an [edited] email.

Hi Sean,

So I'm looking at stats for the Braves from the 70s-84, I think. I'm using the good players, and other info, in my thesis. Everything has to sound real, and believable, and the facts, if there are any, have to be true. Baseball plays a big role for one of my characters. But all these stats and what not confuse the hell out of me.

I know that I want to use Hank Aaron and some others. The year in question is 1972. Here is the site

xo
Ambre

Sean to me

show details 12/21/08

Reply

Wow, ok. this is cool. its sad the braves werent ever a good team until the 90's. but, the 72 team DID have aaron, niekro, and dusty baker. so you got that going for you. and it looks like earl williams and ralph garr had good seasons as well.

what the abbreviations mean:

Ag - Age

G - Games played

AB - At Bats - make sure they have at least a few hundred to make sure they didnt bat like once

R - Runs scored - this year 50 plus would be good

H - Hits - 150 plus is awesome

2B - Doubles - looks like doubles and triples were way less common than now.15 and over

3B - Triples - wow, only two for dusty baker??

HR - Home Runs - in this era, 20 will do. hank aaron was probably the most consistent homerun hitter. i dont know if he ever led the league in HR but he played a long time and always hit a ton

RBI - Runs Batted In - 75 and over is good.

BB - Walks (base on balls) - looks like Hank a good eye too.

SO - Strikeouts - wow, earl weaver loves to swing and miss.

BA - Batting Average - probably the most important stat out there. .250 is respectable, .300 is great, .400 is insanity! .300 means you get a hit 3 out of every 10 ABs

OBP - On Base Percentage - hits + walks divided by total at bats

SLG - Slugging Percentage - higher SLG, the more likely the hitter is to hit 2B, 3B, and HR

SB - Stolen Base

CS - Times Caught stealing

GDP - Ground into Double Play

HBP - Hit by pitch

SH - Sacrifice Hits - bunts and whatnot

SF - Sacrifice Fly - dude scores by tagging up on your fly ball

IBB - Intentional walks - there most dangerous hitter only got IBB'd 15 times. Manny got more in the playoffs last year
OPS - On Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage

So that was kind of tedious so im not going to do the same for pitchers. just know:

G - Games pitched in

ERA - Earned Run Average - Most important stat for pitchers. How many runs you give up, on average, every time you pitch. 3.50 and under is good. 2.00 is awesome, 1.00 is nasty

W - Wins

L - Losses - As long as you win more than lose, you are considered successful

Then, theres the fielding percentage tables. 1.000 is perfect ( no errors) which is going to be rare for players with more than 20 or so games. looks like the braves werent bad fielders. PO means Putouts (the ball is hit to you and you get the guy out) and E is errors. so, everyone was pretty solid except for the main shortstop Perez.

And then there is the leader board. Surprising that Hank didnt lead in more categories but this is toward the end of his career. Soooo yeah, let me know if you need some specifics answered and i will do my best. i know you know alot of this stuff but what the hell. its awesome you are writing about the bravos. you are a true fan. did you hear about furcal stiffin us last week?? lameness.