Meche as a RoyalMeche as a RoyalBill James was the first stats guru I ever met besides myself. He was gracious enough to give me some good quotes for my books in the 80’s and, most importantly, he turned me onto his New York agent. That’s the only way some nobody in Kansas could have had three books published. Of course, I was basketball and he was baseball and those were the very early days – barely the computer age. But, let’s face it, whatever the differences, there are only so many people like us – not that I can be compared to Bill – but, any company of his is good company! 

James invented a statistic called "game score". It is a relatively simple back-of-the envelope way to evaluate a pitcher’s game performance. It’s a very similar principle to EFF in basketball. Add some positives, subtract some negatives and before you know it, you have a game composite index for a player that does a remarkably good job at evaluating how well he did.

The exact formula is (from Baseball Reference): GmSc (Game Score) – Start with 50 points. Add 1 point for each out recorded, (or 3 points per inning). Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed. Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed. Subtract 1 point for each walk.

You had a world-class game if you were anywhere near 90, a great game if you were around 80 and almost certainly a win at 70. I’ve got three tables to show you.

MECHE AS A ROYAL

The first is Meche’s best pitching performances as a Royal. You will notice that Wednesday night’s is now #1.

DateIPHERBBSOGmSc
06-10-0974031177
09-06-0873121075
08-20-087211973
05-04-087400473
07-24-087501470
07-19-086.1211670
05-03-087221670

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Next, I thought it would be interesting to show his career best games. The top four were with Seattle in 2006 or earlier. However, Wednesday night’s was his fifth best ever.

DateIPHERBBSOGmSc
09-12-049501480
08-09-038211780
09-01-068311879
06-17-069511779
06-10-0974031177

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And finally, the obvious next question anyone would ask is where his 77 ranks in 2009 for the Royals? Needless to say, Greinke is Greinke. But, Meche is tied with Davies for the fifth best pitching performance this season.

NameIPHERBBSOGmSc
Greinke93011088
Greinke96001085
Greinke97001083
Greinke9610879
Meche74031177
Davies7302877
Greinke8410575
Greinke6303770
Banny6501768
Banny7116267

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So, there you have it. If you are like me and you want to quantify everything of significance, this should put it in perspective.