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The Sabermetricians Who Got To Run A (Real) Baseball Team

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The debate between baseball traditionalists and tech-savvy sabermetricians continues. What methods are best for evaluating a baseball player's performance on the field? Are the spreadsheets of data and new statistics the way of the future or simply a fad of the times?

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Baseball analysts Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller got to put their skills to the test with the opportunity to run an independent minor league team, the Sonoma Stompers. That meant taking part in a draft, putting together a roster and running the team from a spot on the field, not from behind a computer.

In their new book, "The Only Rule Is It Has To Work," Lindbergh and Miller detail their year with the Stompers.

Lindbergh and Miller tell Only A Game's Bill Littlefield the story of one particular player they drafted, first baseman Daniel Baptista.

"I think it was the first — at least the first proof — that just paying attention in a way that the rest of the league wasn't actually gave us an opportunity or an advantage to exploit," Lindbergh says.

To hear the full story, click the play button below the headline at the top of the page.

This segment aired on May 28, 2016.

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