penfold
07-11-06, 01:33 PM
Last night I was flipping channels and found a show on Bill James & sabermetrics on cable.
I found a blog connected to the Orange County (CA) Register this morning which mentions the show: http://blogs.ocregister.com/sciencedude/
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed a bias in the show that took away from the total learning experience and entertainment experience from the show. It was written and directed by people who just wanted to suck up to Tony Francona and the Red Sox. (It was comparable to watching a documentary on Europe in the 20th Century and realizing that it just focused on France, to the exclusion of other countries.) I'm not just trying to rag on the show because it was Sox-centric -- it just truly felt unbalanced. Lots of Sox interviews, only 1 with Sandy Alderson, and THAT'S IT. No Billy Beane. No MLB officials. No other team representatives.
At any rate, I thought it was a half-way decent introduction to the concept of statistical analysis in baseball. Nothing truly earth-shattering and a knowledge of baseball is required. A love for the Red Sox, too.
It left me wanting a better documentary on the subject. Maybe Fox, ESPN, YES or SNY can put something together one of these days....
EDIT: No, wait... I forgot that the documentary makers spoke to Mike Piazza, too. So add another Padre to the mix.
I found a blog connected to the Orange County (CA) Register this morning which mentions the show: http://blogs.ocregister.com/sciencedude/
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed a bias in the show that took away from the total learning experience and entertainment experience from the show. It was written and directed by people who just wanted to suck up to Tony Francona and the Red Sox. (It was comparable to watching a documentary on Europe in the 20th Century and realizing that it just focused on France, to the exclusion of other countries.) I'm not just trying to rag on the show because it was Sox-centric -- it just truly felt unbalanced. Lots of Sox interviews, only 1 with Sandy Alderson, and THAT'S IT. No Billy Beane. No MLB officials. No other team representatives.
At any rate, I thought it was a half-way decent introduction to the concept of statistical analysis in baseball. Nothing truly earth-shattering and a knowledge of baseball is required. A love for the Red Sox, too.
It left me wanting a better documentary on the subject. Maybe Fox, ESPN, YES or SNY can put something together one of these days....
EDIT: No, wait... I forgot that the documentary makers spoke to Mike Piazza, too. So add another Padre to the mix.