Allen Craig’s fabulous post-season
Posted by Andy on October 24, 2011
Allen Craig has tied the record for most post-season pinch-hitting appearances in a season with a WPA of at least 0.09:
| Rk | Player | Year | #Matching | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Del Unser | 1980 | 3 | Ind. Games | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.750 | 2.750 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Dusty Rhodes | 1954 | 3 | Ind. Games | 7 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | .667 | .714 | 1.667 | 2.381 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Allen Craig | 2011 | 3 | Ind. Games | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
He benefits, of course, from playing in an era with more post-season games in a year, but nevertheless he's been excellent.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:23 am
Craig also has had three go-ahead RBIs in a single World Series. How many others have done that or exceeded it?
October 24th, 2011 at 9:31 am
Going back to the 6th inning of Game 3 (score STL 8 - TEX 6)...
The Cards had runners on 1st and 2nd with Ogando pitching and Craig batting....
It was so weird. Everyone seemed so concerned with Allen Craig, that after he struck out, the overall feeling was a huge sigh of relief and the Rangers would definitely get out of the jam...and ALBERT PUJOLS was coming up next (and of course crushed a HR to effectively end the game).
Did anyone have that same feeling - like the overall consensus was that Craig was THE big out in that situation?
October 24th, 2011 at 9:32 am
The way people have been talking lately, the stats tell us that Allen Craig is more valuable than Pujuls {See the comments in the previous post, "Albert Pujols' Not Very Good Three-HR Game"}! I am a supporter of Statistics-based management; but if there was ever a time that the flaws in such an approach come to light, I would say that this is it.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:37 am
Please note: I was typing this post when Tmckelv posted; it's good to see someone else saying about the same thing.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:38 am
Frank, I somewhat disagree, as follows:
1) The numbers, even under scrutiny and in game context, bear our that Craig was more valuable in total for those first 3 games.
2) However, both sides of the spectrum (sabermetricians vs non-stats-oriented fans) can get carried away. Pujols' performance was awesome but certainly not the most valuable World Series performance ever--but a lot of fans simply run with that idea even without much legitimate supporting evidence. Similarly, some sabermetricians get carried away and suggest that Craig is somehow more of a threat than Pujols. I don't care what Allen Craig does tomorrow--he could hit 4 homers in a single game--I am still going to fear Pujols as the bigger threat.
I don't think it's a shortcoming in the stats that you are pointing out, but rather a shortcoming in people's beliefs based on the stats.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:29 am
WPA for players in games is about outcomes, not about predictors.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:32 am
KT, true, but I'm sure it also correlates to some degree with future success.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Good point, Andy; but using numbers as predictors is a practice as old as the SPC fad back in the '80s {which, by the way, I was compelled to sit through at work}.
I think you hit the nail right on the thumb; and thew danger of using these stats as a basis for staffing is a quite real issue.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:48 am
Make that "The danger of using these stats", and forgive the typos, please. I think it hurt me more to lose my secretary {no Freudian comments, please} than giving up my job when I retired.
October 24th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Craig fabulous? Pujols not-so-great? Andy, you're losing it! Next you'll be telling us that the Phillies are finished this season! :-p
October 24th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
I'll say it now---Phillies are already done in 2012.
October 24th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Wow Andy is a notorious Philly hater. What total non-bias blogging by baseball-reference.
October 24th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
so can someone answer: who else besides Craig has had three or more go-ahead RBIs in a single World Series?
October 24th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Uh, Shaq...I think Andy is still beating himself over the head for a comment he made a couple of years ago -- he is, I believe, laughing at himself. And if It's any consolation to him, I can think of how I thought a few years ago that Ted Williams was talking out of his head when he was raving about a young catcher the Reds had. In fact, I believe that my exact words were, "Sure, he's good now; but he'll flame out pretty quickly. Still, as a Reds fan, I wish he was right."
The player? Some Sooner kid named Bench.
October 24th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
FYI, I also called the Pappas-for-Robinson trade a good move in '66. Who knew?
October 24th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Yeah, I was just continuing laughing at myself since so many of you still like to do it and I make it so easy 🙂
October 24th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Well, Andy, enjoy it...I have a few more years {decades?} of such statements than you do, and I still enjoy it, too. Makes the game a whole lot more enjoyable to me.
October 24th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
@12: <----- what a very monochromatic life you lead.
October 24th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
@12: The world will end tomorrow, better sell all your belongings.
October 24th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
#18
Monochromatic?
October 24th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
Hey, you finally remembered to post that the Phillies are done!
October 24th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
@20: devoid of color
October 24th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
or specifically of only one color
October 24th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
devoid of color variation
October 25th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
I'll make my prediction now:
Joey Votto will lead the NL in both homers and RBIs in '12 -- and Pujols will beat him out for the MVP.