Sports
Bill James on MLB: Too much is foul, and more thoughts on making the game better
It might be an excessive amount of to say Invoice James and Rob Manfred are kindred spirits. However, when the daddy of contemporary analytics talks, we hear.
“Baseball has horrible aesthetic issues,” James stated. “Everyone knows that. However, in lots of circumstances, it isn’t the principles which are inflicting them. It’s the shortage of latest guidelines.”
Lately, Manfred is the face of the house owners’ lockout, the chosen consultant of the billionaires who stand between America and spring coaching. In happier instances, and for years now, Manfred has tried to nudge a tradition-bound sport towards modifications that he believes might make baseball extra thrilling to look at.
Stephen Curry is without doubt one of the hottest gamers in NBA historical past, however he may not be with out a radical guidelines change. Curry is the all-time chief in three-pointers.
The addition of a totally totally different approach to rating didn’t destroy the material of the NBA. Greater than 40 years later, baseball continues to be arguing about what number of seconds a pitcher can take between pitches.
The gamers’ union indicated Sunday it’s prepared to just accept a pitch clock in 2023, in addition to restrictions on defensive shifts, offered gamers and house owners attain settlement on a collective bargaining settlement for the 2022 season. When it comes to aesthetics, James suggests a much more radical change.
In the present day, a batter can foul off an infinite variety of pitches with two strikes, with no penalty. Pitchers throw more durable than ever, batters swing more durable than ever, and foul territory in fashionable ballparks is smaller than ever.
In every of the final 5 seasons — and by no means earlier than, based mostly on accessible information from the Baseball Reference and 5 Thirty Eight web sites — it’s extra possible {that a} strike might be fouled off than put into play.
“The hitters have realized to use that rule to increase at-bats, which is without doubt one of the issues making the sport longer,” James stated, “and you have to make changes.”
James proposes {that a} batter can foul off one pitch with two strikes. Foul off one other pitch, and also you’re out.
Heresy? Perhaps. However, as James famous, baseball had been performed for many years beneath the premise {that a} runner ought to knock over the catcher if he’s guarding residence plate, and {that a} staff ought to change pitchers each time it needed. No extra, for the reason that guidelines modified.
Invoice James throughout his time because the Boston Crimson Sox senior baseball operations advisor in 2008.
(Charles Krupa / Related Press)
“All people accepts that now,” James stated. “No one fights it.”
The designated hitter is a radical guidelines change. James will not be combating it, even when Nationwide League house owners are able to give up their half-century of resistance, however he wonders if the DH has outlived its goal.
In 1972, the final season earlier than the introduction of the DH, groups averaged 3.7 runs per recreation. In 2021, NL groups averaged 4.5 runs per recreation and American League groups averaged 4.6.
“I’m sufficiently old to do not forget that they adopted the DH as a result of the run-scoring ranges have been abysmally low,” he stated. “That’s now not true.
“I’d somewhat do away with the DH, however I perceive that’s not the favored aspect.”
Lockout however, James stated baseball is an efficient enterprise, for these that may afford to purchase a staff.
“I believe franchise values are going up as a result of, sadly, we dwell in an America during which an increasing number of of the wealth in society is concentrated in fewer arms,” he stated. “And, when you have got extra individuals who have obscene wealth, the worth of issues you may solely purchase with obscene wealth goes up.”
The person whose title is synonymous with baseball analytics stated the info in one other sport piques his curiosity today.
“Basketball analytics are simply fascinating to me,” James stated. “To me, the dialogue is extra alive at this second, and shifting in related methods, than in baseball.”
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks at a information convention final Tuesday after he introduced the cancellation of the primary week of the season.
(Wilfredo Lee/Related Press)
The brand new frontiers in baseball analytics contain biometrics, biomechanics and neurological assessments — that’s, methods to enhance efficiency by way of science somewhat than by way of statistical analysis alone.
Nonetheless, even when the elemental ideas of baseball analytics are established amongst groups, James says the implementation varies broadly.
“The extent to which analytics have been exploited efficiently by groups is, like, 1%,” he stated.
“What bothered me within the Seventies is that groups acted on numerous irrational assumptions. I don’t need to get into the small print of it, however there are nonetheless numerous irrational assumptions embedded in the best way baseball does issues. There’s nonetheless loads of issues that we’re not doing in a wise approach.”
The “Moneyball” season is 20 years previous. The standard knowledge — that’s, the belief — is that each staff is invested in analytics now, to the purpose the place no staff has an enormous benefit any extra.
James scoffed.
“The [Tampa Bay] Rays are getting an enormous benefit, as a result of they do it higher than anyone else does,” he stated. “The Dodgers.
“There are nonetheless good groups and silly groups.”
James spoke with The Los Angeles Instances after a panel dialogue on the MIT Sloan Sports activities Analytics Convention, the place the baseball analytics panel included James, the director of baseball operations for the Rays, and the previous director of analysis and improvement for the Dodgers, who now runs his personal analytics firm.
The standard main league season lasts 162 video games. With the lockout in pressure, the moderator requested whether or not the panelists would take the over or beneath on a 144-game season in 2022.
James took the beneath.
“It’s the identical precept as an airline,” he stated. “If the airline tells you your flight goes to be 20 minutes late, you’ve received a 50-50 likelihood of being 4 hours late. Once they begin canceling video games, it simply will get simpler.”
Sports
Riley Leonard returns from injury to lead Notre Dame to national championship game in CFP win vs Penn State
Notre Dame is going to the first College Football Playoff National Championship game of the expanded format era after a comeback 27-24 win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Thursday.
Fighting Irish kicker Mitch Jeter kicked the game-winning 41-yard field goal to cap off a back-and-forth battle between the two storied programs.
Notre Dame’s comeback victory may have never materialized had quarterback Riley Leonard not summoned the fortitude to return to the game after an injury.
“He’s a competitor and competitors find a way to win,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said in a postgame interview on ESPN right after the game. “It’s an honor to be a part of this with him.”
Penn State Nittany Lions face off at the line of scrimmage against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the Penn State Nittany Lions versus Notre Dame Fighting Irish College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on January 9, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Leonard had to leave the game in the second quarter, forcing in backup Steve Angeli. At that point, Notre Dame was already behind 10-0. But Angeli helped get the Irish back into it with a field goal drive to give Notre Dame its first points, as the Irish went into halftime down 10-3.
But Leonard returned to the game in the second half, and led a touchdown drive to tie the game. The two teams then traded score for score in a competitive second half.
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Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Abdul Carter (11) celebrates a tackle on Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) in the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
Leonard had a chance to lead a go-ahead drive with two minutes remaining, but the Penn State defense came up with a big third-down sack to force a Notre Dame punt.
Then Allar, with a chance to lead a game-winning drive with less and possibly put himself into the conversation for the top quarterback taken in the NFL Draft, came back onto the field for the biggest moment of his career. And in that moment, he threw an interception to give the ball right back to Leonard and the Irish.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) celebrates a touch down with teammates in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Hard Rock Stadium. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
Leonard then came back on the field and led the final drive that put Jeter in position to seal the deal.
“I just trusted in Jesus,” Leonard said in a postgame ESPN interview.
Notre Dame’s storybook run continues after it came up with a historic win against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans just one day after a deadly terrorist attack killed 14 innocent people.
The Irish will meet the winner of the Cotton Bowl on Friday between Ohio State and Texas.
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Rams receiver Demarcus Robinson, who was arrested in November, has been charged with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records.
Robinson is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 24 at the Van Nuys Courthouse.
TMZ.com first reported the charge.
Robinson was arrested on Nov. 25 on suspicion of driving under the influence after California Highway Patrol officers observed him allegedly speeding at more than 100 mph on the 101 Freeway in Woodland Hills. He was cited at the scene and released.
Coach Sean McVay did not suspend Robinson, who has 31 receptions for a career-best 505 yards and a career-best seven touchdowns. Robinson is scheduled to start on Monday when the Rams play the Minnesota Vikings in an NFC wild-card game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
A few days after his arrest, Robinson said he made “a bad decision” to drive while impaired.
“It’s a bad look,” he said. “I don’t want to bring that type of light or any type of negative energy toward the team.”
The NFL conducts independent investigations of off-field incidents involving players but does not typically make a decision about suspensions until the legal process concludes.
Robinson, a ninth-year pro, played this season on a one-year $4-million contract that included $1 million in incentives, according to Overthecap.com.
Sports
Ana Bărbosu, Romanian gymnast involved in Olympic bronze medal controversy, commits to Stanford
Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu, who won a bronze on floor exercise at the 2024 Olympic Games after a controversial ruling that stripped the medal from American Jordan Chiles, will join Stanford’s gymnastics team in the fall. She announced her commitment via Instagram on Wednesday.
“Can’t wait to join this amazing family! Go Card,” she wrote.
Bărbosu, 18, was awarded the bronze medal six days after the floor exercise final after her team appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). During the Aug. 5 event, Chiles made the podium after her coach, Cecile Landi, successfully inquired to have Chiles’ score raised by 0.1, bumping her from fifth to third place. The court ruled that the judges presiding over the final should not have accepted the inquiry because Landi’s request came four seconds after the one-minute deadline to submit it. The International Olympic Committee reallocated Chiles’ bronze medal to Bărbosu, who received it at a ceremony in Bucharest, Romania’s capital.
Bărbosu’s elation and devastation was in the spotlight on the day of the floor exercise final. When Chiles, the last competitor in the event, initially scored a 13.666, Bărbosu — who scored 13.700 — began celebrating what she thought was a third-place finish. After Landi’s inquiry led to Chiles’ score change, Bărbosu’s dropped her Romanian flag out of shock and left the floor in tears.
Though Bărbosu is currently the official owner of the bronze, the medal is still tied up in appeals. Chiles’ attorneys filed a formal appeal with the Swiss Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s Supreme Court, to overturn the CAS ruling on Sept. 16 and added a second appeal brief on Sept. 24. USA Gymnastics also filed a separate appeal in conjunction with Chiles’ application. Chiles’ attorneys are arguing that CAS did not consider video evidence that “showed her inquiry was submitted on time.”
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While Bărbosu’s participation in the Paris Games has largely been clouded by the floor final controversy, she helped Romania to a seventh-place finish in the team final and earned a spot in the individual all-around final. In the 2026 NCAA gymnastics season, she’ll join a Stanford squad that went on a Cinderella run from a No. 52 ranking in Week 1 to the 2024 NCAA championship semifinal. It’s likely Bărbosu and Chiles will face off at the collegiate level next season, as Chiles will be completing her senior season with UCLA gymnastics and Bărbosu will make her NCAA debut. Former Pac-12 foes Stanford and UCLA are in different conferences now (the ACC and Big Ten, respectively), but the schools have a dual meet slated for March 9, indicating they will likely continue scheduling meets together in the future.
Another gymnast who competed for Romania at the 2024 Olympics will also enter the NCAA ranks soon, as Lilia Cosman committed to Michigan State.
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(Photo: Lionel Bonaventure / AFP via Getty Images)
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