GWH, YBG, NTAWC

28Jul/080

GWH, YBG, NTAWC

I'd like to add some new stats today.

GWH is Game Winning Hit percentage. Unlike discredited stats like Game Winning RBI, Game Winning Hit Percentage is an efficiency stat. It shows that a hitter doesn't waste his hits in meaningless situations, but rather uses them to win ballgames. The 2008 leader in this category is Robinson Cancel, at 1.000! That's right, all three of his hits either drove in the winning run or led to him scoring the winning run.

YBG, or Years Between Games, is a stat that came to my attention after the Mets started using it to set their lineup. Most players are zeroes, but the first place Mets' roster usually leads the league in this stat. Their starting lineup scored a remarkable 13 on Saturday, led by Tatis (1), Knight (5) and Robinson Cancel, the league leader at 7.

Surely you noticed what I noticed -- the remarkable correlation between YBG and GWH. I didn't have the patience to do the math, but I think Tatis has a high GWH this year too. Coincidence? I think not.

Cancel also leads the league with a .500 NTAWC (Names That Are Windows Commands percentage). Most of the league are zeroes.

So let the established sabermetricians fool around with silly stats like OPS. Cancel's 471 OPS proves that this stat doesn't correlate well with what actually matters, winning ballgames. The Mets have figured it all out, and are building their teams according to their players' YBG and NTAWC. If they could just find a retired player with a name like Joe WordCount or Harry DeleteBrowserHistory they'd win the pennant for sure.