The Record Book

Bud Selig said some interesting stuff yesterday about the potential for a 10-game playoff and the Barry Bonds asterisk situation.  In short, Selig will not asterisk Bonds’ numbers with Ford Frick like zeal. Specifically Selig said: “In life there’s always got to be pragmatism, I think that anybody who understands the sport understands exactly why.”  For those of you who want a refresher on pragmatism, it is the approach and philosophy that situations are to be judged for their picture as a whole.  From dictionary.com: “a philosophical movement or system having various forms, but generally stressing practical consequences as constituting the essential criterion in determining meaning, truth, or value.”  I love Selig’s quote on this but can not articulate my feelings any better than what Christina Kharl had to say as part of the Sweetspot Network.  

From Kharl’s article on Barry, Bud, and the record book:

“Admittedly, I worry a lot less about this than my peers (and betters) in the sabermetric community, because I figure the record book is already a shabby historical compromise of sorts. Some might choose to hallow the records set by Hank Aaron and Pete Rose — at a time when amphetamine use wasn’t just tolerated, it was condoned. You might be especially committed to the records set by Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb — at a time when the game’s competitive balance was often laughable, when baseballs were doctored in some seasons, when there were plenty of major league-caliber players preferring to take their paydays playing in the independent “minors,” and when baseball, like the society it reflected, denied itself the talents of so many of the best because of race.

Now, you might hold such records in high regard, and decry those of more recent vintage. Me, I figure they’re all simply facts. They are like disappointments anyone can have with the game, past or present. You can know the stats, and associate something positive with 60 or 61 or 73, with 755 or 762, but inevitably you end up having to know about the time they came from.

The records are really only sanctified by us, if we choose. I’m in the odd position of saying I’m with Bud on this subject, because the past happened. Invariably, it will be judged — by baseball men and women, past, present, and future, by voters for the Hall of Fame, and by you and me. But it does not alter the facts of what happened, and when, and why.”

Events, numbers, and people are to be judged in the context of the events and situations around them.  This far exceeds life in baseball. Understand situations, people, and their motivation before assigning an asterisk to any of their actions.

Stat of the Day: 762

-Sean Morash