The lack of defense in your formula makes this whole exercise flawed. A fun list without Pete Crow-Armstrong, Jo Adell or Denzel Clarke is not worthy of the name.
Here in Cincinnati we are definitely talking about Sal Stewart! The kid is everything you didn’t know you needed. Mature at the plate and in the field, with the perfect amount of moxie/cockiness. Love everything about him!
I would just like to publicly apologize for picking Shohei Ohtani as a DH for my fantasy team. I can think of no other explanation for how that guy ended up only #30 in this metric, behind the likes of Zach Neto and Miguel Vargas.
listen, the Giants are terrible, and do not necessarily deserve your pity, but cmon Luis Arraez is providing some of the only joy that Giants fans can derive these days!
-1 for every time he goes to a full count on a batter
+1 for every assist in the field
+2 for each putout made in the field
+3 for each successful pickoff
For relievers with inherited runners:
+4 for every one left on 3d; +3 for those left on 2d, +1 for those left on first (applies to inherited runners only, and to the base on which they started)
Add +1 for each out the reliever gets without an inherited runner scoring.
I am a huge Brewers fan and adore Turang but the one problem with him being on this list: he is about the dullest interview subject I’ve ever seen. It’s like anti-charisma. He seems like a perfectly fine dude otherwise, it’s like he got PR coaching that told him to never ever ever say anything above a 1/10 on the interesting scale in interviews.
I like the modularity of the fun-score, that it's easy for a person to generate their own. Joe's is still fairly closely tied to value; I think mine would be less so. The fact that fans in general love home runs and strikeouts has long been a point of divergence for me; I like them if they're good for my time but I'm just not much into displays of raw power or of finality (sports or elsewhere).
I'd go with something like
2 for an unintentional walk (I enjoy the cat-and-mouse cleverness of it, a little)
-2 for an intentional walk even though it's not the batter's fault
-1 for a strikeout
5 for a single
9 for a double
13 for a triple
3 for a solo home run, but then +4 for each runner on base at the time. Is a grand slam fun? Sure, even I think so: it's got buildup-and-payoff structure.
15 for an inside-the-park homer
7 for a stolen base
-1 for picked off/ caught stealing
If watching the game, can assign defense points, facial expression/ gesture points, etc. as needed.
But what's cool is that everyone can make their own.
I just had to apply this fun formula to Curtis Granderson's 2007 season. 38/23/23 for 2B/3B/HR is sure to generate a great score. Sure enough: 1,538 (!!) points if I did the math right. He was also 26-1 stealing.
Not sure if this is who you mean, but Teruaki Sato is leading the NPB Central League in HR, R, RBI, 2B, BA, OBP, SLG, TB and is second in triples and third in walks, so imma go ahead and guess it's him?
Last year he hit 40 HR but with only a .277 BA, whereas he's hitting .381 right now, which either means he's figured out a way to put the bat on the ball a LOT more, without sacrificing power, or this is a bit of a hot streak and he's due to come crashing back to Earth.
I think strikeouts should be part of it, and they should be negative. The idea that we think strikeouts are fun is silly. Fans of the team in the field think strikeouts are fun. They should be part of a pitching fun score. But the idea that they would be a positive part of an offensive fun score is silly. They are the most unfun thing in the game. Making them a non negative part of the score would be like doing a pitcher fun score and counting home runs as a positive because home runs are fun.
Stolen bases should have different point values based on which base is stolen. A steal of home is way better than a steal of anything else. And a steal of third is significantly better than a steal of second.
I was also going to mention outfield assists, and inside the park home runs, but these other guys beat me to it.
I submit that outfield assists (including relays) are super fun. On this scale I’d propose 6 points for an out at 2B, 8 for an out at 3B, and 10 for a successful play at the plate. Although this is something that probably makes more sense to track at a team level rather than for individuals.
Maybe something like diving plays in the infield would qualify for points as well. It would introduce the Jeter Paradox, where fielders who have notoriously terrible range but make “exciting” plays when they can get to a ball would score pretty well on the fun scale but badly on defensive metrics.
Joe... You, I think, as much as anybody, will attest to the fact that the beauty of baseball lies in things that don't necessarily show up in the box score.
Case in point... Ernie Clement.
My daughter and I headed up north of the border to see the Blue Jays/Pirates game on Saturday. And the loudest cheers of the afternoon were not for Vlad Jr. and they were not for George Springer. Shockingly enough, during pregame intros and with each at bat, Ernie Clement received the loudest ovation from the Toronto crowd. Sounds crazy, right? One of those things that must be seen to be believed.
Believe me, it's true. We were there and we experienced it in person. If you don't believe me, go to a Jays game some time.
What makes Ernie Clement so beloved, so fun, cannot be measured in your formula.
The guy once had a bat painted like a giant pencil. That's fun.
He once hit a home run on a pitch over his head. That's really fun.
He's credited for having a hockey player mentality which goes over great in Canada. Fun, eh?
When he was selected to Team USA in the WBC this year, his #22 wasn't available (some guy named Kershaw had first dibs on that). But Ernie didn't choose his previous MLB number 28. Instead he opted to wear #5, which was his youth hockey number, when he played for a team named... get this... the Americans! How fun is that?
He's a humble guy with a great disposition... he's always smiling and his love for the game is always on display. He has a positive attitude in the most dire of circumstances. And he treats every fan as if they're his best friend. He has that rare "I cannot believe I'm getting paid to do this" outlook.
Here's a guy who was released by the Guardians, released by the Athletics, then somehow just set the Major League record for most hits in a single postseason. He literally just came inches away from walking-off the World Series in extra innings. Inches.
He can play any position on the field... and he plays them all at a top level. He was a Gold Glove finalist at two positions last year... 3rd base and Utility Player... and split the vote with himself and won neither. How do you not feel for a guy like that?
Sportwriters love him because he's always equipped with a valuable quote... some lighthearted, others insightful.
When the Blue Jays had Ernie Clement hockey jersey giveaway night last month, fans started lining up 7 hours before the gates opened. Rogers Center officials said it was the 2nd longest line they had ever experienced... behind only Taylor Swift. Yes, THAT Taylor Swift! https://www.mlb.com/news/fans-pack-rogers-centre-for-ernie-clement-hockey-jersey-giveaway
What's really fun is when an everyday average guy, twice shunned by other teams, makes the most of his last chance opportunity and goes on to become the heart and soul of his World Series team.
You have to find a place for guys like Ernie in your fun list.
You’re absolutely right about Ernie’s popularity - I’ve been to half a dozen games and Ernie always gets the loudest cheers. There was an Ernie hockey jersey giveaway earlier in the season and people were lined up 4 hours early to get it - you missed out if you were there 3 hours early
Strikeouts are definitionally not fun.
The lack of defense in your formula makes this whole exercise flawed. A fun list without Pete Crow-Armstrong, Jo Adell or Denzel Clarke is not worthy of the name.
A dirty or (even better) torn uniform should get some points.
If Ohtani isn't No. 1 on the fun list, the software needs some major tweaking if he is somehow only No. 30.
Here in Cincinnati we are definitely talking about Sal Stewart! The kid is everything you didn’t know you needed. Mature at the plate and in the field, with the perfect amount of moxie/cockiness. Love everything about him!
I would just like to publicly apologize for picking Shohei Ohtani as a DH for my fantasy team. I can think of no other explanation for how that guy ended up only #30 in this metric, behind the likes of Zach Neto and Miguel Vargas.
listen, the Giants are terrible, and do not necessarily deserve your pity, but cmon Luis Arraez is providing some of the only joy that Giants fans can derive these days!
please amend joy index list appropriately.
thank you for your attention to this matter.
xo
Needs one for pitchers.
+3 for each strikeout
-2 for every walk
-1 for every time he goes to a full count on a batter
+1 for every assist in the field
+2 for each putout made in the field
+3 for each successful pickoff
For relievers with inherited runners:
+4 for every one left on 3d; +3 for those left on 2d, +1 for those left on first (applies to inherited runners only, and to the base on which they started)
Add +1 for each out the reliever gets without an inherited runner scoring.
Feel free to play with the numbers.
I am a huge Brewers fan and adore Turang but the one problem with him being on this list: he is about the dullest interview subject I’ve ever seen. It’s like anti-charisma. He seems like a perfectly fine dude otherwise, it’s like he got PR coaching that told him to never ever ever say anything above a 1/10 on the interesting scale in interviews.
I like the modularity of the fun-score, that it's easy for a person to generate their own. Joe's is still fairly closely tied to value; I think mine would be less so. The fact that fans in general love home runs and strikeouts has long been a point of divergence for me; I like them if they're good for my time but I'm just not much into displays of raw power or of finality (sports or elsewhere).
I'd go with something like
2 for an unintentional walk (I enjoy the cat-and-mouse cleverness of it, a little)
-2 for an intentional walk even though it's not the batter's fault
-1 for a strikeout
5 for a single
9 for a double
13 for a triple
3 for a solo home run, but then +4 for each runner on base at the time. Is a grand slam fun? Sure, even I think so: it's got buildup-and-payoff structure.
15 for an inside-the-park homer
7 for a stolen base
-1 for picked off/ caught stealing
If watching the game, can assign defense points, facial expression/ gesture points, etc. as needed.
But what's cool is that everyone can make their own.
I just had to apply this fun formula to Curtis Granderson's 2007 season. 38/23/23 for 2B/3B/HR is sure to generate a great score. Sure enough: 1,538 (!!) points if I did the math right. He was also 26-1 stealing.
It is no surprise that there are no Red Sox players on the list
No Tigers either. :-(
I'm tempted to run this for NPB players... I suspect I already know who the most fun is though.
Not sure if this is who you mean, but Teruaki Sato is leading the NPB Central League in HR, R, RBI, 2B, BA, OBP, SLG, TB and is second in triples and third in walks, so imma go ahead and guess it's him?
Last year he hit 40 HR but with only a .277 BA, whereas he's hitting .381 right now, which either means he's figured out a way to put the bat on the ball a LOT more, without sacrificing power, or this is a bit of a hot streak and he's due to come crashing back to Earth.
Exactly who I was thinking of. He is even more locked in that last year.
I think strikeouts should be part of it, and they should be negative. The idea that we think strikeouts are fun is silly. Fans of the team in the field think strikeouts are fun. They should be part of a pitching fun score. But the idea that they would be a positive part of an offensive fun score is silly. They are the most unfun thing in the game. Making them a non negative part of the score would be like doing a pitcher fun score and counting home runs as a positive because home runs are fun.
Nailed it.
Stolen bases should have different point values based on which base is stolen. A steal of home is way better than a steal of anything else. And a steal of third is significantly better than a steal of second.
I was also going to mention outfield assists, and inside the park home runs, but these other guys beat me to it.
I submit that outfield assists (including relays) are super fun. On this scale I’d propose 6 points for an out at 2B, 8 for an out at 3B, and 10 for a successful play at the plate. Although this is something that probably makes more sense to track at a team level rather than for individuals.
Maybe something like diving plays in the infield would qualify for points as well. It would introduce the Jeter Paradox, where fielders who have notoriously terrible range but make “exciting” plays when they can get to a ball would score pretty well on the fun scale but badly on defensive metrics.
Joe... You, I think, as much as anybody, will attest to the fact that the beauty of baseball lies in things that don't necessarily show up in the box score.
Case in point... Ernie Clement.
My daughter and I headed up north of the border to see the Blue Jays/Pirates game on Saturday. And the loudest cheers of the afternoon were not for Vlad Jr. and they were not for George Springer. Shockingly enough, during pregame intros and with each at bat, Ernie Clement received the loudest ovation from the Toronto crowd. Sounds crazy, right? One of those things that must be seen to be believed.
Believe me, it's true. We were there and we experienced it in person. If you don't believe me, go to a Jays game some time.
What makes Ernie Clement so beloved, so fun, cannot be measured in your formula.
The guy once had a bat painted like a giant pencil. That's fun.
He once hit a home run on a pitch over his head. That's really fun.
He's credited for having a hockey player mentality which goes over great in Canada. Fun, eh?
When he was selected to Team USA in the WBC this year, his #22 wasn't available (some guy named Kershaw had first dibs on that). But Ernie didn't choose his previous MLB number 28. Instead he opted to wear #5, which was his youth hockey number, when he played for a team named... get this... the Americans! How fun is that?
He's a humble guy with a great disposition... he's always smiling and his love for the game is always on display. He has a positive attitude in the most dire of circumstances. And he treats every fan as if they're his best friend. He has that rare "I cannot believe I'm getting paid to do this" outlook.
Here's a guy who was released by the Guardians, released by the Athletics, then somehow just set the Major League record for most hits in a single postseason. He literally just came inches away from walking-off the World Series in extra innings. Inches.
He can play any position on the field... and he plays them all at a top level. He was a Gold Glove finalist at two positions last year... 3rd base and Utility Player... and split the vote with himself and won neither. How do you not feel for a guy like that?
Sportwriters love him because he's always equipped with a valuable quote... some lighthearted, others insightful.
When the Blue Jays had Ernie Clement hockey jersey giveaway night last month, fans started lining up 7 hours before the gates opened. Rogers Center officials said it was the 2nd longest line they had ever experienced... behind only Taylor Swift. Yes, THAT Taylor Swift! https://www.mlb.com/news/fans-pack-rogers-centre-for-ernie-clement-hockey-jersey-giveaway
What's really fun is when an everyday average guy, twice shunned by other teams, makes the most of his last chance opportunity and goes on to become the heart and soul of his World Series team.
You have to find a place for guys like Ernie in your fun list.
I totally agree. The list does not account for intangibles. If it did, Ohtani would be way lower on this list. He is amazing and awesome, but not fun.
You’re absolutely right about Ernie’s popularity - I’ve been to half a dozen games and Ernie always gets the loudest cheers. There was an Ernie hockey jersey giveaway earlier in the season and people were lined up 4 hours early to get it - you missed out if you were there 3 hours early
So true! We drove up from upstate New York on Friday night to see the Jays/Orioles. They do indeed love him in Toronto!!