My friend and fellow Tigers blogger Lee Panas published a book this past offseason called Beyond Batting Average. It is a must read for anyone interested in learning more about the advanced statistics used in in baseball today.
I’ve known Lee virtually for a number of years through blogs and forums and in addition to being an excellent analyst, he is very adept at explaining complex concepts in an easy to digest manner. Beyond Batting Average is an extension of the great work that Lee has been doing online for years.
Panas doesn’t just explain the stats, but he also tells you why you should care about them.
In case you think I’m just touting something for a friend, I’m not alone in this assessment. Saber-atti like Tom Tango and Dave Gassko endorse the book. Tigers play-by-play man Dan Dickerson takes it with him as a reference tome on road trips.
How very cool is it that Dan Dickerson is using Lee’s book as a reference tool? Hope he gives Lee some on air plugs as well. Maybe he already has.
no game thread for the Twins series!?! Aaaaaahhhh!
anyway, unbelievable start. holy moses.
Yeah, I’m getting hyped about being in 1st place after we win this game.
Billfer, if this is the end I thank you for the years of service. Well done!
what are you talking about?
I was looking for it too. Wanted to make my cynical prediction that despite the 4 run first the game will be lost. There is just something about this match-up that the Tigers can’t beat the Twins when it matters.
We’ll just use this one. billfer’s unyielding bosses are no match for the DTW faithful.
Kubel smoked that ball…We’re gonna need a few more to win this one.
it looks like Liriano is more or less done, so maybe we can pound on the Twins’ bullpen for a few extra. 5-3 makes me nervous.
Done fooling around maybe. The 6th looked pretty easy.
Bonderman not worth a crap tonight – get him out of there.
And yet, 28 minutes later, he’s poised for the win and the Tigers are a few innings away from first place. People, chill!
He was in trouble every inning and the Twins could have easily had 6 or 7 runs up against him. He got lucky with the DPs.
Inge is back in form and Laird is back to normal. They have let Liriano hang around way too long — this may not bode well and I am an optimsit.
Optimist? I’d hate to see your pessimist side! Seriously guys, a team that wasn’t supposed to contend is on the verge of moving into first place. Even I am bummed by the negative vibes.
Lets go Bull Pen.
Bondo is getting yanked, we need some runs next inning. Let not let this opportunity pass us up
I think it’s a great game. The Twins are relentless, but so are we.
Big hit by Raburn to drive in the insurance run.
Wow I can’t believe that Laird hit made it out of the park. I thought for sure some freak occurrence in nature would have stopped that ball short for an out, he has been unlucky this year on getting robbed of a sizable proportion of his potential hits. He may suck at baseball, but he’s a good trooper. Good job today Gerald.
good news: the White Sox lost. That alone makes this a good evening. Time for the bullpen to make it a GREAT evening (HINT: throw something other than fastballs, Zumaya).
there goes Zumaya. oh boy, does NOT look good.
Arm/shoulder injury I am guessing – can’t tell by Gameday. If so, shouldn’t be too much of a surprise unfortunately. I think we have to accept the fact that the guy just throws too hard.
Oh man, that does not look good for Zumaya at all.
What a bummer.
The painful look on his face was absolutely horrifying.
I think that might be it for Zumaya. Just guessing, it looks like Tommy John surgery is in the future. I hope I am wrong, but you cannot throw that hard for that long. A shame.
It looked like his elbow, so it could be awhile before we see him pitch again. He’s been pitching poorly for the past week also. Hopefully, we have someone in Toledo that can step right in and help the pen out.
best of luck with this one Zoom…hope for the best for you…..
+1.
What the hell happened?
After he pitched the ball, he went down holding his elbow. He looked like he was in sever pain.
I think Zumaya snapped a ligament in his elbow 🙁
I did it to my left (non throwing) arm last year, and man on man…it hurts. I was out of softball/golf for an entire year. They said if I was a professional athlete, I would be getting tommy john…
er…I mean, man OH man LOL
Dang… knew it was just a matter of time until he threw out that arm… That is too bad… Any names being tossed around in the minors that can help?
From Toledo, Fein maybe.
Just a shame. A unique talent will probably never be the same. Although we said that before about his shoulder.
It was his elbow, and he mouthed it popped. Sad but best case is dislocation of the elbow, but TJ looks like in his future which is two years, which means it might not be a Tigers uniform.
You may have been inconsistant, but it was electric every time you entered the game home or away and a joy to watch. Get well soon. and best of luck.
Had to step away from the set for a few. Any news on Zumaya?
Hate playing in Minnesota, even when we win …We lose
Another easy save for V.
We’re back in 1st place. Right where we belong.
bittersweet win tonight. pulling for Zoom.
Big win…thanks boys!
When I saw 42 comments on this post, I was wondering what they would be about. I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be 42 comments about my book. 🙂