Go Sox!

I love a baseball team that threatens to boycott (wildcat strike) in the interest of fairness and justice. The Red Sox players are receiving a $40K bonus to play an exhibition series against Oakland in Tokyo. When the players found out the coaches and other personnel would not be getting an extra stipend, they threatened to refuse to play.

I am a very minor and inconsequential member of the baseball fan fraternity that is devoted to believing that through rigorous statistical analysis, the true worth of a baseball player can be measured. Part of this belief is the notion that things like "heart" and "team chemistry" don't really matter. A guy is not going to hit a ball because he really, really wants to. A pitcher is not going to be able his bend his curve ball any more or less depending on whether he really likes the guys in the bullpen or not. Unfortunately, baseball is dominated by men who don't agree with scientific analysis, choosing, instead, to treat baseball more like a religion, where intangibles such as grit, clutchitude, and hustle matter more than a guy's WARP, VORP, or any stat described here.

Which brings me to the thought that, while I join in the mocking of baseball managers that talk about how there's great chemistry on the team, so the team is bound to win more, I bet that the players on the Red Sox, while not destined to win any more games than their talents will allow for, will have a happier season and lives and be much better for it than they would be should they win a few more ball games. In other words, team chemistry does matter, but in life, not baseball.