Yahoo! has an article about Jack Cust striking out for the 187th time this season, which breaks the AL record. "Cust also leads the American League with 101 walks entering Saturday which means he has either walked or strikeout in more than half of his 559 at-bats this year." (source)
How is this a meaningful statement? The author is comparing apples to oranges in an effort to create a more dramatic sentence. Walks don't count as at bats, so the sentence should be "Cust either walked or struck on in 288 out of 660 plate appearances, which is about 43% of the time." (I am neglecting "hit by pitches" in the plate appearances, because I can't be bothered to look it up). Of course, "43%" isn't anywhere near as exciting as "more than half," I prefer accuracy in my reporting.
I have been loving Okemah and the Melody of Riot by Son Volt for the past month.
posted by Dirk Awesome @ 3:18 PM
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