Here's an early candidate for Worst Baseball Writing of the Year, courtesy of the L.A. Times' Bill Dwyre:

SABR is the organization that has, among other things, brought us these measurements:

OPS: On-base percentage plus slugging percentage.

VORP: Value over replacement player.

And my personal favorite:

BABIP: Batting average on balls in play.

In this group, things such as runs, hits, RBIs and batting average are blase. If a player scores a lot of runs, does he do it in early innings or late? Has he come home more on 2-1 pitches or 2-2? On close plays at the plate, does he hook slide left or right?

No no no no no no no no no. You've got it all wrong, Bill.

I doubt if this one's going to win the big contest next winter, though. It's mostly just an off-hand take on Jerry DiPoto, and a not unreasonable one at that. Except the swipes at sabermetrics, about which Dwyre is quite proud to know absolutely nothing. He is neither the first nor the last, and somehow the world keeps on spinning.