Talk:Left on base

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I would like to clarify what happens when there are runners left on base as a result of the winning run being scored. Are they counted in LOB stats? On the one hand, this type of LOB does fit the strict definition, but on the other hand, it doesn't seem fair to include them in LOB, since LOB reflects negatively on the team/player responsible for them, and in the case of scoring the winning run, the team/player did nothing wrong! Tzadik 14:33, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

It's been almost a year since you asked this question, but... I think the runners who don't score at the end of a game when the home team has won in its last at bat are counted as LOB. This may not seem fair, but LOB is merely an old method to check box scores that's isn't particularly helpful in measuring lost opportunities to score -- though it's commonly used for that purpose. For example, if a player comes up with a runner on first and one out and grounds into a double play, there is no LOB recorded (all batters/runners made outs), but if the batter came up with two out and one on and grounded out, then there's one LOB (one batter/runner was not put out) --- most baseball fans would see the two situations as identical (a runner reached base but didn't score). For some reason, though, LOB has hung on as a stat that fans talk about as a meaningful measure of lost scoring chances and no alternative stat (all runners who reached base and failed to score, including those caught stealing, picked off, forced out, etc.) has caught on. Rickterp 19:52, 1 July 2007 (UTC)