MLB: From the Useless Stat Department

Baseball is a game of stats. Some stats really matter when judging a player’s ability and worth and there are some stats that really don’t. Those stats have been debated by everyone from sabermatricians over Twitter to your average fans sitting down in the bagel shop on a Sunday morning.

One stat for me that doesn’t matter and completely drive me nuts when I see someone mention it is “Player X has a Y average in ballpark Z.” This stat is usually uttered after a player is traded to or signs with the team that plays in that ballpark. For example, after Vernon Wells was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, I heard someone say Wells only has a .226 average at Angel Stadium.

Here is why this stat is completely useless. Wells’ .226 average is against guys he is teammates with now. That stat will have no bearing as to how he will perform for the Angels in 2011 and beyond.

It’s like if someone says Joe Schmo has a .565 lifetime average at Kaufmann Stadium. Well no kidding he does. If I had to face Bruce Chen and Kyle Davies on a consistent basis, I would have that average there too.

Now if that player gets traded to the Royals, well, he is no longer facing Chen or Davies. He is going to be facing CC Sabathia or Dan Haren in a series. All of a sudden, he is not such a good hitter at The New K.

I don’t know why I felt the need to vent about this stat (maybe you will find out later), but it really drives me crazy when I hear it used.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg