I'm a little late to the party, but according to Bernstein during transition: "The Presidents trophy winners have a history of having a lot of success and winning the Stanley Cup." (I'm paraphrasing because the transition podcast isn't up yet)

So I looked up the stats and since 1985-1986 only 7 Presidents Trophy winners have gone on to win the Stanley Cup while 19 did not, with 3 losing in the Stanley Cup Finals. That's a 27% winning percentage...which isn't too favorable.

There is not a damned thing wrong with people who are bull shitters.

I thought he was talking about it in regards to not losing in the first round.

I may be mistaken though.

So how does that make him like Hawk? Boers (at least on the surface) learned the lack of value those stats really had, and Hawk hasn't.

It's so funny how people argue about the value of baseball stats. If you pitch well, then you get more wins. If you hit well, then you get more RBI. Of course, those stats are dependent upon your teammates, but doesn't any sane baseball fan understand the limitations? All stats, even advanced ones have downsides and limitations. Batting average of balls in play is a perfect example.

And some have more downsides than their worth, like Runs Batted In


What is your issue with BABIP?

Dont act like RBI and BABIP are equally flawed, they are not

Bryan, do you think it's the same batted with men on base as with the bases empty? Do you think some guys are better in pressure situations than others? It's not as if RBI are useless. Guys that drove them in actually did something. I understand that they may not be the best predictor of future performance.

Yes, some guys are better under pressure, but that difference doesnt make up for the fact that early 2000 Red Sox/Yankee players were batting with guys on base all the time while Nick Markakis consistently came up with nobody on

Are you sure that's true though? On the surface it seems like it would be. And it probably is. But that's something bernstein does all the time- makes an uneducated assumption. And then he needs Maddux Boy or Quad City Pat to call in and tell him Markakis actually set a record for leaving guys on base. Just recently bernstein assumed that last years's Tigers has a better Pythagorean record than the 2012 White Sox.

No, Im not sure.

Im just using an example off of memory. It doenst matter if that specific thing is true though because what is certainly true is there are large disparities in RBI oppurtunity between players.

You're probably right. My mistake. But even so, there have been 6 Presidents Trophy winners losing in the first round since 85-86. Three out of the four last years have, in fact.

So we're talking about Presidents Trophy winner and seeing how many "don't lose in the first round." Championships are all that matter, lil' Danny.

He also kept referring to the Rays as the "D' Rays" during his updates, I think from the Berto Center in Deerfield.