The Tyranny of Numbers

Tobias,

Another excellent article. 

The world of statistics is, in a way, the antithesis of play. Or, at least play’s ugly tainted brother.  Play is the thing, right? Kids aren’t playing to tally later, they play to play. It might be said that stats keeping is just another layer of play, but i believe another word than play is better suited.
In some ways, keeping stats makes play distasteful.  It is as when a fellow keeps statistics on his love making.  We regard it as tasteless when the stats become more than dear than the acts themselves.

When i put on my sneakers and head to the court with players 10 years younger, i am pitting my 31 on their 20 something and, usually, cannot later recall who won what pick up game.  I do know if i played well or if i was on my heels. i certainly know if it was a fun afternoon or frustrating.

The talk of purity of baseball gives me cause to shake my head.  To suggest the game, as in kids on a field with mitts and a ball, is pure might fly; to suggest the instituion of baseball is pure is to ignore the fact that no institution is pure.  Come on.  Barry Bonds may be under suspicion for one thing or another but it sure can’t be for corrupting Major League Baseball.  That was done the first time the suits sat down and lit their pudgy cigars.  That was when play left baseball, that is when all sports become long term gains, short term losses, a void of revelry.

Comment by C.Linton from South Korea — September 8, 2007 @ 8:08 pm

Any time you try to apply intellectual overanalysis to a sport, you’re pretty much just practicing armchair philosophy.

If you reduce the phenomenon of spectator sports to just being games muffed up by statistics, you ignore the cultural meaning of sports.  You arbitrarily pick a team to root for based on where you were born, where you live now, who your friends are rooting for, or just based on which team moves you the most.  That team faces another team according to an agreed upon set or rules, and victory is awarded by those rules according to merit.

If you think the outrage about Barry Bonds is just about numbers, you’re missing the point.  The reason people can care so much about sports is that they believe achievement is being awarded fairly.  If you remove fairness from the game, you might as well be watching a scripted sport like pro wrestling.

For all the arguing about whether Barry Bonds was on steroids, let’s be honest here.  The national ERA ballooned up to the highest it’s ever been around the same time two people, after decades and decades, break the single season home run record the same year.  Then people start talking about steroids, and suddenly the national ERA deflates back down to it’s normal level.  The amount of coincidence necessary for these players not to be on steroids is staggering.  The fact is, around the Mark McGuire home run race, fairness was removed from the game, and if fans are going to keep being emotionally moved by the sport, they need to know fairness has been restored.  Barry Bonds breaking the record is a symbolic reminder that the game is still unfair.

And if A Rod makes it to 62 this year, in my opinion, he’s the all time single season home run leader.  (His head is the same size as it’s ever been.)

Comment by Chris — September 10, 2007 @ 11:59 am