ESPN’s Joe Morgan has made it clear in the past that he has no use for statistics. I know this because a little over a year ago, he said, “My point is you can't compare things with statistics.” That’s odd, because there is no better, more accurate, efficient way to compare players than with stats. This is especially true in baseball, where the stats are more meaningful and telling than in any other sport.
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↵So, knowing this made Morgan’s reaction to Jon Miller bringing up Jim Edmonds’ OPS on Sunday night all the more hilarious: ↵ ↵
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↵Now, it would be presumptive and unfair for me to say that Mr. Morgan has no clue what OPS is, but I’m gonna go ahead and assume that anyway. At the least, he seems to be disgusted by Miller’s mere mention of this statistic. A statistic, which we should point out, that is one of the best measurements of a player’s offensive effectiveness considering it analyzes both their ability to reach base and hit for power. Unlike Morgan’s favorite stat, RBI, which, like wins, is a situational statistic that has as much to do with the ability of the rest of the team as it does with the individual player.↵
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↵So, knowing this made Morgan’s reaction to Jon Miller bringing up Jim Edmonds’ OPS on Sunday night all the more hilarious: ↵ ↵
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↵Now, it would be presumptive and unfair for me to say that Mr. Morgan has no clue what OPS is, but I’m gonna go ahead and assume that anyway. At the least, he seems to be disgusted by Miller’s mere mention of this statistic. A statistic, which we should point out, that is one of the best measurements of a player’s offensive effectiveness considering it analyzes both their ability to reach base and hit for power. Unlike Morgan’s favorite stat, RBI, which, like wins, is a situational statistic that has as much to do with the ability of the rest of the team as it does with the individual player.↵
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.