Cubs - 40% more talent?

[naivin]

Steve Stone has said repeatedly throughout the year, and repeated again today that the Cubs have 40% more talent than the Brewers. Now, he undoubtedly is including experience in the general term talent, but do you buy this? I would say that the Cubs have more talent, but 40% sounds like a lot. Now, if true, either Lou Pinellia is no where near the manager people seem to think he is, or Ned Yost is getting a bad rap, since the teams have virtually the same record.

I very much respect Steve Stone's opinions, and he is still convinced the Cubs will win the division. I think they probably will as well, but I have hope he is wrong and has lost a bit of objectivity and perhaps is clinging to that early 40% assertion since he was the one who made it.

[Brian the Automator]

I'm sure he arrived at the 40% number through detailed analysis using an objective approach.

[Nearsighted Views]

How do you quatify that? And if a team has 40% more talent, why aren't they up by that percentage. I like Stone but this is kind of a stupid comment to me. Say they're better or say they're more experienced...whatever. I wouldn't necessarily argue with you because it doesn't matter. The team with the best record at the end of the season wins the division.

[HebrewHammer]

I'm sure he arrived at the 40% number through detailed analysis using an objective approach.

If he knew anything at all, he'd realize it's certainly 42%.

 

[Samurai Bucky]

Does that mean they are underperforming? Does that mean they suck 40% more than the Brewers? Does that mean that Stone is 100% a dork? Perhaps Yost is a better manager getting more out of his team than Pinella is getting out of his team.

 

I don't see how you can quantify that. You can have all the talent in the world. You still have to win the games on the field.

[sbrylski]

Define talent.

 

How about who has more ability?

 

The comment that the Cubs have 40% more talent than the Brewers is just sportswriter vomit.

[rluzinski]

What does that even mean? Do the Cubs have the capacity to score 40% more runs, give up 40% less runs or some combination of the two? Should they be expected to win 40% more games? 40% more wins over average is 112 wins. Are the Brewers not even average in his eyes or should the Cubs have had one of the greatest records ever this year?

 

It's a fair position to take that the Cubs have more talent but the numbers suggest that the difference is pretty small. Stone may want to divide his wild guess by 10.

[naivin]

I think you guys are getting overly hung up on the 40% thing - I don't really think its that ridiculous or hard to understand. I have no problem assigning a percentage to it to help at least try to quantify your opinion on the difference in talent on the teams. I think the Cubs have more talent, but to say 40% more seems high. I just don't think the talent gap is that wide.

[brettac1]

I think Steve Stone is correct quite often. This is not one of those times. Talent is such a vague word, though. As far as "proven" talent goes, though, they have the Brewers licked - guys like Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, and Floyd have all been good or better for a long time. I'm not a big believer in experience winning baseball games, though, and if you want to just look at raw talent, I would say the Brewers have more.

[TooLiveBrew]

Geez rluz, no 10,000 simulations to test this theory? I respected you before this.

[Brian the Automator]

I'm 40% more attractive than Steve Stone. Gyros are 37% more delicious than cheeseburgers.

[bigredrobbo]

He thought about it long and hard, considered 30%, but when he double-checked, the number he had pulled out of his ass was 40%.

 

Doesn't get much more scientific than that, I think...

[naivin]

Gyros are 37% more delicious than cheeseburgers.

 

That is 100% false!

[naivin]

He thought about it long and hard, considered 30%, but when he double-checked, the number he had pulled out of his ass was 40%.

 

Doesn't get much more scientific than that, I think...

Case in point. He never claimed it was scientific. 40% was his estimation of the talent gap. Guess I don't get why people would have such a problem with him saying that. You can argue with the precentage, but to quibble with him describing it that way, I just don't get.

[TooLiveBrew]

We quibble because it's a stupid comment to make, whether he claimed it was scientific or not. Just some good-natured mocking http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/smile.gif

[M Skjellyfetti]

Case in point. He never claimed it was scientific. 40% was his estimation of the talent gap. Guess I don't get why people would have such a problem with him saying that. You can argue with the precentage, but to quibble with him describing it that way, I just don't get.

Everyone is getting on his description because 40% is such a ridiculous number. Also, because talent is an abstract thing such that no one knows the talent level of any team, his 40% deal is even more ridiculous. Unless talent has little correlation with wins, there probably isn't even a 40% gap between the best and the worst teams in the majors.

[Nearsighted Views]

Pie is 44% more appealing to me than cake.

[naivin]

I am 100% sorry I brought it up.

[Ennder]

I wouldn't agree that they have 4% more talent, much less 40%.

[GenoSeligPrieb]

I thought Steve Stone had plenty of money. Wasn't he supposefd to be part of a cartel trying to buy the A's or something, a few years ago?

 

I ask, because he seems so damned desperate to please whichever employer he currently works for, and so willing to announce or comment on anything lately. When Darrin Jackson had to leave the booth a few weeks ago for family reasons, Stone filled in. He gushed about the White Sox, singling out such future Hall of Famers as John Danks, AJ Pierzynski and Pablo Ozuna. He said they had certain qualities, and that the Sox will still turn it around in 2007. It all smacked of beehind-smooching.

 

These days, here in Chicago, in mass-disgust, White Sox fans are turning to the Barce (yep, that's spelled correctly, in Shikoggo-ese, it rhymes with "scarce"). So the call-in shows, like WSCR, which employs this expert-for-hire, have been very Cub-heavy lately. So when Joe from Cicero, or Bob from 433rd and Western avenya phones in (usuallly with mouths full of beef), they're talkin' Cubs, and they want to bandwagon onto the success they're seeing this year. That means Stone is ready to start talking UP the Cubs. He defends himself by reminding us that Sammy, Dusty and even his old nemesis, Todd Walker are gone, so the Cubs are an attractive team again. And that means he'll play to the crowd, telling them how much superior they are to the Brewers.

 

Again, it seems to marginalize his opinions, since his strong words are available for easy purchase.

 

________________

 

Side note: It's getting downright nauseating, hearing Ken Harrelson and Ed Farmer unwaveringly defend White Sox players these days.

 

Among the universally-held beliefs of White Sox fans, it's known that Ozzie Guillen, Mark Buehrle, Thome, Konerko, and especially Pierzynski, are hands-off when it comes to criticism. Regardless of how many double-plays Konerko hits into, or rally-killing strikeouts from Thome, disastrous starts by Buehrle, poor management decisions by Guillen or general jerkiness of Pierzynski, all is forgiven, or better yet, excused.

 

In the midst of their latest losing streak, there have been a few gems from these 2 clowns, as they play to their disgruntled fanbase:

 

KH: "That ball Contreras threw in the dirt? NOBODY's gonna stop that one. A passed ball on AJ? Give me a break!"

 

EF: "...to 2nd for one, on to 1st, double play for Konerko. I think it's just so slippery out here today, that Paulie had NO chance of legging that one out."

 

KH (After Boston swept a 4-game series in Chicago, for a composite score of 46-7): "This team hasn't given up on Ozzie. He's a motivator. That's what he is."

 

KH (When Thome stood and watched strike 3 right down the pipe): "And Thome is called out on a really bad call. That strike zone is the size of a teacup, folks."

 

EF: "Mark Buehrle's gonna leave this game (4 earned runs in 6 innings of a 14-2 surrender to Boston). The fans ought to give him a big ovation here, because he pitched great!"

 

It's almost comical...

[TooLiveBrew]

GSP, please do keep those gems coming as you can get 'em. Kudos to you for being able to stomach watching an entire game of that garbage, bc I simply can't do it. But those quotes are beautiful. Esp. #s 2 & 5

[RoseBowlMtg]

I agree with Todd Snider:

 

 

They say 3 percent of the people use 5 to 6 percent of their brain

97 percent use 3 percent and the rest goes down the drain

I'll never know which one I am but I'll bet you my last dime

99 percent think we're 3 percent 100 percent of the time

 

64 percent of all the world's statistics are made up right there on the spot

82.4 percent of people believe 'em whether they're accurate statistics or not

I don't know what you believe but I do know there's no doubt

I need another double shot of something 90 proof

I got too much to think about

 

Too much to think about

Too much to figure out

Stuck between hope and doubt

It's too much to think about

 

They say 92 percent of everything you learned in school was just ******** you'll never need

84 percent of everything you got you bought to satisfy your greed

Because 90 percent of the world's population links possessions to success

Even though 80 percent of the wealthiest 1 percent of the population

Drinks to an alarming excess

More money, more stress

 

It's too much to think about

Too much to figure out

Stuck between hope and doubt

It's too much to think about

Pick it now

 

84 percent of all statisticians truly hate their jobs

They say the average bank robber lives within say about 20 miles of the bank that he robs

There's this little bank not far from here I've been watching now for a while

Lately all I can think about's how bad I wanna go out in style

 

And it's too much to think about

Too much to figure out

Stuck between hope and doubt

It's too much to think about

That's right

It's too much to think about

Amen

It's too much to think about

[Bring Back the Stein]

Steve Stone is 34.5 percent more of an ******** than Joe Morgan, but 7.8 to the 4.6 millionth power less of a crapheel than Peter Gammons.

[BCZF]

New Ty-D-Bowl, now with 40% more cleaning power! Because 50% would just be damn silly...

 

 

Next thing will be "4 out of 5 Chicago dentists think the Cubs will win the division" .. Blah, blah, blah...Homerneering crapahoola...

 

 

BTW - Experts agree that Gyros are waaay better that Chee-burgers and Tsatsiki sauce beats ketchup in blind taste tests 50 to 1!

 

Mmmm Gyros...Argggggggg...

[TooLiveBrew]

I am now 40% more angry at Ned Yost. That puts my total somewhere up over 300% angry at Ned Yost. I like Steve Stone's math, it can be useful.