short take: lead--another meaning?

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Sun May 30 00:51:06 UTC 2010


At 5:44 PM -0400 5/29/10, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>"To lead" never means "to win". You can be leading during the season,
>but at the end of the season you either won or you didn't.
>
>You can lead a statistical category at the end of a season, however,
>unless leading a statistic wins something. For example, you can lead the
>league in hitting, but then you win the batting crown...

I don't think winning a crown is essential here; a pitcher can lead
the league in hit batters, blown saves, or home runs allowed, or a
batter in strikeouts and GIDP (grounding into double plays) and I'm
pretty sure no crowns are awarded, unless some sabermetrician awards
virtual ones.

LH

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