Former Red Adam Dunn in strikeout mode against John Smoltz (Wikimedia Commons)
One of the things I’ve most enjoyed about living in the Cincinnati area for the past 12 years is becoming a fan of baseball, especially the always-promising-but-rarely-delivering Reds. I’ve never gotten into the standard mania for statistics that true aficions have, but I have to say that I’m intrigued by some of the discoveries of the sabermetricians in recent years. To wit:
John Erardi of the Cincinnati Enquirer had a column this week about the bad hitting luck of right fielder Jay Bruce. He has an amazing throwing arm, and at times has shown great promise at the plate. But what sank him last year was his BABIP — last in the National League at .221 (the average in baseball is .298).
What is BABIP, you say (or not)? It’s Batting Average for Balls in Play (struck balls that are between the lines and in the ball park, i.e. not fouls or home runs). You can have a lousy batting average overall, but if more than about 20% of the ones you do put in play give you a hit, you’re better than poor Jay Bruce. You’ve heard of hittin’ ’em where they ain’t — Bruce apparently hits ’em where they is.
I like discoveries like this because they’re counterintuitive (my skeptical side) and yet explanatory (my wanting to believe side). So I’m waiting with heart pounding for Bruce’s average to get stronger (ba-bip . . . ba-BIP . . . BABIP!)
cleve callison’s blog 
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