Can it possibly be true that the person who wrote this:

Sabermetrics should be left out of Hall consideration.
is the same person who wrote this?

Top 7 all time power/speed numbers = Check - A rare combination of power and speed

Hate to break it to you, powersackers, but power/speed number is one of those "sabermetrics" things that you think should be left out of Hall consideration. And actually, in this case I think you are correct, since you managed to pick one of Bill James' least useful creations as your sabermetric entry in the discussion. Even James called it a "freak show stat" that had no analytical value.

There are a lot of problems with power/speed number, not the least of which is that it takes two stats for which there are different ranges of poor to outstanding performance, and then treats them as if they are equal in weight. (Do 30 steals really have the same value as 30 home runs? I don't think so.) Conceptually, it is based on the implicit assumption that it is better to be sort of good at two things instead of amazing at one thing, which is open to debate unless the two things really are equally important. And it is called "power/speed" number even though important aspects of power (doubles, triples) are left out of the calculation. As a serious analytical tool, "power/speed number" makes about as much sense as an "eye/arm number" that combines walks and assists into one number.

Power/speed number's most important weakness is that it tells us virtually nothing about which players are better offensive contributors. Would you rather have a player who hits 30 HRs with 30 SBs (P/S number = 30), or 40 home runs with 20 SBs (P/S number = 26.6). If power/speed number truly matters, maybe the 40/20 guy should swing a little slower, and maybe turn 10 of his homers into singles so he can have more chances to steal, and thereby get his power/speed number up. 5 homers and 5 steals gets you a power/speed number of 5; 10 homers and 3 steals gets you a power/speed number of only 4.62. Anyone care to argue that the gain of 5 homers isn't more valuable than the loss of 2 steals? Add 50 more homers but steal 1 less base, and your 60/2 season drops your power/speed number to 3.87. Hit 70 homers but never steal a base? Your power/speed number disappears into the nothingness of zero. I don't know about anyone else, but if I have to choose between power/speed combinations of 10 HR/10 SBs or 60 HR/0 SB, I'll take the 60/0 guy any day.

And the flaw works the other way, too. 10 homers and 10 steals gets you a P/S number of 10; but 5 homers and 110 steals drops your P/S number to 9.6. Power/Speed number, which purports to measure only the ratio of power to speed, doesn't even get that right. Which combination of power and speed would you rather have, 10 homers and 10 steals, or 5 homers and 110 steals?

And finally, Power/Speed number doesn't pay any attention to outs on the basepaths. If someone hits 20 home runs and steals 20 bases but gets thrown out 30 times (because he's really not so much fast, just an agressive baserunner with average speed and poor judgement), his power/speed number is better than someone else who hit 20 home runs, stole only 10 bases, but never got thrown out. But in the case of the guy with the higher power/speed number and therefore supposedly the better combination of power and speed, the best thing he could do for his team would be to stop trying to steal.

Last Edited By: What Cheer Wombat 01/10/10 11:16 AM. Edited 1 times.