That's What Cheesehead: 39.09 - More Than 1 Way to Skin a Cat

[7teen]

Madison Wolves GM Chris Wilson has been saying for many years now that there is more than way to score runs. While this generation has fallen in love with the "elevate to celebrate" mentality that hitting balls over everyone's head and out of the park is the way to get it done, the Wolves have managed to built an offensive juggernaut in another way. In the era of launch angles, Wilson has gone a whole new route and it has led to many runs. The most in the league in fact.

Seventy games into the 2039 season, the Madison Wolves have scored 430 runs(36 more than anyone in the Frick and 30 more than anyone in the Johnson). Granted the Wolves have played 2 more games than their nearest Frick competitor and 3 more than the Johnson team, but still, we're leading the charge. San Fernando and Phoenix, the Wolves next closest teams, rank 4th and 1st in their leagues respectively when it comes to homeruns. Both are also in the top halves of their league in slugging percentage (PHX is 1st) which shows these teams are living up to the modern stereotypes that HRs and Slugging Percentage leads to runs. Madison on the flip side of that ranks dead last in the Frick in homeruns (only Brooklyn has fewer) and 10th in slugging. So how are they scoring.

"I guess it's a mixture of Moneyball and the 1980s" said GM Chris Wilson. "A simplified Moneyball philosophy was to get on base. In the 1980s, teams ran. And by ran I mean they stole bases. I know, those two theories contradict one another, but if both can be successful in their own ways, then perhaps a team can score runs when the homeruns are absent. And we seem to be proof of that."

The Wolves get on-base. Collectively the Wolves have a team on-base percentage of .372. San Fernando ranks second in the Frick behind Madison with a .352 average. A full 20 points lower than the Wolves. Madison currently has three players with an on-base percentage over .400 (Mons Raider, Jharrod Thealer, and Andrew Torres) Torres leads the Frick League with a .442 OBP only because Raider's .455 mark doesn't qualify at the moment because he missed time with an injury and therefore doesn't have the PAs to qualify. But it doesn't stop there. Here is the list of regulars and their OBP:

Raider .455
Torres (currently injured) .442
Thealer .425
Quicker .397
Barral .395
Hale .377
Dempsey .370
Hinson .361

"It's easy when you look at it like that" said Wilson, "our guys don't make a lot of outs. But that's not the full story."

True. It's not. Getting on base doesn't do you a lot of good if you still can't come around to score. Two walks or two singles doensn't add up to much if you follow it with outs. But despite the lack of homerun numbers, Madison is scoring. And they're doing that with their legs.

Madison has 128 stolen bases this season. Only Huntsville in the Johnson League has more than 100 as a team. Madison has 30 more steals than anyone else in the Frick. And it's not just Raider.

Yes, Raider does lead the way with 35. But Ross Quicker has 29. Steve Dempsey has 26. Even Niccolo Machiavelli has 11. Madison leads the Frick League in hits with 741. So while only 64 of those are homeruns, it means a lot of them are harmless singles. Harmless I guess if you're playing other teams. But with 128 stolen bases, it is easy to assume several of those singles are turning into doubles after Raider, Quicker, or Demspey steals second base. Those don't factor into the team slugging percentage. But their league leading 155 doubles do!

Sure, the naysayers will say that Madison built a stadium a few seasons back that would cater to this style of play. Madison has finished near the bottom of the league in homeruns ever since Shotz Stadium was built. And perhaps those detractors would be correct.

"That might be truer had we played a ton of games at home" said Wilson. "But through 70 games we've played 25 at home and 45 on the road. This style of play can be successful everywhere we think. And right now, it is. And it will have to continue to do so if we are going to maintain any success this season."

Truer words have never been spoken. Madison will have to continue to score runs if they want to win. With their pitching ranked next to last in runs allowed, fans had better continue to cheer on the walk, single, double, and stolen bases the Wolves keep churning out. And hope the club can stay atop the league in runs scored at the conclusion of the season.

[RonCo]

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[RonCo]

Madison's SB success is the reason why folks who say SB are not useful in the modern game are wrong. In any sane view, if your success rate can stay high, you want to steal as much as you can. The Wolves' 81% success rate is 9th best in the league, but is good enough to retain large value...so going for volume (158 attempts so far) is still good...Madison leads the league in wSB with only Vancouver really close.

[shoeless.db]

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=28468

Down the rabbit hole I go. Tell my wife and kids I loved them.