Way back in the day, before I knew what Sabermetrics was -- or shaving, driving, ESPN and Reaganomics, for that matter -- I thought the baseball statistic RBI was the most important one. I mean, the goal is to accumulate runs, right, and everyone loves the power hitters, so whoever is knocking in those runs must be a pretty darn good player. Michael Jack Schmidt was hitting the home runs for my fave team in the 1970s, but Greg Luzinski seemed to be knocking in more runs. One year he had 71 RBIs at the All-Star break, another year, before I remember, he had 79. The Bull was the best. Schmidt would become the best by, oh, 1980, but Luzinski once knocked in 130 runs, and I was hooked. That's was unbelievable. These days, knocking in 130 runs isn't as big a deal. Josh Hamilton might have that many by next week.
I look at baseball differently now than I did in third grade. I know that RBIs are a misleading stat. They are important, make no mistake, but the guy hitting cleanup is always going to knock in more runs than the one hitting seventh. The leadoff hitter might hit 30 homers, and knock in 60, much like Arizona's Chris Young as a rookie. The stat can be manipulated easily for good and bad. There are two -- or more -- Texas Rangers on base seemingly every time Hamilton comes up. There was never anyone on base in 2005 when Derrek Lee went off. Dusty Baker/Corey Patterson cost Lee an MVP award, I am convinced. Knocking in 100 runs used to be a big deal. Then Scott Brosius hit ninth for the 1998 Yankees and nearly did it. My pal Rico Brogna, a very good man, had back-to-back 100 RBI seasons for the Phillies a decade ago, but he wasn't exactly coveted in fantasy. That told the story. Now, 100 RBIs is like a running back getting to 1,000 yards. Ho hum.
Anyway, I've been somewhat fascinated by the RBI category again recently because of what Hamilton is doing for Texas, and because of Ryan Howard of the Phillies. Maybe I never stopped being fascinated by RBIs, but let's just say I don't spend time drafting for them. I don't click on projected leaders in RBIs when drafting in March, because I think the leaders in that category change all the time. Albert Pujols is always going to hit for average and pop his home runs, but it's up to whatever soft middle infielder Tony LaRussa sticks ahead of him in the lineup as to how many runs batted in he will accrue, isn't it? I'll draft home runs, and stolen bases, even batting average. I never draft for RBIs, assuming they come with the territory.
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Eric Karabell
