The Mad Hungarian! Awesome! Thank you.
The reason baseball is so stat-nuts is because of an American cultural tradition that seeks to nurture the past while embracing the future. Just as an anecdote, my Dad talks about Brooks Robinson in the same hushed tones that (if I ever have kids) I would reserve for Alex Rodriguez.
What baseball is is a discrete, measurable series of events that lend themselves to individual pitcher/batter matchups (with ballpark and weather also somewhat easily quantified). Using league central measures of tendency, with the raw muscle of mathematics, you can, as an intellectual exercise, match up the 2001 Mariners vs. the 1919 White Sox (throw out the postseason).
You can't do that watching Peyton Manning throw into various secondaries and schemes, because there are so many injuries and substitutions in football the events are not discrete, but continuous and (hate to use the word) subjective.
That's where the Baseball Stat Geek really shines. God Bless America.
I used to watch Brooks Robinson AND Jim Palmer every night during the HTS Orioles broadcasts during the late 80s and early 90s....
I agree. Other sports can be entertaining, but baseball is special.