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> was how much more durable he was While getting hit 285 times! I will still take the extra productivity over opportunity. Even if Biggio had got into scoring

> was how much more durable he was While getting hit 285 times! I will still take the extra productivity over opportunity. Even if Biggio had got into scoring position more, not sure it would be that big a difference (I would like to see things like how his runs were scored compared to Henderson; on home-runs? doubles? If so it wouldn't really matter (as much) if he were on 1st or 2nd. He did have Bagwell hitting 3rd, I believe). The Astros had some sluggers, but beyond 2-3 players a season, they were pretty bad for decades, they were about pitching. Henderson played on better teams with 9 batters, (the AL with a DH). Biggio was productive in RBI's while having to deal with the 9 slot being a pitcher. Thats where I think a distinction should also be made. The NL was a different game because they were playing with a liability every 9th batter. So things like doubles or his 53 home runs to lead off a game are important, more so than if he was playing in the AL. [added] was just thinking would also like to see how many times he was up to bat with 2 outs. Chances are the pitcher would sac bunt (or strikeout or hit into a double play), Biggio gets on base and the #2 hits a fly ball and ends the inning, instead of having that extra out to be able to tag up for an easier RBI for the #3

eszed 2y ago
That's a really good point about the different run-scoring environments between the AL and NL in that time-period. I guess we'd need a contextualized RS+ / RBI+ statistic that I'm not smart enough to generate, but maybe someone on Baseball Prospectus already has. Biggio was my favorite of the "Killer B's", and he'd have found a place in any lineup in any era. The power-hitting leadoff guy is a recent (analytics-driven) trend, so it's probably the correct approach - I just wonder if Ricky wasn't such an outlier (and it's not even like he didn't have some pop, too!) that I wonder if he doesn't confound the model. I'd be equally as interested in the converse to the (very good) added question you propose: which of them leads in first-inning RS rate?

eszed 2y ago

That's a really good point about the different run-scoring environments between the AL and NL in that time-period. I guess we'd need a contextualized RS+ / RBI+ statistic that I'm not smart enough to generate, but maybe someone on Baseball Prospectus already has. Biggio was my favorite of the "Killer B's", and he'd have found a place in any lineup in any era. The power-hitting leadoff guy is a recent (analytics-driven) trend, so it's probably the correct approach - I just wonder if Ricky wasn't such an outlier (and it's not even like he didn't have some pop, too!) that I wonder if he doesn't confound the model. I'd be equally as interested in the converse to the (very good) added question you propose: which of them leads in first-inning RS rate?