← Home	Comparison of WISDOM to WAR
I can't say that the WISDOM calculation is any better than WAR.
I just thought it would be interesting to tackle Win Shares from a different angle.
Whereas WAR uses individual player stats to extrapolate up a wins value, WISDOM divides the number of wins a team got amongst the players
	While I was at it, I also injected some of my own personal biases into the calculations
□	The point totals listed everywhere are WISDOM, for comparison, I put WAR figures in parentheses
□	I based WISDOM point totals for starting pitchers based on their wins and innings pitched - I think the statisticians hit on something with their wins statistic back in the eighteen hundreds
□	I tried to give closers some love. Saves are an important relief  pitcher stat to me. It is only recently that they've tried to glorify middle relievers. I'm not buying it.
□	WAR gives middle relievers a lot more love than I do - to me, they're the guys who are not good enough to start or to close
□	I give catchers more love than WAR does - these guys set the tone on the field, they need to be leaders and it's no surprise that a high percentage of managers were catchers as players. Every pitch goes thru them.
□	I give shortstops more love than WAR does - a 1st baseman can be immobile, a 2nd baseman can have a rag arm, a 3rd baseman doesn't have to field the ball cleanly - a shortstop has to be good at everything.
□	WAR doesn't give centerfielders as much love as I do. A good centerfielder can hide the weaknesses of the others with his range. Ask any pitcher the value of a good centerfielder.
□	WAR  gives DH's much more love than I do - these guys are an anchor - you have to rate them lower than your worst fielder, or they'd be in the field. A guy who can only DH kills a manager's lineup flexibility.
□	WAR gives utility infielders and reserve outfielders much more love than I do. These guys are the scrubs. You lose flexibility if they can only platoon. Their at bats are generally cherry picked rather than facing everybody.
□	I give speed way much more love than WAR does.
	WAR counts bases and determines runs created from that which, in turn, extrapolates to wins created by a player.
	WAR also tries to extrapolate the difference in runs created when a fast runner is on base versus the average. individual counting misses the point of what speed does.
	Unfortunately for WAR, the effect of speed doesn't only show up in bases gained by a player. Speed affects the stats of subsequent players in the lineup a lot more than counting bases.
	For example, a pitcher hurries his delivery to the next batters in an attempt to stop stolen bases. A pitcher's concentration is divided with a fast runner on the bases. Fielders play out of
	their normal positions and are frequently on the move when a fast runner is on base. Fielders must speed up their fielding and their throws once the ball is in play when there is a speedy
	runner on the bases. Catchers call more fast balls and have their attention also divided when a speedy runner is on base. All of this helps the stats of the next batters in the lineup, not
	the stats of the fast guy. WAR doesn't account for this phenomenon.
	Points carves out space for crediting speedy base runners to give them their due.
□	I give players credit or debit for lineup synergy, WAR can't.
	Where you bat in a lineup affects your opportunites to produce. WAR doesn't really address this altho' to do so would add even another layer of complexity. No bueno.
	A good hitter in the lineup affects the stats of the guys before him in a positive way. If a big hitter is looming, pitchers will come into hitters and be less aggressive with the strike zone
	because they don't want to walk a guy if a big hitter is coming up next in the lineup. Thus, the stats of the previous hitters go up just by the presence of the big hitter.
	Conversely, a weak hitter's presence in the lineup hurts those in front of him. A pitcher can be much more aggressive in the strike zone with a hitter knowing that the next guy up won't
	hurt him even if he walks the current guy. I disregard the few hits that pitchers get in this model because they are more than offset by the negative impact a pitcher has on the rest of the
	lineup.
	Points uses Hadj to credit the good hitters and debit the bad hitters for their lineup synergy
□	Actual win shares are much more intuitive than Wins Above Replacement - whatever that means. How many wins did you generate vs. how many wins did you generate above what?
	Also, WISDOM win shares are whole numbers. WAR win shares are two counterintuitive decimal places