A example of the fallacy of wins and losses

Bad hair but a good start for Doug Fister on Tuesday.

Most people who follow baseball recognize the fallacy of judging a pitcher by his won-loss record.

The rest of them apparently work in broadcast.

Whether it was TBS' crew or Fox's, the mention of Detroit pitcher Doug Fister almost always came with commentary suggesting that he was awful with Seattle and turned it around with Detroit.

And if all you knew was the won-loss record, you'd believe that.

Fister made his debut with the Mariners in 2009 and went 3-4. In 2010, he was 6-14. This year, he was 3-12 for Seattle when he was traded to the Tigers.

With Detroit, he went 8-1.

But his ERAs were always decent with the M's, his walk rates low, and his home runs allowed almost non-existent.

He has been better with Detroit. He walked just five men in more than 70 innings for the Tigers, a ridiculously low rate. His strikeout rate jumped to more than seven Ks per nine innings.  His walk and strikeout rates with Seattle were good; his rates with Detroit are unbelievably good.

If you don't walk people, get strikeouts and keep the ball in the park, you're pitching effectively. He did that with Seattle. The Mariners just weren't good enough for it to matter.