Baseball Beyond Batting Average

Three years to the day since their last episode, Mark and Andy come back with an episode that may seem to defy the spirit of the show. However, maybe one cannot go beyond batting average without fully understanding batting average. Our hosts explore the genesis of the stat, why it has persisted despite its flaws, and which players have made it their calling card--as well as those for which the Men...

Mark and Andy are joined by special guest Kirk McKnight, author of The Voices of Baseball: The Game's Greatest Broadcasters Reflect on America's Pastime to talk about the newest edition of the book, as well as the usual assortment of baseball statistics, odds, and ends. McKnight brings to the episode a wealth of knowledge about MLB's teams, players, and stadiums culled from dozens of interviews wi...

Mark and Andy determine once and for all who the first family of baseball is, the Boones or the Bells. Taking into account multiple pieces of data, both stats-based and otherwise, the competition between these uncannily-matched combatants comes down to the wire and a surprising finish gives a slight edge to the gang you might not expect. Your hosts finish up the episode with a less-close round of...

The 2001 Mariners won as many regular season games as any team in baseball history, but fell short of playoff success. How did a team without Griffey, A-Rod, and Big Unit reach such heights? Mark and Andy are back to do a statistical deep dive into the winningest regular season team in history, position by position and player by player, and leave no stone unturned. Along the way, questions emerge:...

Mark and Andy are back for another episode of your favorite advanced stats baseball podcast. This time they are highlighting forgotten stars of the 1980s. While it may seem that the 1980s were just a few short years ago and thus none of the stars was forgotten, your hosts attempt to find some names that may be underappreciated or that produced some seasons that may not be remembered as well as the...

Mark and Andy are back for another installment of their baseball stats exploration. Andy explores the list of the 70 20-20 seasons in baseball history. No, not home runs and stolen bases, but 20 batting runs and 20 fielding runs. Mark takes a look at noteworthy accomplishments in the first 162 games of players' careers. Who had the most hits? The most home runs? The most strikeouts? What happened...

Mark and Andy are back with their latest statistical explorations into baseball's history. This time, Mark looks at some of the most extreme--and worst--100 RBI seasons ever put together. Let's just say Tony Armas figures prominently. Andy takes on the scorching hot topic of pitchers hitting, both the best and worst of all-time. Randy Johnson falls into one of those categories. It all wraps up wit...

Mark and Andy are joined by Adam Darowski of Baseball Reference to talk about some advanced hitting stats that were recently added to players' pages, rBat+ and rOBA, as well as many other baseball-related topics, including his Hall of Stats site. Learn how these new stats are calculated, how they came to be on the page, and where the all-time greats rank according to the measures. Use your newfoun...

Mark and Andy pare down their normal gargantuan episodes into one that can be digested in a shorter amount of time. The topics this time are "manager stats"--really an investigation into a team's actual performance vs. their record based on their total WAR--and game scores, the Bill James stat used to evaluate starting pitching performances. Both topics are revelatory and fun, and lead to another...

Mark and Andy are joined on this episode by baseball stats guru Jim Passon. The hosts and their guest take turns highlighting some of the less-remembered stars of the 1960s. As over 50 years have passed since the primes of their careers, players like Floyd Robinson, Don Mincher, and Jim Maloney are not household names. They all had their moments of glory, however, and this episode serves to remind...

Mark and Andy are joined by Mark and Jeff from the Two Strike Noise podcast to create a foursome of podcasticness never seen before. The topic? The 1990 baseball season, a subject so nice they had to record it twice. While the National League portion of the season is discussed here, the AL happenings will be discussed on a subsequent episode of Two Strike Noise. Here, your hosts cover the stats an...

The 2020 calendar year and season can finally be properly wrapped up, as Mark and Andy are back for their fourth installment of the BBBA Awards. This time, along with giving their takes on the existing inferior awards (MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young), your hosts attempt to rename those awards to give it a more BBBA flavor. And as always, they give their own awards to players for accomplishments...

The year was 1987. Mark and Andy were 10 years old and baseballs were flying out of ballparks. Your hosts take a look back at that wondrous time in their youth and try to gain a better understanding of who really were the kings of the diamond that season. Each team gets discussed in some detail, as each host takes a league and looks at the standings and the stars. Some names are expected, like McG...

Mark and Andy do another in-depth examination of two players, this time the similarly-skilled Rickey Henderson and Tim "Rock" Raines. While Mark takes on Rickey in all his glory, Andy handles the under-appreciated star Raines. Although the players' careers spanned the same time period and their skills mirrored each other, Rickey was in a league of his own. Find out where his value came from and ho...

Mark and Andy tackle a new kind of topic for the 65th installment of the podcast. This time, they're looking for stars from the 1970s who have been forgotten or overlooked. Although some of the players mentioned are not all-time greats, several others deserve serious Hall of Fame consideration. Just as the hosts did, hopefully you too will gain a newfound appreciation for the players they mention,...

Mark and Andy resume their exploration of Statcast measurements by focusing on fielding. Although the data is not readily available for most of it, arm strength, distance covered, and pop time form the foundation for what will come when they look at fielding metrics. The lack of data allow Mark and Andy to discuss some other baseball topics, including their thoughts about MLB's rule changes. The h...

In the latest in their Second Look series, Mark and Andy dive into the careers of Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn to try to better understand the two players who became synonymous with batting titles in the '80s and '90s. Both were hailed as excellent players during their time, so what can we learn? Advanced stats shed some light on just how excellent they were, and allow us to evaluate their all-around...

Mark and Andy are back for another installment in their exploration of Statcast measurements. This time, they focus on the pitching side of things. We always hear about velocity and spin rate, but do we really understand what makes a pitcher effective? Your hosts attempt to sort through all the numbers and determine what it all means. What they find is that it is not always clear what makes an eff...

Mark and Andy are joined by special guest Brad Balukjian, the author of the exceptional new book The Wax Pack. Mr. Balukjian gives some insight into how the book came about and what makes it so special. The hosts help him break down the players featured in the book, both personally and statistically. While Mr. Balukjian is able to show a side of the players that makes them more human, Mark and And...

Mark and Andy are back to where it all started, introducing advanced stats one episode at a time. This time though, there's a little twist in that the "stats" are really just measurements, and instead of one, they talk about four or five different ones. The topic this time around is Statcast stats, and to start their investigation, your hosts are looking at offensive measurements: exit velocity, l...

The careers of Don Mattingly and Kirby Puckett, although divergent in many ways--big-market vs. small-market, first baseman vs. center fielder, Hall of Famer vs. Just Really Good--also overlap considerably. The single-franchise heroes essentially played during the same seasons and have remarkably similar statistical profiles. Each one was regarded as a superstar during a career that was cut short...

The 2019 calendar year and season can finally be properly wrapped up, as Mark and Andy are back for their third installment of the BBBA Awards. Along with giving their takes on the existing inferior awards (MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young), your hosts give their own recognition to players for accomplishments both good and bad. Among awards that return this year are The Bergen Award, The Tiny Glo...

Mark and Andy are back to revamp the stats on the backs of baseball cards. Although they didn't completely do away with traditional stats, there are plenty of more advanced stats that deserve a place among the 14 or so columns shown on the cardboard for both hitters and pitchers. They didn't quite reach consensus yet, but started the conversation and made some definitive choices (sorry, wins and s...

Mark and Andy are back with your favorite advanced baseball stats podcast after a brief hiatus. The topic this time is Phillies catchers. Your hosts investigate the men who have played the position over the years through the lens of advanced stats. The names range from Darren Daulton to Andy Seminick to more recent luminaries like J. T. Realmuto and Jorge Alfaro. The episode wraps up with a BBBA s...

In the final installment of their summer programming, Mark and Andy break down the Mount Rushmores for all five teams in the current National League East. Controversy ensues as the hosts debate, along with listeners and Twitter followers, the legitimacy of candidates and even of the existence of certain teams. Both podcasters have emotional ties to teams from the division, which made the task all...