Copyright JPG Enterprises 

Imagine a world filled with only numbers. You have entered the dimension known as JPG Land. Just what exactly is JPG Land? Well, for starters, it’s an unchartered territory known to a stat fanatic by the name of John Giagnorio.

The 22 year-old Chicago, Illinois native is in his final semester studying to be what else but a statistical mastah at Stanford University. Somehow, his warped psychology about psychoanalyzing and overevaluating meaningless numbers has become a phenomenon. Ah. But what would this world be without my good adopted laid back n’ snappy Californian buddy using some sort of crazy stat to prove his absurd logic.

In the bizarro world of JPG Land, something known as OPS in baseball is his way of defining who the best players in the game are. In other words, if Josh Hamilton’s OPS isn’t better than teammate Milton Bradley, then obviously he doesn’t stack up even if he has more homers and a lot more RBI’s.

So, what exactly is OPS? I like to call it Obsessive Philosophy Syndrome. Of course, that’s not it’s true meaning but just my way of making a joke out of this JPG statsession which evolves around on-base percentage and some other crazy formula probably having to do with slugging percentage. If not, then I’m completely lost as to what the heck it means.

Maybe it would be better if this crazy individual explained it because I’ve essentially given up. I don’t judge players on solely insane stats but rather by performance on the field and at the plate. You can’t always use numbers to say whether a player is better than another. I like to take in games and see some of the intangibles which aren’t part of the number formula which JPG references way too much.

So, why am I doing this? Because the stat fanatic demanded it at this time of hour. Hey. The encouraging news is I do have plenty of energy. Especially since I’ve returned to the gym and decided it was time to get back in shape. So instead of being tired, I am far from it.

Can numbers really decide every crazy detail when it comes to whether an individual is pro or con on an athlete? Depends on who you are. If you’re Giagnorio, the decision is easy as pie. Everything’s a stat to him in his world.

For someone like myself, I can’t go for that. Sure. I use numbers at various times. Without a player putting up respectable stats, it’s useless. However, sometimes you can pick up things which don’t go in the boxscore or stat sheet. That’s where grit and intangibles come in to play. Or as I want to define, the will to win. What will a player do to help their team prevail? Will they do the small fundamental things which aren’t in any stats? That’s how I decide whether I like a player.

And just maybe that’s what makes me dizzy when it comes to JPG. His formulas can be tantalizing. All the references. It’s insanity I tell ya!

So, what does this have to do with sports? Ha. If you knew or heard this kid, you’d understand a heck of a lot better.

I guess we’ll just call this the first part of trying to properly evaluate the stat fanatic who is soon going to enter the real world where meaningless numbers won’t mean as much in a place where you must apply yourself to situations. But hey. Maybe he needs to find that out for himself.