Bob Costas Delivers a Spot-On Analysis of Analytics in Baseball | The Rich Eisen Show 

Title of this video is 100% correct. Awesome job, Bob Costas. I completely agree.

I love this. Costas is a treasure. He oozes passion and knowledge

Bruce Bochy letting MadBum finish game 7 seems so much more impressive just 6 short years later...

That was an amazing take. Bob Costas is the 🐐

Bob Costas has the spirit of baseball and the spirit of sports. Analytics does not take that into account. He just nails it in his points in this interview.

I agree with every word of this, though I feel compelled to note that when it comes to the lengths of games these days, there's a contributing factor that isn't observed enough--and for obvious reasons. But it hit me not too long ago, when I went back and re-watched Game 7 of the 1986 World Series, which someone had uploaded the complete NBC broadcast of here to RU-vid--complete with commercial breaks. And the first thing that struck me watching that broadcast again was just HOW MUCH SHORTER those ads breaks were between innings, 30+ years ago. That's not to minimize the usefulness of things like a pitch clock, but that's definitely a significant factor in the increase of game length.

Tom Kelly didn’t dare remove Jack Morris in the tenth inning of the seventh game in the 1991 World Series! Go Twins

Costas for Commissioner. A few years ago he presented a brilliant idea for how to fix the baseball playoffs too. So sad no one in baseball is listening.

Best take I’ve heard in years.

I can listen to Costas talk baseball all day. 👍🏼

The present state of MLB is eerily reminiscent of video game speed running. If you’ve never watched video game speed running, you should check it out. It’s interesting, but not entertaining. All sorts of video game strategies are employed that obviously run counter to point of the game and render it almost unwatchable past a couple minutes (like staring at the ground while running, dropping grenades at your feet to slightly increase your speed, or trying to walk through walls to bypass entire parts of the game). It feels like this is what most MLB clubs have started to do. It’s like a race to see who can make the most boring brand of baseball they can, because they’ve realized it increases their run production by 0.17 a game.

That was GOLD Jerry....GOLD!!!!

... or Jack Morris (completing a big game). Even though I was a Braves fan in '91, huge respect to Jack Morris. That's the kind of stuff that makes baseball fun and memorable for me as a kid.

@5:58 Now I know the fatal flaw with modern relief pitching: Are you telling me starting pitchers will never again pitch past the 7th inning? That can’t be! I’d rather they shorten games to 7 innings! How can you call yourself a HOF’er in any sport if you never finished a game?

Bob costas is an absolute legend.

This is so perfect. The bit at the end really drives it home.

This was beautiful.

Love Bob Costas, love Strat-o-matic. Ergo, best video ever.

Very well said. I always appreciate Costas his knowledge and approach.

The famous Game 6 of the '75 series was 12 innings and played in 4 hours. The average time of the '21 WS was 4 hours without any extra inning games.

Dave Roberts finally wins a World Series because the opposing team was even more slavishly adherent to sabermetrics, analytics than the Dodgers were. Oh, the irony.

I guess Madison Bumgarner 2014 game 7 performance wouldn't even happen if his manager was an analytics guy.

If taking Snell out when he was pitching great was scripted, that means the front office undermined their own team.

Now that's a great soliloquy about the sport. Costas has a PhD in baseball

Longtime baseball fan with statistics background. Its application of stats, when a starter is in groove, keep him in. Stats are skewed by medium to bad starts after 3rd time through lineup. Snell's style with 4 pitches also factors into this. It was a clear mistake.

Coming from someone who grew up in the steroid era. Baseball was my favorite sport. I was obsessed with the mid-late 90s Seattle Mariners as a kid. I haven’t watched a game in 2 seasons. It really sucks to have your favorite game taken away from you. It’s literally insane what they’ve done to this once beautiful game. Not even just the analytics. The new bush league rules have just murdered it for me.

Statistical probably DOES NOT guarantee wins in baseball games. The difference between middle of the road, good and great players is this: Great players hot streaks last longer and slumps are shorter than average players. And THAT is what managers manage and strategies to.

Here is something no one talks about regarding the lengths of games and economics. First off, one of the main reasons games are so much longer than ever is the elimination of foul ball territory. There are now seats where routine pop-ups used to be outs. The only real exception to this is in Oakland, one of the poorest fan bases in baseball. The reason there are seats there instead of field is because owners are aware of fans wanting to be closer to the action AND owners are willing to do anything that puts more revenue in place.....mainly their pockets. Less field, outs become foul balls instead and it now takes forever to get someone out. Secondly, organizations are learning that paying middle relievers is less expensive than paying starting pitchers. This strategy works to leverage down salary during negotiations. Why pay someone 25 million a year when I can pay three guys 5 million a year each to do the same job and be just as or close to or maybe even a little better and get the same results. Thirdly, Isn't it in your best interest as an organization to have the games go longer rather than shorter? Don't you generate money from people being at the ballpark longer rather than shorter? Don't you receive more revenue from advertising the longer the game continues? Meanwhile, as a public relations ploy, as an organization we will continue to publicly lament how long the games are and put in little give backs to make it appear as though we're doing something , like pitch clocks or trips to the mound. If they really wanted to shorten the game they could easily, simply expand the strike zone according to the book, letter high strikes instead of anything above the belt being a ball. The organizations are not going to do anything of any substance to shorten the game simply because it is not in their economic best interest to do so.

Strat O Matic reference. Awesome!

Amazing stuff

When they took that pitcher out...I knew the Dodgers just won

Analytics need to be paired with the flow of the game. Analytics doesn’t take the actual energy of the game into its formula.

Bob is absolutely right about the complete game aspect of pitchers now. I found a website detailing the active wins leader for pitchers and found as you go down the list, the fewer complete games you see out of pitchers. Guys like Verlander as an example are one of the rare guys left that can pitch a whole game. In fact of the active pitchers, there are just 23 100 game winners right now (not including Big Sexy he hasn't signed with a team in a while) and I see that list dwindling in the next 10 years. How man of those 100 game winners completed multiple upon multiple games? Not many. It's getting to the point where imho there's going to be a manager who rotates pitchers in and out every 3 innings. Wins and losses won't even matter anymore for pitchers, let alone complete games and saves. Because the way they go through pitchers is just getting ridiculous now. In a way they're not only tiring out their pitchers faster by playing more games, they're exposing their pitchers more to film as opposed to a starter/ace. the 2019 season saw an MLB record for blown saves altogether by the league. Teams are adjusting to this! How many closers can we say are elite now with all these blown saves? How many walk-offs happened in 2019? I understand sabremetrics during the regular season, for sure, but come playoff time when each game means more and more, just let the guys play.

Hey Bob- excellent job.

NOBODY breaks it down like Bob Costas

In my opinion one of the main reasons for game length is the commercials. 2 minutes of commercials between 1/2 innings that’s 38 mins of commercials without any pitching changes! Now add pitching changes... even if each team only brings in 3 pitchers (not likely to be that few) you now have another 12 mins of commercials at least. This is the albatross around the game

He broke it down perfectly

I’m loving how many pro-analytics people like Bob and like myself for that matter we’re horrified by the move.

Agree 100%. I'm a Dodger fan, so Kevin Cash is one of my favorite guys these days. I am thrilled for Dave Roberts. A great guy, very good manager, Dodgers deserved this one. 2017 was crushing, I definitely feel the Dodgers got cheated out of that series. 2018 less so, the Red Sox were just better that year than the Dodgers. Last year was tough because I think the Dodgers were better than the Nationals. At least they lost to the eventual champion. So finally it worked out this year. Baseball is toughest championship to win, so many variables in the outcome. And happy for Tommy Lasorda, another great Dodger.

This was a good video

Perfect take

If the base hit dies, baseball dies.

I'm applauding at home!

Rays manager for dodgers mvp of the series.

Good God well said -- I was screaming when he pulled Snell -- they deserved to lose for that call,

I am SF Giants fan and their three titles they were dead last in homers and yet I would take those teams. That pitching staff and the timely hits over the swing for a home run,

I'm a pitcher and I love numbers. Analytics are important in baseball just like they are in anything else in life. But whatever analytics said pull Snell there were straight up wrong. Cash should be fired for such stupidity. I was pulling for the Rays in that game but once Cash took him out I wanted the Dodgers to teabag Cash.

Dude just blew my mind.

There's always been analytics in baseball. Statistics like batting average, home runs, earned run average etc. have driven the way teams and managers evaluate players. The difference now is that the statistical tools are better.

Analytics work in the long run. A World Series game is the ultimate short run. It works, until it doesn't

I expect Roy Halladay is spinning in his grave; imagine a Jay or Philly manager coming out that soon with a hook in a shutout game.

It's tough being smart, knowledgable, interesting, and 100% correct, but Bob Costas pulls it off year after year.

Bob was a great Baseball announcer and knows the game

As an A’s fan, all BillyBall/Sabermetrics has brought the team has been good regular seasons that gets the team to the playoffs and that’s it. Get rid of analytics, get rid of batters taking 30 secs out of the box between pitches, and get rid of 3 min commercials.

bravo Bob, Bravo!!!

Im 68 years old and have watched baseball all my life, I saw Gibson pitch, and Koufax and Whitey and The Unit and The Express, Cash shouldn't have pulled Snell.

Absolutely Mr. Costas. Analytics also do not tell you how smart a player is, especially defensive stats.

That explanation made my jay drop. Make baseball great again!

Another problem with the Sabermetrics "takeover" is that teams are compelled to use the exact same approach to playing the game and developing a roster, since all organizations (from top to bottom) now accept that this approach is theoretically more likely to be successful. There is no tolerance for alternate approaches, so there is less diversity of playing styles. Part of the fun was watching if one style could prevail over the other, the moves/countermoves, and the adjustments made. Now all teams are converging to the same style, and it's less interesting.

Analytics is taking all the fun out of baseball and will the be the death of it if something doesn't change.

Bob is a legend 🖒

The analytics don’t actually support pulling snell out at this point either. Dude pitches statistically better against 3rd at bats than 2nd

2:07 best.....quote......ever about sports today

Bob Gibson would have laid his manager out if he was being lifted in that situation!

analytics can only tell you what happened. they can't tell you WHY it happened.

Costas telling it like it is 👍 I had been patiently waiting the past 12 years for the Rays to get back into the World Series. And to lose it like this, is heartbreaking. Computers compute, but human beings have a spirit, drive, determination, and pride, which computers do not. Who cares what the statistics have to say. If a guy is pitching lights out and the other team can't figure him out, screw your analytics. Have they ever heard of the term "Having Heart" Even Mookie Betts said the Dodgers were expecting a game 7 the way Snell was pitching. But naturally our analytics department thought differently. Why don't they just develop robotic players, program them with all the analytic information they need, and let them play, if you're not going to even consider the human element anymore. It used to be, "You gotta have Heart. Now "Heart" counts for nothing. Because it's not only Sports, It's the Music industry also. It's mostly computerized musical crap, with little, and in many cases, NO human element, except for the vocals, and their auto-tuned LOL

Minor baseball games take 2:20-2:30 time wise, heck you get the Sox and Yankees and it's 3:30-3:40 each game.

Costas mentioned Game 7 of 1960 WS played in 2:36. Analytics have led to paralysis by analysis. Incidentally, there were NO strikeouts in that game.

statistics and thus advanced statistics are important, but never trump the Human issue! edit: feel like maybe someone should explain that Strat-o-matic is the paper version of MLB The Show... ;)

You have to learn the rules, so you can know when to break them. The second part of what he says is even more accurate. Pro sports are not sports in the “pure” sense they are sports entertainment.

I Love Baseball.

A video that aged like fine wine. Gotta love it. 2023 Blue Jays pull their starter in the 4th that was dealing. It is revealed again after Buck Showalter's firing that he is pushed to have certain people in the lineup, namely Voglebach, which no doubt contributed to several losses. But we still call for firing managers as if it is ALL on them and they will take the fall every time until the next guy comes in and does the same thing. Like Costas said, it is a great tool and can work on a macro level, but these are people, not video game characters. Sometimes I wonder if too many of these analytics people think MLB the Show is real life. Lol.

Best.Rant.Ever

Costas is of course 100% correct. Too much of anything is too much no matter how wonderful it may be.

Guys a national treasure.

I agree with every single thing he said

When a baseball manager makes a move that the other team is thrilled to see, chances are it is a bad move.

Live by the sword die by the sword type of situation if you ask me. Correct me if I’m wrong but no Rays starter went a full 6 innings the whole postseason.

Justin Verlander has the last complete game in the playoffs and that was in 2017. The third time through the order stuff is true for the league on a whole. But elite pitchers are elite the third time through the order. Always have been, always will be.

Kevin Cash made a typical analytics-driven mistake. Analytics are statistics. They are more accurate the larger the sample size. A long baseball season is a great sample size for a statistical analysis. That is not the same as the analysis needed for one game. A statistical pre-season plan for what you have to do to win 95 games is very different than what you have to do to win today’s game. Analytics aren’t designed to provide strategy for a single game. Common mistake..

What do they say....the first out in the inning is the most important out...Snell got the lead off batter and then gave up a bloop single....his second of the game and got hooked.....UNBELIEVABLE!!...this was an ELIMINATION game for the RAYS...he should have gone at least one more batter.

The conscience of the game.

Costas killed it.

I’d like to see a game between the bats and gloves. One team can only use their bats. The other team can only use their gloves. It would be eye opening

The unequivocal broadcast legend...Bob Costas.

Bob Costas over Joe Buck in baseball and football!

Bob Costas needs to be commissioner.

I love you Bob Costas. Can we engineer a coup and get Bob to be the Commish?

They should play this clip at the beginning of every MLB game, practice and meeting! 👏

Costas is a treasure.

Couldn't have been said better.

Facts.

Wish Bob would do my eulogy

Costas would be the best commish

Could you imagine trying to use Randy Johnson the way the 1995 Mariners did in today’s game?

Legions of relievers isn't the fault of statistics, Bob...the concept of fresher arms being able to deliver their best stuff and therefore their best opportunity for K's is to blame for that dynamic. He may be right about everything else, and statistics may be one point of persuasion in the decision to go to the bullpen, but it isn't the only factor by a long shot. He is right that the dynamic harms the pace.

They ruined a moment in baseball history. Even if he gives up the runs. We don’t know what would have happened. Numbers say Mookie would have strikeout.

God bless Bob Costas

Stratomatic. Game of the gods....during our childhood.

I thought they fix the pace of play thing