Wins Above Replacement, commonly known as WAR, appeared on the Fenway Park scoreboard during last night's game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, image courtesy r/baseball.
WAR explained on Fenway Park scoreboard
The controversial statistic makes an appearance on a major-league scoreboard.
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The text on the scoreboard reads:
WAR attempts to quantify the number of Wins (W) a player provides his team in a season compared to an average minor league replacement player.
WAR aims to do this by accounting for a player’s all-around skill against league averages that year at his defensive position.
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The Red Sox have been known as one of the more saber-friendly franchises. The team employs noted statistician Bill James as a senior advisor. Bradley Woodrum of Frangraphs descibed the Red Sox as a “highly analytical organization,” while Baseball Prospectus writers perceive Boston as the most saber-friendly team in the league.
Dave Cameron of Fangraphs explained how WAR should be used earlier this year, writing:
WAR is not the be-all, end-all of baseball statistics. However, it serves a great function as a good answer to a commonly asked question, and at the end of the day, that is really the entire point of a statistic. There are times when one wants to do a deep dive into every aspect of a player’s overall game, and WAR is not the right tool for that job. But, as a quick summary of a player’s overall value, it is the best tool for the job.
An appearance on a major-league scoreboard is a big step towards more mainstream recognition of WAR as a useful statistic. While WAR has faced criticism from some in the press, especially during the 2012 AL MVP debate between Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera, it's popularity continues to grow.
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