Originally Posted by Grandstander
Games played in the miodle of the season count exactly as much as games played in September.
But how did the team GET there? If a team or a player does not play the same way in April (less intensity) as he does in September (greater intensity), the chances of winning the game in April, recognizing all the uncontrollable variables, is less, in most cases. While the games all count the same, a win is a win, they are often not approached that way. If teams and players approached every game with the same ability, it would be more akin to a coin toss, but they are human, and they do not or cannot approach every game the same way. Many players bear down more when it counts, not realizing that if they did that earlier, they wouldn't have to do it later.
If a team wins a game 10-9, all ten of the runs that were scored were equally critical, remove any one of them and the victory evaporates.
How about a team that goes out in front, 10-0, and simply coasts. Statistically, all ten runs are equally critical, but the leading team often gives away runs. In a close 10-9 game, every run is critical, both statistically and on the field. In a blow out, if the leading team bears down, possibly doesn't bring in a second line pitcher, etc., the score would not have been 10-9.
That Dimaggio got the hits...that is what counts. How they were arranged, that's random luck at work.
Back to the human factor. A player, any player, might "give away' an at bat by not concentrating, not running to first hard, etc. But a player with a personal record at stake, who is a great competitor, cannot let that happen. DiMaggio might have concentrated more during the streak. Over 154 games, you can't get up for every game, but during a potentially historic hitting streak, some players reach back for a little extra.
Think of it on a simpler level....if the contest was coin tossing, the winner being whichever side came up most frequently within 162 tosses.
That's JUST IT. The contest involves humans, emotions, desires, competition, courage, hustling, NOT hustling, etc. It is not solely statistics. The statistics attempt to quantify WHAT HAS OCCURRED. Inferential statistics can ONLY INFER within accepted limits, and that means the acceptance of possible errors.
Dimaggio's streak was randomness at work.
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