Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 26, 2005
Bill James Interview

Baseball Digest Daily interviewed Bill James. You can read Part I here. Here's an excerpt where Bill talks about speed:

BDD: Years ago you talked about how overrated speed was in the major league game. That was a bold statement to make back then since Ricky Henderson and Tim Raines were coming into their own and had become huge stars. Yet, since that time, stolen bases have been on the decline. Do you think teams have started to understand the impact of speed at the major league level? And were players like Raines and Henderson effective in your mind because of their speed? Do you still feel that speed in the minor leagues plays a much larger role than at the major league level?

BJ: Raines and Henderson were extremely effective players whose speed made them even more effective. The importance of speed in baseball is inversely proportional to the quality of play. At the lowest levels of the game—eight-year-old kids trying to play baseball with limited ability to catch and throw—speed is immensely important. As the players become more and more skilled, it becomes less important. It’s less important in the World Series than it is in regular season, for the same reason.


Posted by David Pinto at 04:49 PM | Interviews | TrackBack (0)
Comments

As much great work that Bill James has done in the past, him working for the Red Sox has really put a damper on his present effectiveness to the sabermetric crowd. All the interviews I've read with him in the recent past have been rehashings of old findings that he has made. This interview is the perfect example. He won't even TALK about college baseball stats because that's property of the Red Sox.

Bill James is the venerable baseball stats guy, but his time has come and gone. To me, he's more of a historical figure in the sabermetric community. Shoot, he was one of the founding fathers, but if you ask "what have you done for me lately", well, he really HASN'T done anything lately, at least for the sabermetric community.

(I realize that this post may come across as a bit harsh, but it really isn't meant to be. I have great respect for Bill James and everything that he has done in the past.)

Posted by: sabernar at May 26, 2005 07:02 PM

Sabernar,
I think you're missing one of the main points of BJ's work which was not that he was important in any way, but that anyone, everyone should go out and examine the game using a more logical and rigorous analysis and come up with their own ideas, theories, test them, reject them, and explore them.

Posted by: Lee Harris at May 27, 2005 07:17 AM

If the Dave Roberts doesn't steal second last year in Game 4 of the ALCS, the Red Sox don't win the World Series. That's all there is to it.

Posted by: Yankee Despiser at May 27, 2005 08:32 AM

You're absolutely correct, despiser. In fact, speed is MORE important in WS and playoff action, because you're facing pitchers who aren't going to give up gobs of runs. You need to play small ball to score consistently off of a Pedro, Clemens, or Maddux, and speed is the main ingredient in small ball.

Posted by: Keith at May 29, 2005 04:56 PM
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