Citi Field stats getting sophistication

From Adam Rubin at ESPN New York on April 17, 2012, with quotes from SABR members Vince Gennaro and Bill Nowlin:

Considering the advanced metrics available these days, OPS and WHIP hardly are high-tech statistics by sabermetric standards.

Yet their introduction to the Citi Field scoreboard this season is a first step in what may be a transformation to the in-game viewing experience in Flushing.

In Year 4 of their new ballpark, the Mets have decided to go beyond the basic statistics that have been staples for decades on their scoreboards at Shea Stadium and now Citi Field — average, home runs, RBI, win-loss record, ERA.

Trying to more closely replicate the experience of watching on TV with a laptop or iPad opened to MLB.com’s Gameday (or ESPN.com’s equivalent), the Mets debuted slightly more advanced statistics on their scoreboard during the season-opening homestand.

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Vince Gennaro, president of the Society for American Baseball Research, is all for enhancing the in-stadium statistical experience.

“I’ve discussions with team execs on this very topic,” Gennaro wrote via email. “I think there is somewhat of a limitation as to what you can execute on the scoreboard, given the space constraints. I do think OPS and WHIP are excellent starting points. For a pitcher, his groundball/flyball ratio (or groundball rate) is very informative, as is his K-rate and BB-rate. We tend to see K’s and BB’s as counting stats on scoreboards instead of rate stats (i.e., per 9 IP).

“The other way to execute in-stadium stats is thru a dedicated portal accessible thru free wifi, while a fan is in the ballpark. Many of the fans interested in such stats will have a cell phone or smartphone, so there is a lot of information that can be conveyed to these fans while using the main scoreboard to ‘entertain’ fans. Ideally, a combination of both — some advanced stats on the scoreboard, supplemented by an in-stadium portal with additional advanced stats — seems to be ideal.

Read the full article here: http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/42835/in-depth-citi-stats-getting-sophisticated



Originally published: April 17, 2012. Last Updated: April 17, 2012.