MESA, Ariz. – The old baseball axiom, best touted by Annie Savoy in “Bull Durham,” is “you could look it up.”
But if you listen to A’s manager Bob Melvin, maybe the unfettered century and a half of statistics that are part of the spine of the sport and which can be looked up at a glance aren’t to be trusted. There are stats and, apparently, alternative stats.
The Elias Sports Bureau and Baseball-Reference.com have Melvin as the best hitter for average against Randy Johnson for batters having 20 or more at-bats off the Big Unit. Melvin’s down for 14-for-31 and a .