The Art Of WAR 2.0, 2.1, …

Wins Above Replacement (WAR) seems to have gone mainstream since the end of the 2011 season.  But what does a good baseball fan know about WAR?  What does an average fan know?  How about a casual fan?  I won’t bore you with any Sun Tzu quotes that I just looked up.

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May 4, 2012:

WAR 2.0: WAR Upgraded on Baseball-Reference.com 

a chart of differences between the new B-R WAR, the old B-R WAR and FanGraphs WAR.

Say what?  How many fans knew there are multiple versions of WAR, warring factions so to speak?  Next time you hear someone on TV mention WAR ask yourself whether that person has any idea what the heck he/she is talking about.

You really need to read about WAR 2.0 for yourself.  There’s a lot to it and Sean Forman and his staff at baseball-reference.com are to be commended for making a real attempt to explain WAR to it’s subscribers.

I interviewed Sean in 2009.  To listen to that interview, click this link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radicalbaseball/2009/06/05/special-interview-with-sean-forman-ceo-of-baseball-referencecom

To listen to other Radical Baseball programs, click: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radicalbaseball

See Baseball-Reference.com WAR Explained

Before the day was out WAR 2.0 had been upgraded to WAR 2.1.

See comment 3:

Dr. Doom Says: 
May 4th, 2012 at 11:34 am

I’m also intrigued that Matt Kemp now led Ryan Braun by only .1 WAR last year… that’s a HUGE difference from what the old calculation did… which I believe had them separated by 2.5 WAR.

Ouch!  How many of the younger writers would have voted for NL MVP differently with that information?

How would WAR 2.0 impact this recent post on my blog:

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012 Willie Mays and NL CF WAR Fielding Runs 1951-1968

This could be a huge opportunity for the majority of us baseball fans, if not to catch up, then to at least get into the same ballpark as those who are redefining the way in which baseball is analysed.