Game 57 Thread: June 6 vs. Braves, 1p

John Ely (3-2, 2.54) vs. Tim Hudson (6-1, 2.30).

COMMENTS: What's this, a BABIP reference at Dodgers.com?

The opposition has a .267 batting average on balls put in play [against Ely], the lowest BABIP against any Dodgers starter aside from Carlos Monasterios, who's more of a fill-in anyway. So there could be some luck involved for Ely -- but it hasn't run out yet.

I want to like John Ely so much — and his performance has given us a lot to like — that I'm trying to convince myself that three years of Juan Pierre was worth his arrival in L.A. Everybody loves a rookie sensation story, and while injury concerns and BABIP could be red flags, we might as well enjoy this kid's talent while we can.

And the Dodgers will need plenty of it to salvage a split against Atlanta, as the effective Hudson, who has a career 3.90 ERA against them, looks like he might have his way with the struggling Dodgers offense. Things don't get any easier with the Cardinals coming into town tomorrow. How about a win to prepare for the arrival of Mr. Pujols & Co.?

Elsewhere: When Los Angeles met John Ely (Jon Weisman reveals his romantic side)

P.S.: A separate Lakers Game Thread will go up later today.

Primer: Advanced Stats

If you're like me, you're a handsome devil. But you're also occasionally overwhelmed by the plethora of advanced statistics that have cropped up recently, with new formulas seemingly being created every season. But fear not, because the gurusphere has got you covered. The good folk at True Blue LA and Big League Stew have put together a series of explanatory posts for Joe Blogfans like us.

True Blue LA

• Better Know A Stat - OPS+
• Better Know a Stat- Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP)
• Better Know a Stat- Expected Fielding Independent Pitching (x-FIP)

Big League Stew

• Everything you always wanted to know about: BABIP
• Everything you always wanted to know about: wOBA
• Everything you always wanted to know about: WPA
• Everything you always wanted to know about: WAR
• Everything you always wanted to know about: UZR
• Everything you always wanted to know about: Win Shares

Widening the Gap Between Chemists and Counters

From "Some strange new letters in baseball's numbers game" by Bill Shaikin at the L.A. Times:

Baseball statistics can resemble alphabet soup these days. In books, websites and research papers, analysts present such acronyms as VORP and BABIP.

Major league teams generally conduct their statistical research through consultants or in-house analysts, sometimes covering similar ground with proprietary labels, but even baseball executives can have a hard time keeping up with the expanding universe of statistics. So we asked four general managers if they could identify VORP and BABIP, two statistics developed several years ago.

Ned Colletti, Dodgers
VORP: "I can't remember what the exact definition is."
BABIP: "What's that?"

Bill Stoneman, Angels
VORP: "No."
BABIP: "No."

Kevin Towers, Padres
VORP: "Yes."
BABIP: "You'd have to ask the number crunchers on that one. I couldn't tell you."

Billy Beane, Athletics
VORP: "Value over replacement player."
BABIP: "Which one is that? I don't even know what that one is."

Is it further proof of the deification of Billy Beane that I believe the other GMs, yet I think Beane was being disingenuous by saying he doesn't know BABIP?

Quite the Versatile Statistic, Part 2