by Danny Orr
For more than 100 years baseball has been counting things. Organizations and analysts have studied a long list of figures to find out what players have done to help their team or, conversely, to help their opposition. From the earliest editions of The Sporting News to the cutting edge work of the team at Baseball Prospectus, we have seen a consistent fascination with numbers in this game.
The extensiveness of performance analysis in modern baseball is staggering, and the standards of success for a pitcher, or player, are rapidly changing. A deeper look at traditional statistics such as ERA, RBI’s and W-L records, for instance, are proving to be more subjective than beneficial and are slowly being replaced by new mathematical equations to better evaluate what baseball players did today and more accurately predict what they might do tomorrow.
One of the more interesting trends in modern performance analysis is the idea of context independence. Will a pitcher, for instance, pitch as effectively in away games as he does at home? Will his change-up bore through the zone with a runner on 3rd as it would with the bases empty? Will a pitcher attack the black of the plate as aggressively with speed on base as he would without it?
As I work to develop pitchers, I regularly have them place themselves in mental situations to try and match the feel of those tight game situations when the context is a little more demanding than usual. Throwing an effective splitter that tumbles late through the zone in a fastball count, for instance, requires courage when the game is tied and a runner is in scoring position. Consistent success independent of context on the mound truly separates the great from the good.
A popular definition of character is “doing what is right when no one is watching.” Will I live my life the same way in private as I do in public? Are my right choices independent of my current context? Do I live my life the same way for everyone or am I more of a chameleon - always allowing my environment to change me?
A similar theme runs through the Bible with regard to context independence. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes reference to the difference between praying in public - as the Pharisees did - to get attention from others, compared to praying earnestly in the closet. (Matthew 6:5-14) He also compared the money and gifts given in public for attention as opposed to the better choice of giving secretly. (Matthew 6: 1-4)
We learn from the Bible that God is much more interested in the condition of our heart than anything else. “…acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.” 1 Chronicles 28:9
Scouts use the word “predictability” often, indicating their desire to see a player who can perform well under any context or situation. It is apparent that God is looking for the same sort of thing in our hearts and minds: wholehearted devotion in public and in private – independent of all contexts. Impossible on our own and in our own strength, but we can take comfort that Philippians 4:13 tells us “(We) can do all things through Christ who gives (us) strength.” This is even more comforting when we remember God’s truth and promises are always predictable and never susceptible to failure in any context.
Click Here to View More Goin' Deep Articles
