Look, the point of relying on numbers is, that is what is quantifiable. If a person has extraordinary mental discipline, which allows him to make everything possible of his physical gifts, that will show in the numbers, right? (I personally think Beltran’s willpower, for example, as measured in his laborious training of every aspect of his mental and physical self, is at least a match with the physical gifts god gave him.)

I’m sympathetic to the argument that things like a hard slide can contribute to the team winning, and won’t ever show up in an individual’s numbers. But with that caveat, everything you want to suggest — that a person’s mental fortitude and psychological strength enters into, or even dictates, his (or her) performance — all of that is measured in the numbers! It contributes to their performance, nobody’s suggesting that it doesn’t. What’s advocated is that we measure performance in the best available numbers, not in our perceptions of “grit” or “will” (or, in my beloved Frenchy’s case, “presence”). Because those things, if they actually matter in outcomes, will inevitably show up in the numbers. And if they don’t, there’s not much there.

Jerry is a barely lit guy.