Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Jim Rice v. Dewey v. Chet Lemon (?!): how WAR Graphs might change your thinking about HOF credentials.

The Baseball Analysts: Jim Rice, Chet Lemon, and How I Think About Wins Above Replacement:


@PatrickSull My favorite - run Jim Rice against Chet Lemon; pick up jaw.Wed Dec 29 03:03:45 via TweetDeck

... WAR Graphs is a Fangraphs feature where you can compare up to four players by Wins Above Replacement. Once one enters their desired search, three graphs appear. One shows how the players compare in their nth best seasons. The second shows how they compare year-by-year over the course of their careers. The final one shows how they stack up by age. 
It's a neat tool, and a handy one when like-minded folks are looking to settle a quick dispute. For instance, as a Red Sox fan, a pet issue of mine has been the travesty that is Jim Rice's Hall of Fame enshrinement while Dwight Evans never amassed more than eight percent of the vote.
I've long felt Dwight Evans deserved HOF consideration, and I was vocal in my advocacy of ol' Jim Ed, but I've never considered Chet Lemon.

This tool is dangerous; could easily lose all day doing comparisons. Williams v. DiMaggio (with Mays and Ichiro thrown in for some perspective) is an argument I've had with Yankee fans through the years that it might've been helpful to have this chart handy for.

Cumulative WAR by Age (just one way to slice the numbers)
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