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♦ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2005
Outside
the
‘Home’
lungs trade weocer
(AP) - The Sacramento
Kings traded Chris Webber to
the Philadelphia 76ers, parting
ways with the cornerstone of
their renaissance in a stunning
six-player deal that dramatically
reshaped both teams.
The Sixers acquired Webber,
one of the NBAs elite power for
wards and a five-time All-Star,
along with reserve forwards Matt
Barnes and Michael Bradley.
Philadelphia sent forwards Brian
Skinner. Kenny Thomas and
Corliss Williamson to the Kings,
who finally divested themselves
of Webber s mammoth contract
after years of rumors and specu
lation.
Geoff Petrie, the Kings'
president of basketball opera
tions, acquired Webber from
Washington before the 1999 sea
son in a deal that transformed
Sacramento into an interesting,
contending team. The Kings then
re-signed Webber to a seven
year deal worth approximately
$127 million in 2001.
Webber has played exception
ally well in recent weeks, averag
ing 21.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and
5.5 assists per game - though
he isn't the athlete he was before
undergoing serious knee surgery
following the 2003 playoffs.
Bledsoe stgts witti Dalas
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Drew
Bledsoe signed a three-year con
tract with Dallas, one day after he
was released by Buffalo. Financial
terms were not immediately avail
able.
Bledsoe knew last week that
he was going to be cut and within
days decided he wanted to be
reunited with Cowboys coach Bill
Parcells. Once the Bills filed the
paperwork, the Cowboys quickly
showed they also were eager to
strike a deal.
Bledsoe set passing records
and reached the Super Bowl as
a young quarterback playing for
Parcells in New England. Parcells
made him the top overall pick in
the 1993 draft, started him as a
rookie and let him throw a league
record 691 passes his second
season. Two years later, the
Patriots reached the Super Bowl
but lost to Green Bay. Parcells
then left for the New York Jets.
temple coach suspended
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Temple
coach John Chaney suspended
himself for one game and apol
ogized for putting a player in
against Saint Joseph's a day ear
lier for the sole purpose of rough
play and quick fouls.
Chaney offered the self
imposed one-game suspension
after meeting with Temple presi
dent David Adamany and athletic
director Bill Bradshaw. He will be
replaced on the bench by assis
tant Dan Leibovitz for Saturday's
game against Massachusetts.
Upset by what he thought were
illegal screens by Saint Joseph's
that were not being called by
the officials, Chaney turned to
seldom-used 6-foot-8, 250-pound
Nehemiah Ingram, who started
throwing his arms around and
tossing elbows, once connecting
hard to the chin of Hawks center
Dwayne Jones, and had a hard
foul on John Bryant that left him
sprawled on the court for several
minutes.
Bryant complained of a sore
right elbow on Wednesday and
needed X-rays. He will have an
MRI on Thursday and was listed
as doubtful for Saturday's game
against Rhode Island.
Federar rales over IVfetar
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
(AP) - Two-time defending cham
pion Roger Federer came back to
edge Czech qualifier Ivo Minar 6-
7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the first round
of the Dubai Open.
Andre Agassi, fifth-seeded
Tommy Robredo, No. 6 Nikolay
Davydenko and No. 8 Ivan
Ljubicic also won.
Mrttoez upsets Myskkn
DOHA, Qatar (AP) - Former
Wimbledon champion Conchita
Martinez ended Anastasia
Myskina's hopes for a third
straight Qatar Open title with a
6-4, 7-5 upset.
Martinez reached the quarter
finals, where she'll face Daniela
Hantuchova of Slovakia, who
ousted sixth-seeded Elena Bovina
of Russia 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile, top-seeded
Amelie Mauresmo, No. 2 Maria
Sharapova and No. 4 Alicia
Molik advanced, but No. 5 Patty
Schnyder lost.
Jlncfc cnises ta quarters
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP)
- Third-seeded Mario Ancic
cruised to the quarterfinals of the
Tennis Channel Open, defeating
Australian Mark Philippoussis 6-
1,7-6 (3).
Two other seeded players
weren't so fortunate - No. 6 Irakli
Labadze of Georgia and No. 8
German Lars Burgsmuller both
lost. Only three seeds remain in
the tournament. On Tuesday, top
seeded Tommy Haas withdrew
because of the flu.
Understanding stats no longer easy
By JOHN UNDSAY
Scripps Howard News
Service
As the exasperated
manager in “Bull
Durham” said,
“Baseball is a simple game.
You hit the ball. You catch
the ball. You throw the ball.”
But the national pastime
is hardly that simple when it
comes to analyzing the game
statistically. Indeed for the
uninitiated, it can feel as if
you’ve fallen into the waning
moments of a bad game of
SprunnlP
Terms like OPS, IRA, DER,
WHIR LIPS, MB/9 and I/GS
are now key indicators of
who did what in baseball.
Because no matter how
much statisticians crunch
numbers and fans might
argue about who is better
- Barry Bonds or Albert
Pujols? - statistics are only
as good as what they tell
you about a player - or more
importantly what he is going
to do.
“There may be more sta
tistics in baseball today,
but there is really too little
understanding of what they
actually mean,” said author
Alan Schwarz, whose book
“The Numbers Game” was
ESPN’s baseball book of the
year for 2004. So many
casual fans are hooked on
things that happened in
the past. Who was a better
player? Ted Williams or Joe
DiMaggio?
“But today’s executives are
far more focused on using sta
tistics to predict the future.
On how a player is going to
do next year. You use the
numbers to look forward, not
backward.”
Today, statistics help teams
build a case for a player.
“Opinions are certainly
important, but at some point
they become less valuable
than evidence,” says author
and ESPN.com stats guru
Rob Neyer.
Franco shows no signs of slowing down
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The
oldest player in the majors
shows no signs of slowing
down.
Forty-six
year-old first
baseman
Julio Franco
arrived for
the first full
squad work
out of spring
training
Wednesday,
NOTEBOOK
Compiled by
theAP
intent on having another
productive season for the
Atlanta Braves.
“Why wouldn’t you see
me here?” Franco asked jok
ingly.
The Braves see no reason
to keep him away. After all,
Franco batted .309 with 57
RBIs last season.
“Julio is so valuable,” man
ager Bobby Cox said. “He
was literally our best hitter
last year.”
Franco repeated his goal
of playing until he’s 50 - or
four more seasons. He turns
47 in August.
“I don’t want to go beyond
that,” he said, “but who
TWO
From page 1B
shoot the 3-pointer, the latter
of which Mobley said is a big
part of their gameplan.
Renae Harvey (16 against
Douglas County) is also a
concern, added Mobley whose
squad after beating Ware
County in its tournament
opener has now won 12 of its
last 13 matches.
On defense, Mobley said the
Lady Greyhounds are “very
quick.”
“They play man and they
press in a 2-2-1 zone defense,”
he said. “They are not very
big.”
His key for success is three
prong: Not turn the ball over
versus the press, defend the
three-point shot and get the
ball inside to Drahdr Ross,
Kittery Maine, Shaniqua
Pauldo and the likes.
As far as Northside, head
coach Casaundra Wilson said
she was still gathering infor
mation on her team’s next
That’s where the use of
computers comes in. When
you’re trying to encompass
all the data for so many spe
cific numbers, computer skills
are a must. Young, progres
sive general managers such
as Oakland’s Billy Beane,
Boston’s Theo Epstein and
Cleveland’s Mark Shapiro
have embraced the new use
of computer-driven statistics,
as demonstrated in Michael
Lewis’ 2003 best-selling book
“Moneyball.” 4
Beane had a particular fixa
tion with on-base percentage
- divide the total number of
hits plus walks plus hit-by
pitches by at bats plus walks
plus hit-by-pitches plus sac
rifice flies - which many now
believe has replaced batting
average as the first indicator
of a batter’s value.
For an ever richer measure,
add in slugging percentage
- divide the total number of
bases of all base hits by the
total number of times at bat
- then you get OPS (On Base
plus Slugging).
Neyer calls OPS “an excel
lent shorthand measure of
a player’s most important
offensive skills.”
Thanks to an MLB-record
232 walks (120 of them
intentional), Bonds easily led
the majors with a 1.422 OPS
(.609 on-base percentage
plus .814 slugging percent
age) last year.
Yet Carlos Beltran’s OPS
of .917 (which ranked 22nd
baseball last year) did not
stop the Mets from giving
the free agent center fielder a
seven-year, $ 119-million con
tract in January. Beltran’s
92 walks somewhat offset his.
modest .267 batting average,
raising his on-base percent
age to a so-so .367.
In pitching, Schwarz said
that the ratio of walks to
plate appearances and strike
out ratio (strikeouts per nine
innings pitched) are also
good places to start assessing
knows?”
Retirement has no appeal
to Franco.
In fact, while back home
in the Dominican Republic
during the offseason, he
joined a winter league team
late in the season.
“I’ve not experienced this
yet,” he said, “but when
guys retire and this time of
year come around, I’m sure
they miss it.”
NICK’S NEW ROLE: Nick
Green came to spring train
ing a year ago as a little
known infielder.
Now, he’s considered a
lock to make the team.
After being called up from
Triple-A Richmond last sea
son, Green filled in well at
second base for the injured
Marcus Giles. Green wound
up playing 95 games for the
Braves, batting .273 with
three homers and 26 RBIs.
“Just because people have
me down to make the team
doesn’t mean I’m going to
be here,” said Green, 26.
“But I do feel more comfort
able. At least I’ve been here
long enough to know how to
'I assume they like
to force you into a
lot of mistakes.'
- Northside girls head basketball
coach Casaundra Wilson
opponent, Sandy Creek, who
they tip off to at 4 p.m. also in
Columbus. She did say, howev
er, the Lady Fighting Patriots,
who are 21-2 - both losses
coming to AAAAA teams and
each was by one point - like to
play man-to-man defense “all
game long.”
“From that I assume they
like to force you into a lot of
mistakes,” she said, “which
in turn will give them a lot of
easy transition baskets.”
Wilson’s key to success for
her 16-2 Lady Eagles is to
minimize all turnovers and
“play a complete game on the
offensive and defensive side of
the ball.”
SPORTS
a pitcher’s value.
By those numbers, Boston’s
pickup of free agent Matt
Clement looks like a bar
gain. Despite a 9-13 record,
Clement struck out a whop
ping 190 in 181 innings
pitched (9.45 Ks/9 innings)
while walking only 77 hitters
(3.83 BBs/9 innings).
And then there’s the
Dodgers’ pricy pickup of ex-
Red Sox righthander Derek
Lowe, whose hardly crack
ling WHIP (walks and hits
per inning pitched) of 1.61
(85th in the majors), hardly
matches his new contract
(four years, $36 million).
With noted author Bill
James making this technique
popular starting in the late
19705, breaking down base
ball stats in this manner has
become known as sabremet
rics.
But Schwarz says that this
kind of statistical analysis
has always been surrounding
the game.
“Certainly Bill James pop
ularized this stuff and he is a
Titan in the field,” Schwarz
said. “But you can look back
into the 1870 s and find arti
cles (arguing) whether bat
ting average was a fair statis
tic or not. A guy named F.C.
Lane from 1912 on was writ
ing dozens of long articles
basically doing what James
did with statistics, only 70
years earlier.”
For the record, LIPS is late
inning pressure situations (a
hitter’s stats from the sev
enth inning on with his team
behind by three runs or less
- four if the bases are loaded)
while IRA is inherited run
ners allowed. DER is defen
sive efficiency rating (the
number of batted balls put
into play when a team is in
the field divided by the num
ber of those balls turned into
outs) while MB/9 stands for
baserunners allowed per nine
innings and I/GS is innings
per games started.
handle myself and go about
my business.”
While primarily a second
baseman, Green will spend a
lot of time at shortstop and
third base this spring. He
hopes to show the Braves he
can play all three positions
in a backup role, increas
ing his value as a reserve
infielder.
“Ultimately, this is not
what I want to do,” he said.
“But I know what my role
is. I’ll do whatever they ask
me to do. I’m not going to
complain. At least I’m in the
majors.”
FEELING GOOD: Left
hander Horacio Ramirez
hopes to be back on regular
pitching program within a
couple of weeks.
For now, Ramirez is fol
lowing each stint on the
mound with two off days.
Normally, pitchers take the
mound every other day.
“I’ll catch up to the other
guys when the games start,
or pretty close to that,” said
Ramirez, who missed most
of last season with a rotator
cuff injury.
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Folhwing Race lot 36 (Daytona) Weeks Rank
Top Top In Last
Rk Driver Points Wins 5s 10s Top 10 Week
1. Jeff Gordon 185 1 1 1 1 N/A
2. Kurf Busch 170 0 1 1 1 N/A
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 170 0 1 1 1 N/A
4 Scott Riggs 160 0 1 1 1 N/A
5. Jimmie Johnson 160 0 1 1 1 N/A
6. Tony Stewart 156 0 0 1 1 N/A
7 Mark Martin 150 0 0 1 1 N/A
8. Sterling Marlin 142 0 0 1 1 N/A
9. Kevin Lepage 138 0 0 1 1 N/A
10. Rusty Wallace 134 0 0 1 1 N/A
Additional championship-point earners:
11. Elliott Sadler .... 130 22 Jeremy Mayfield . .99 33. Jamie McMutray ...67
12. Joe Nemecttek 129 23. Kasey Kahne .97 34 Martin Truex Jr . .61
13. Carl Edwards 127 24 Ricky Rudd 91 35. Bobdy Hamilton Jr .. .58
14. Dave Blaney . .. .121 25 Greg Biffle . . .88 36 Michael Waltrip 57
15. Dale Jarrett 118 26, Casey Mears 85 37 Jason Leffler 55
16 Kyle Petty 117 27, Kevin Harvick ,84 38. Kyle Busch 49
17 Jeff Green 115 28. Boris Said 82 39 Ken Schrader 46
18. Mike Bliss 109 29. Jeff Burton 81 40. Kenny Wallace 43
19. Ryan Newman .108 30. Mike Skinner 73 41. Mike Wallace 40
20. Travis Kvapil . 106 31. John Andretti ,70 42 Matt Kenseth 37
21. Brian Vickers 100 32. Scott Wimmer .69 43 Bobby Latxmte 34
Note: The first 26 races ol the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season will determine which drivers
will be part of the "Chase for Die NASCAR NEXTEL Cup" in trie final 10 races The drivers who are
in the NASCAR Top 10 or within 400 points ot the leader after those 26 races will vie tor the series
title in the 'Chase tor the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup."
• •
NASCAR doles out
$102,000 in penalties
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
- NASCAR announced
Wednesday
that 15
penalties -
including 11
fines total
ing $102,000
- have been
issued to
NASCAR
NEXTEL
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( NEXTEL )
NOTEBOOK
Compiled by
NASCAR
Cup Series teams, resulting
from rule violations during
the Budweiser Shootout
and Daytona 500 race weeks
at Daytona International
Speedway.
Two of those penal
ties were issued to Robby
Gordon Motorsports,
including the most severe
fine - $50,000 for crew chief
Bob Temple - because of an
unapproved intake mani
fold on the No. 7 Chevrolet
discovered during the ini
tial Daytona 500 inspection
process on Feb. 11.
Robby Gordon’s car
owner Jim Smith was
penalized 25 car owner
championship points.
Four penalties were
issued to Wood Brothers
Racing, because of an unap
proved spoiler adjustment
on the No. 21 Ford that
took place after pre-race
inspection for the Gatorade
Duel at Daytona (Daytona
500 qualifying races) on
Feb. 17.
Ricky Rudd was penal
ized 25 driver points; Glen
Wood was penalized 25
Cleats
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owner points; and crew
chief Michael McSwain was
fined $25,000. Also, crew
member Marc Smith was
suspended from NASCAR
competition until March
31.
Also, Pete Rondeau,
crew chief on the No. 8
Chevrolet driven by Dale
Earnhardt Jr. and David
Charpentier, crew chief for
the No. 14 Ford driven by
John Andretti, were fined
SIO,OOO.
A handful of other crew
chiefs were issued SI,OOO
fines for a variety of infrac
tions.
NEW IMPOUND
PROCEDURE: This
weekend marks the first
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
teams will utilize a new
post-qualifying procedure
as follows:
■ Friday: Instead of one
two-hour practice and after
noon qualifying, teams now
will have two one hour
practice sessions.
■ Saturday: Instead of
two 45-minute practices
to tune race setups, teams
will qualify, then have their
cars immediately impound
ed in their garage bays.
No work will be allowed
until Sunday morning.
Also, Saturday’s tradition
al “Happy Hour” - the two
final 45-minute practices
- will be eliminated.
■ Twelve tracks will use
the new impound proce
dure in 2005.
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