MEMO FROM THE PUBLISHER
One of the traditional attractions of baseball is the way statistics can tell the story, and one of the attractive traditions of fishing is the temptation to tell the story without them.
But the statistical truth never hurt a good fishing story, and it generally makes a good baseball story even better. I happen to mention this because we've been receiving considerable mail about two of SI's statistical newcomers, in baseball the X-RAY (see page 50), in fishing the FISH BOX, which tell in the least possible space some of the most noteworthy developments of the week in both sports.
X-Ray and Fish Box, of course, represent news, but more than that they represent the kind of service feature which is a regular weekly part of SI. Other examples are SNOW PATROL and FISHERMAN'S CALENDAR; SCOREBOARD, a panoramic review of the week past; and COMING EVENTS, a look over the horizon at the week to come—all of them departments which are also statistical in the sense that they provide facts without commentary.
Among further instances this year of statistical information in SI, which you would be unlikely to find elsewhere, are the charts of the results at Cortina (SI, Feb. 13), at Sebring (April 2), of the Mille Miglia (May 7) and at Cumberland (May 28). X-RAY provides not only team standings, batting and pitching leaders, but beyond that some unique statistical variations: the 10 leading run producers, when runs scored are added to runs batted in; the "goats," a disconsolate array of regulars who are bringing up the rear in five categories; and the rookies, a happier array of standouts who head the parade of tenderfeet.
First of all, SI is a reporter and interpreter of the wonderful world of sport through the best possible writing and photography, by experts whose critical judgment of their subject is an essential quality of their story. But whenever statistics can tell a story by themselves, or cast revealing light on a story that is told, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED will add them up, subtract, multiply and divide—and double check.
ILLUSTRATION
RBIs
HOMERS
AVERAGE
team leaders
.286
.312
the rookies
errors
hits
runs produced
teammates batted in
walks
won 9
lost 6
ILLUSTRATION
YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY!!
LENGTH? IT'S BIGGER THAN BOTH OF US, WEIGHS ?? lbs.
