Bill Baer infuriates me. He’s everything that’s wrong with stat heads slash saber nerds slash nerds slash breathing computotons incapable of perceiving any semblance of human emotion.

The former Crashburn Alley blogger turned NBC Sports Talk baseball blogger weighed in on Lehigh Valley manager Dave Brundage’s decision to again – he did so earlier this month – bench Phillies prospect Nick Williams for a lack of hustle, described as “slow to get out of the batter’s box and slow getting back to the dugout, where he tossed his helmet down the tunnel towards the clubhouse“:

For what it’s worth, Williams’ offense seems rather minor here. He was a few seconds late to the dugout compared to the average player. It was 75 degrees and the IronPigs haven’t had a day off since June 13. That includes a double-header on the 18th. They won’t get a day off until July 11. Williams was probably dragging a bit from a rough night, the humid weather, and the grind of the regular season schedule. Williams also tossed his helmet down the tunnel after returning to the dugout, likely frustrated from an 0-for-4 night when he felt like he was putting good swings on the ball.

Baseball traditionalists have for years jumped on stats people for not considering players as human beings, but rather as data points. Here, the traditionalists — who tend to be overwhelmingly in favor of teaching young players these kinds of lessons — never consider factors like players being worn down by the weather or the schedule. They expect them to be at 100 percent functionality day in, day out like robots. Players are allowed to be tired. They’re allowed to be frustrated.

If I’m Phillies GM Matt Klentak, I’m sending a message to Brundage that the life lessons he’s trying to teach Williams aren’t worth souring the kid’s motivation or his attitude, nor is it worth cutting into his playing time when he’s on the cusp of being a major leaguer.

Voila_Capture 2016-06-30_08-47-25_AM

I hated having to excerpt that much Baer. Too much Baer is baed for you. Baut, it was necessary to show just how ridiculous and stubborn those who exist on the far-left off the nerd spectrum can be. Baer will tell you – and he did – that they grasp that players are humans and not walking, talking and pooping data points, and in the next sentence will literally discard the very essence of what it means to exist in an environment filled with humans. Do old-timey managers go too far with regard to the eye-test, grind-it-out, “rub some dirt on it, pussjob” mentality. Absolutely. Progress is good. Advanced statistics are good. Analytics have impacted the game in countless ways. And though they’re gaining traction not just in front offices, but also with the masses – now seeing inclusion in broadcast graphics and everyday sports convo – it’s people like Baer who give them a bad name by so blindly railing on anything resembling old-fashioned teaching.

In the case of Williams, who earlier in the month didn’t run out a routine fly ball which was dropped and resulted in Williams only taking first, the manager was clearly trying to nip a bad habit in the bud before it became a trait for Williams. Baer’s excuse about players being tired is laughable. Sure, they are humans and not perfect robots constructed to placate our sporting desires, but baseball players specifically have to put forth the least physical effort of any other major athlete besides golfers and e-gamers. Asking a professional athlete to perform a short sprint 4-5 times per game is hardly an unreasonable request. 95% of the time running hard to first on an obvious ground out or fly out will be a fruitless task. But the other 5% of the time it will force a fielder to rush and commit an error or mental mistake, or will simply beat out the throw, or, in Williams’ previous gaffe, cost a player an extra base. What’s more, a young player, who plays on a team of humans, can have bad habits creep into his game, which can have a negative influence on those around him. While the ol’ “trying hard” thing is overblown, look no further than Chase Utley as the perfect example of how a max effort can yield positive results and contribute to the intangible qualities present in a “winning atmosphere.” Anyone who has ever played a team sport, at any level, understands that effort and hustle rarely yield negative results, with the exception of perhaps dangerous, foolhardy decisions in more violent sports like football and hockey.

I’m all for calling out legacy methods as being complete wastes of time and understanding, when called for. But people like Baer, who do so blindly just to fit their own narrative (an old-school journalistic practice they claim to hate so much), do more harm than good for the analytics movement, often just by being big-time binary buttholes. Hashtag baersaballoonknot.

Voila_Capture 2016-06-30_09-39-21_AM