Saturday, September 3, 2016

On Mute


I don’t usually watch a White Sox game with the sound on; Hawk Harrelson is too irritating.  But a finger slipped, and I heard Harrelson jabber about Todd Frazier after Frazier hit his 35th against the Twins last night.

According to the Hawk, batting average is either the most overrated or misunderstood statistic there is in baseball, I can’t remember which because I immediately suffered a shouting fit after hearing this bit of “wisdom.”  But let’s look at some other statistics, shall we?

On the season, Frazier is batting .215 with 35 homeruns and 86 rbi’s.  He’s hitting .194 with runners on and .162 with runners in scoring position (good for 45 rbi’s).  Now, to me, if Frazier is hitting .250-.260, he’s already well over 100 rbi’s and leading the Sox to a wildcard if not the division lead.  Sorry, Hawk, but .215 makes me worry that Frazier is the second coming of Dave Kingman, with a personality and a glove to be sure, but still the second coming of Dave Kingman.

Maybe Hawk means to say that Jose Abreu’s .293 BA is misleading.  Abreu has been hitting a ton lately, what in the old days we’d call a salary drive.  Isn’t that right, Hawk?

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