Moving from first to third

bjkrautk · January 16, 2008

"According to Melvin, Cameron has led the Majors in advancing from first base to third on hits in each of the last two seasons."

I lifted that quote from Adam McCalvy's story on the Brewers Website about the Mike Cameron signing, and I've seen a few other versions elsewhere (I think J-S Online). Since I've never heard of a statistics bureau tracking that sort of information, I assume it's an organizationally-kept statisitc. Plus, I also can't help but notice when we hear about something new from the team's brain trust.

Are there any studies focused on baserunning, or that attempt to quantify baserunner speed as part of the traditional sabermetric runs created formula? It makes logical sense that players who can take an extra base with regularity are more likely to score from 3rd than they would be from 2nd....but I can't help but wonder if park factors (playing in a park that doesn't give up HRs), and other factors (singles hitter(s) behind the player, the 3rd base coach's propensity to give players the green light to try for extra bases, etc.) weigh into the player rankings.

While I'm not the most in-depth statistical analyist in the world, I am curious to see if there's any public research on the topic, or if it's just something the Brewers are looking at internally.

rluzinski · January 16, 2008

I had a long post on this topic but because Yuku sucks so much, it's all gone and I'm not rewriting it. To make a long story short... many people have undertaken base running. Dan Fox has, for one. Here's his leaders from 2006 (he's a BP writer now, so no more freebies I guess):

http://danagonistes.blogspot.com/2006/12/ask-and-you-shall-receive.html

I think Hardballtimes.com has their own version. Anyone who wants the raw data can parse it from retrosheet.org.

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