Earlier this season, former Viva El Birdos writer Andy Schrag discussed how the timeliness of production shapes our perception of that production. How we view players and seasons is anchored by a simple bias: since we most often view baseball statistics on a cumulative basis with discrete but arbitrary endpoints, usually opening day and today (whenever today is), we notice what happens early in the season most. If a player hits .140 through May 15th, he’s hitting .140 for the season when we look on May 15th. If that same player hits .315 from May 16th through June 24th, he’s only hitting .237 for the season when we look on June 24th. Even though that second stretch was equally as good as the first one was bad, it’s a little bit harder to see or to find.
Birds On The Black
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