How to Cherry Pick Stats

By Mark Potash. (Me in regular/him in Italics)

Like a shot of "5-Hour Energy," interleague play gives the White Sox a boost when they need it most. No crash later? We'll see about that.
On paper, the Sox are the second-hottest team in baseball, having won six straight games and 10 of their last 11 to reach the .500 mark (34-34), still 5 1/2 games behind the Twins and four behind the Tigers in the AL Central. (The Rangers have won eight straight and 11 of 12).
The big question is whether or not this is fool's gold. The bulk of the Sox' recent streak has come against the Cubs, Pirates and Nationals. The Cubs are in a season-long funk, losing 12 of their last 19 games; the Pirates have lost 18 of their last 23, including 12 in a row; the Nationals have lost 15 of their last 21 -- three of their six victories in that span came against the Pirates.

So far those are some pretty good reasons why this was a mirage. The White Sox Pythagorean btw is 32-36.

There's no doubt that interleague play is a drop in class for American League teams. It has been for years and this one is no different. The AL leads the NL 92-76 so far in 2010. American League pitchers in particular have an easier time against National League teams -- and vice-versa. Roy Halladay is 8-3 with a 1.51 ERA against NL teams this season. He's 0-3 with a 6.86 ERA against the AL. And he's been in the National League for less than three months.

Yes, let's take his ERA from this year as opposed to the 07-09 when he had an ERA of 3.03 in the AL (does include interleague games from those years. But still). And let's keep in mind he put those numbers up in the AL East. That is example #1 of cherry picking stats.

This is old hat for Sox fans. In 2008, a 12-6 record in interleague play helped keep them afloat in the AL Central and they barely hung on to win the division title. Last year the Sox were 28-33 when interleague play (they were 12-6 again) sparked a 15-5 run that put them 2 1/2 games back in the division. The momentum kept them in contention until August, when they lost nine of 10 against the Red Sox, Yankees and Twins and were done.

That right there just screams "We are not a playoff caliber team."

But as dubious as the competition has been of late, the current streak has a better feel to it this year.

So one reason this year is different is Mark feeeeeels differently about it. Solid.

The Sox are winning because they've been playing better baseball -- and not just because they're playing weaker competition.

Um, you just spent half the article pointing out how they were facing weaker teams. They beat the Cubs, Pirates, and Nationals. Went 8-1 against them. What was their record against the Red Sox, Yankees and Twins last year again? It seems you mentioned it earlier.

Stephen Strasburg literally looked like Sandy Koufax on Friday night...

Here is a picture of Koufax. Here is one of Strasburg. Or is this Koufax and this Strasburg? (side note, the chest hair in the second picture is nuts.) I can't tell because they LITERALLY look alike.

...and the Sox found a way to win. I don't recall that happening too often in previous years.

That's cause Strasburg wasn't in the league in previous years. And I'm willing to bet the White Sox won other games 1-0. Hey here's one now! (45 second to find that on bbref.com. Most of that was loading time.) Here's a game a Chicagoan should probably remember, especially if it's their job to cover sports. That's being specific. If I want to be a jerk I'll point out that the White Sox 'found' a way to win 79 times last year.

In the current 10-1 streak, the Sox have won with timely pitching,

I don't have any clue what that means. The pitchers get people out during the course of the game. Not before the game or after the game, but during. That's timely.

timely hitting and timely defense.

See previous joke.

They're 4-1 in one-run games (14-8 for the season). They've won four games with three runs or less.

One-run games are mostly luck. The other stat...I don't know what that signifies. At all.

They've pitched 32 of 34 scoreless innings with a one-run lead.

They have a good bullpen, but that stat seems more like luck than anything. Not the scoreless innings part, but when they come.

They've allowed 14 runs in 11 games after the fourth inning -- eight of them while they had leads of four runs or more.

I love baseball and baseball stats. I have NO IDEA what the first half of that means. He just randomly picked 11 games and randomly picked an inning as a cut off. It means less than nothing. Mark, listen, just say the White Sox bullpen is doing well and give their ERA.

They're scoring runs for Freddy Garcia (55 in his last nine starts) and playing defense for Jake Peavy.

I can imagine Paul Konerko standing up in front of all the starters on opening day:
"Alright, so we, the offense, have come to the decision that we are only going to play the games half-assed. So each of you have to choose: we can play immaculate defense for you; or we can rock the ball on offense for you."
Buehrle: "Why can't you do both?"
Paul sighs, "Mark you just don't understand baseball. Now everyone choose quickly, I gotta get to the Blackhawks game."
"But we have a game tonight!"
Paul shakes his head: "Mark, you're really starting to become a problem."

When Garcia allowed three runs in the fourth inning to fall behind 3-1 against the Nationals on Sunday, the Sox responded with six straight hits and four runs for a 5-3 lead. Garcia pitched two scoreless innings and the Nationals didn't score again.

Yeah the relief staff really shut the Nats down. Shame they don't get any press from Potash. I mean you can't even mention Putz (ERA+ 203)? Or Santos (ERA+ 173)?

Yes it was the Nationals. And the Cubs. And the Pirates. But I would submit that while the Sox aren't as good as Kenny Williams thought, they've been an underachieving team all season.

According to their Pythag they're OVERachieving.

Sometimes a team like that just needs a little boost to get them on track. Of course you have to see it to believe it -- this is the White Sox we're talking about. But I have a feeling this season is not over yet.

And as we already established, Mark's feeeeelings are what matter. That and his horrible interpretations on statistics.

Case Closed!