As we approach the end of August, there are more major league races to monitor than just the pennant chases. And we're not talking about the race to self-destruction between owners and players.
This is the time of year when MVP awards often are won or lost. In the past, we had to rely on the traditional stats when assessing a player's MVP credentials. You know, batting average, home runs and RBI for hitters; wins, losses and ERA for pitchers. Those stats remain informative and retain some value. But often they are biased by park factors or the poor performance of teammates. Good players performing on bad teams may not put up particularly eye-popping numbers.
Fortunately, we now have Win Shares to help us make the right decision. Win Shares is a concept recently developed by Bill James. Summing up the system, Win Shares estimates the number of wins created by players in one neat number. While doing so, it puts pitchers and fielders in the same context as hitters, while trying to eliminate park illusions.