These links are via the home base of WPA, the Baseball Graphs blog.
I already pointed out the Nintendo recreation of the 9th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series that uses Vin Scully’s actual call as the audio, but Lookout Landing posted a WPA graph and summary of the whole game. Buckner comes in at -.68 wins (lack of fielding plus lack of hitting) and Bob Stanley grabs the silver medal with -.31 wins. If you consider the fact that the Red Sox could have clinched the World Series with a victory, but dropped down to a 50% chance of winning the Series in Game 7 by losing Game 6, Buckner’s suckitude decreased Boston’s probability of winning the Series by 25% on the error alone. One missed play cost the Red Sox a quarter of a World Series. Of course, that’s a lot less blame than most Boston fans attribute to Billy B.
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Sox Watch is a blog devoted to tracking the WPA of the Red Sox, but with a couple cool twists. Since FanGraphs is tracking the WPA of all games, Sox Watch is “only” calculating year to date totals. First, the site posts daily updates of player WPA totals, like today’s. Second, the site posts daily updates of WPA by category — starters, relievers, position players, and opponents’ errors, like today’s. Remember that 0 is a league-average .500 winning percentage.
Schilling and Beckett both have over +1 win each, Papelbon’s right behind Beckett thanks to his high-leverage opportunities, Loretta’s the top-rated hitter due to his heroic walk-off homer a couple nights ago, and Youkilis is the second clutchiest on the team. Bring up the rear is Mike Lowell, more than countering the contributions of Mark Loretta. Hmm, who saw that coming!?
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.