar/WAR projections and holds it all as absolute fact. I'm not sure why he even bothers to write columns anymore.

I like facts. But the way baseball writing has gone in the past 3-5 years (an estimation) really turns me off.

What's happened, exactly?  I only read articles here or there, so I don't see trends like you do.

Two words: Laptop. Science.

It's filled with things I know I need to understand, but reading it, processing it and projecting it onto what I see feels a lot like work. Basketball writing is going the same way but the play is so much more fast-paced and action oriented, when you break down a couple of plays by the Spurs and Heat and then look at the clip it's poetry in motion, then a shot chart revealing tendencies and effectiveness. Then an insightful quote from an insider. Cool.

With baseball it's numbers, numbers, numbers... A video of one pitch, which may be shot from a horrible angle by Yellon on a gigantic baseball field. And numbers.

Don't get me wrong, I love baseball. But I truly understand why it's dying with the under-21 crowd. By the time the Cubs win the World Series, the only people talking about it may be us.

At the same time, everyone's always still quick to bitch and moan about the sports media pushing "narratives".

Which I get. It's a fine line between telling a story and shoveling bullshit. And most sports writing probably tends toward the latter, because most sportswriters are hacks.

On the plus side, unlike back when the likes of Grantland Rice were purpling their prose a century ago, reading the stuff is no longer necessary for enjoyment of sports.

[InternetApex]

Dave Cameron could be replaced by a robot and no one would know the difference. He just spits out dollar/WAR projections and holds it all as absolute fact. I'm not sure why he even bothers to write columns anymore.

I like facts. But the way baseball writing has gone in the past 3-5 years (an estimation) really turns me off.

What's happened, exactly?  I only read articles here or there, so I don't see trends like you do.

Two words: Laptop. Science.

It's filled with things I know I need to understand, but reading it, processing it and projecting it onto what I see feels a lot like work. Basketball writing is going the same way but the play is so much more fast-paced and action oriented, when you break down a couple of plays by the Spurs and Heat and then look at the clip it's poetry in motion, then a shot chart revealing tendencies and effectiveness. Then an insightful quote from an insider. Cool.

With baseball it's numbers, numbers, numbers... A video of one pitch, which may be shot from a horrible angle by Yellon on a gigantic baseball field. And numbers.

Don't get me wrong, I love baseball. But I truly understand why it's dying with the under-21 crowd. By the time the Cubs win the World Series, the only people talking about it may be us.

At the same time, everyone's always still quick to bitch and moan about the sports media pushing "narratives".

Which I get. It's a fine line between telling a story and shoveling bullshit. And most sports writing probably tends toward the latter, because most sportswriters are hacks.

On the plus side, unlike back when the likes of Grantland Rice were purpling their prose a century ago, reading the stuff is no longer necessary for enjoyment of sports.

It's not just writers who shovel bullshit narratives. Television and radio never shut the fuck up about how "unclutch" a guy like Peyton Manning is. But a story about Evan Gattis' journey to the big leagues is worth anybody's time. So what you said, fine line etc.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Dave Cameron could be replaced by a robot and no one would know the difference. He just spits out dollar/WAR projections and holds it all as absolute fact. I'm not sure why he even bothers to write columns anymore.

I like facts. But the way baseball writing has gone in the past 3-5 years (an estimation) really turns me off.

What's happened, exactly?  I only read articles here or there, so I don't see trends like you do.

Two words: Laptop. Science.

It's filled with things I know I need to understand, but reading it, processing it and projecting it onto what I see feels a lot like work. Basketball writing is going the same way but the play is so much more fast-paced and action oriented, when you break down a couple of plays by the Spurs and Heat and then look at the clip it's poetry in motion, then a shot chart revealing tendencies and effectiveness. Then an insightful quote from an insider. Cool.

With baseball it's numbers, numbers, numbers... A video of one pitch, which may be shot from a horrible angle by Yellon on a gigantic baseball field. And numbers.

Don't get me wrong, I love baseball. But I truly understand why it's dying with the under-21 crowd. By the time the Cubs win the World Series, the only people talking about it may be us.

At the same time, everyone's always still quick to bitch and moan about the sports media pushing "narratives".

Which I get. It's a fine line between telling a story and shoveling bullshit. And most sports writing probably tends toward the latter, because most sportswriters are hacks.

On the plus side, unlike back when the likes of Grantland Rice were purpling their prose a century ago, reading the stuff is no longer necessary for enjoyment of sports.

It's not just writers who shovel bullshit narratives. Television and radio never shut the fuck up about how "unclutch" a guy like Peyton Manning is. But a story about Evan Gattis' journey to the big leagues is worth anybody's time. So what you said, fine line etc.

Didn't realize there was one...guess I'll fire up the Googles.

[InternetApex]

Dave Cameron could be replaced by a robot and no one would know the difference. He just spits out dollar/WAR projections and holds it all as absolute fact. I'm not sure why he even bothers to write columns anymore.

I like facts. But the way baseball writing has gone in the past 3-5 years (an estimation) really turns me off.

What's happened, exactly?  I only read articles here or there, so I don't see trends like you do.

Two words: Laptop. Science.

It's filled with things I know I need to understand, but reading it, processing it and projecting it onto what I see feels a lot like work. Basketball writing is going the same way but the play is so much more fast-paced and action oriented, when you break down a couple of plays by the Spurs and Heat and then look at the clip it's poetry in motion, then a shot chart revealing tendencies and effectiveness. Then an insightful quote from an insider. Cool.

With baseball it's numbers, numbers, numbers... A video of one pitch, which may be shot from a horrible angle by Yellon on a gigantic baseball field. And numbers.

Don't get me wrong, I love baseball. But I truly understand why it's dying with the under-21 crowd. By the time the Cubs win the World Series, the only people talking about it may be us.

At the same time, everyone's always still quick to bitch and moan about the sports media pushing "narratives".

Which I get. It's a fine line between telling a story and shoveling bullshit. And most sports writing probably tends toward the latter, because most sportswriters are hacks.

On the plus side, unlike back when the likes of Grantland Rice were purpling their prose a century ago, reading the stuff is no longer necessary for enjoyment of sports.

It's not just writers who shovel bullshit narratives. Television and radio never shut the fuck up about how "unclutch" a guy like Peyton Manning is. But a story about Evan Gattis' journey to the big leagues is worth anybody's time. So what you said, fine line etc.

Didn't realize there was one...guess I'll fire up the Googles.

http://www.totalsportsblog.com/2013/06/the-legend-of-el-oso-blanco-and-the-best-of-evan-gattis-facts/

[SKO]

Dave Cameron could be replaced by a robot and no one would know the difference. He just spits out dollar/WAR projections and holds it all as absolute fact. I'm not sure why he even bothers to write columns anymore.

I like facts. But the way baseball writing has gone in the past 3-5 years (an estimation) really turns me off.

What's happened, exactly?  I only read articles here or there, so I don't see trends like you do.

Two words: Laptop. Science.

It's filled with things I know I need to understand, but reading it, processing it and projecting it onto what I see feels a lot like work. Basketball writing is going the same way but the play is so much more fast-paced and action oriented, when you break down a couple of plays by the Spurs and Heat and then look at the clip it's poetry in motion, then a shot chart revealing tendencies and effectiveness. Then an insightful quote from an insider. Cool.

With baseball it's numbers, numbers, numbers... A video of one pitch, which may be shot from a horrible angle by Yellon on a gigantic baseball field. And numbers.

Don't get me wrong, I love baseball. But I truly understand why it's dying with the under-21 crowd. By the time the Cubs win the World Series, the only people talking about it may be us.

At the same time, everyone's always still quick to bitch and moan about the sports media pushing "narratives".

Which I get. It's a fine line between telling a story and shoveling bullshit. And most sports writing probably tends toward the latter, because most sportswriters are hacks.

On the plus side, unlike back when the likes of Grantland Rice were purpling their prose a century ago, reading the stuff is no longer necessary for enjoyment of sports.

It's not just writers who shovel bullshit narratives. Television and radio never shut the fuck up about how "unclutch" a guy like Peyton Manning is. But a story about Evan Gattis' journey to the big leagues is worth anybody's time. So what you said, fine line etc.

There's some really great longform sports journalism going on right now from Grantland to SB Nation and even SI sometimes, it's just the day to day stuff that tends to fall into camps of "traditional sports hackery" to "overly dry analytics."

That's not that surprising though. It takes a relatively unique set of skills to be able to use analytics in a conversational way rather than to just regurgitate numbers without context and assume everyone will just view them the same way you do.

[InternetApex]

Here's a better article on Gattis.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130319&content_id=42975534&c_id=mlb

[J. Walter Weatherman]

There's some really great longform sports journalism going on right now from Grantland to SB Nation and even SI sometimes, it's just the day to day stuff that tends to fall into camps of "traditional sports hackery" to "overly dry analytics."

That's not that surprising though. It takes a relatively unique set of skills to be able to use analytics in a conversational way rather than to just regurgitate numbers without context and assume everyone will just view them the same way you do understand how absolutely staggering they are.

Gil: The Gift That Keeps On Giving'd

[InternetApex]

There's some really great longform sports journalism going on right now from Grantland to SB Nation and even SI sometimes, it's just the day to day stuff that tends to fall into camps of "traditional sports hackery" to "overly dry analytics."

That's not that surprising though. It takes a relatively unique set of skills to be able to use analytics in a conversational way rather than to just regurgitate numbers without context and assume everyone will just view them the same way you do understand how absolutely staggering they are.

Gil: The Gift That Keeps On Giving'd

Where is Gil? Is he ok?

[BBM]

Can we move this thread to the dead pool?

[Bort]

Can we move this thread to the dead pool?

Or at least the FIREBARN.

[Slaky]

And lo Jeff Samardzija was defenestrated.