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A few weeks ago, I wrote a little piece suggesting cricket take a leaf out of baseballs book and maintain statistics for fielders. The practical difficulty with this suggestion is that cricket scoresheets do not contain this kind of information: fielders do not figure on scoresheets except for when they take catches. The runouts and boundary saves they make, the catches they drop, the misfields the inflict on their team are all missed.But for a few years now, a scoresheet has been present which could potentially address this difficulty. I am referring to the Cricinfo ball-by-ball commentary, which currently records brilliant fielding, catches, drops, some misfields (if they are particularly egregious), and sometimes information on the fielder.Consider the following excerpts from the Ashes:9.4 Harmison to Ponting, 1 run, oh dear! Huge run-out chance missed there by Ian Bell! Ponting prods to cover and takes off for a single, but its misjudged and Ponting had given up on making it as Bells throw bounced over the stumps. Ponting was about three metres out there. Enormous chance missed.And:26.5 Broad to Ponting, no run, prodded out to third man - no, brilliant stop from Anderson at gully! Hes a lithe and brilliant fielder for a fast bowler.In this commentary/scoresheet, besides the usual recording of dot balls, runs, batsman and bowler, we have information on the fielders, on what they did or did not do. Thus the Cricinfo ball-by-ball is in fact, an annotated scorers sheet, which could be used to generate the kind of fielders statistics I had in mind in the piece linked above.Of course, the annotations in the Cricinfo commentary are voluntary; they are placed there by the commentators on duty at that time and the level of detail can vary. The commentary still does not record fielders names when there is no error as in:25.2 Harmison to Watson, no run, shorter delivery, slapped to pointHere, we do not know who was at point, and thus we have no way of finding out, for instance, whether a particular fielder commits more errors at point and is better placed somewhere else. Adding this information would certainly add to the burdens of the (possibly already overworked) commentator/scorer. But its not too fantastic to imagine a scoresheet (suitably tweaked to make the commentators task easier), that along with the batsmen and bowlers names, also records the fielders names as well.How would fielders statistics be extracted from such a scoresheet? That task would be made considerably easier if the commentary facilitated the use of keywords that would allow for automated processing of the commentary transcript (another requirement would be a form-like entry for fielders for each delivery). Hopefully, such a tweak to the commentary software would not be too involved.Fielders statistics for too long have been ignored in cricket. Instead, we are left with a host of entirely subjective statements like he is worth 30 runs in the field or his fielding has declined over the years and so on. Quantification and recording of fielders statistics would not only allow for comparison and record-keeping, it would also permit a ranking and recognition system for fielders that is long overdue. Annotated commentaries like the Cricinfo version point the way forward in this regard. Pat Tillman Cardinals Jersey . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Custom Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . 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NEW YORK -- As the last-place team in the National League East, the Atlanta Braves can afford to let someone learn on the job, as right-handed pitcher Ryan Weber will begin to do Wednesday night.Their opponents, the New York Mets, are in the thick of the NL wild-card race, and veteran right fielder Jay Bruce may not have any time left to snap out of a nearly two-month slump.Bruces place in -- or out -- of the lineup is sure to be a central topic Wednesday night, when the Mets try to avoid being swept by the Braves in the finale of a three-game series at Citi Field.Atlanta right-hander Julio Teheran threw seven strong innings Tuesday, when the Braves withstood a late Mets comeback to eke out a 5-4 win. The result, coupled with wins by the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, dropped New York into a three-way tie with the Giants and Cardinals for the two NL wild-card spots.The Giants, Cardinals and Mets are all 81-70.The Mets looked as if they might be mounting a dramatic comeback during a three-run eighth inning Tuesday, when Eric Campbell -- a .172 hitter who had not batted in the majors since May 30 -- produced the second run of the frame with a pinch-hit RBI single. He batted in place of Bruce, who led the NL in RBI prior to an Aug. 1 trade to the Mets.Bruce, who didnt start either Sunday or Monday, went 0-for-3 Tuesday and is batting just .176 in 39 games with the Mets. He is 3-for-37 (.081) dating back to Sept. 5.Manager Terry Collins said it was a difficult decision to pinch-hit for the left-handed-hitting Bruce against southpaw Ian Krol but that he did so in the best interests of the team.Its one of the worst things you can do as a manager -- pinch-hit for a star, especially one of the elite power hitters in the game, Collins said. But you know, my job is to try to win the game.Bruce -- a three-time All-Star with 237 career homers -- said it was the first time he could remember being lifted for a pinch hitter but that he understood Collins decision.He diidnt need to explain that to me, said Bruce, who actually was replaced by a pinch hitter eight times previously.dddddddddddd I obviously get how the game is played, and you know what his thought process was there. I dont deserve any explanations from the manager. Hes the manager, he makes the decisions.Perhaps Bruce will get a chance to redeem himself against Weber, who will be making his second start of the season and his first since Sept. 5. Overall this year, he is 1-1 with a 5.46 ERA in 15 outings.Weber earned the opportunity to return to the rotation by throwing 4 2/3 innings of one-run relief in place of right-hander John Gant last Friday against the Washington Nationals.He did such a good job the other day, Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said Monday. (He) was efficient and extended it so well, and hes somewhat stretched out. Just get the bird off the ground and get us in flight, see where we end up.Weber is 0-0 with a 7.56 ERA in two career games (one start) against the Mets.The Braves (60-91) look increasingly likely to end up with fewer than 100 losses, something that seemed inconceivable when manager Fredi Gonzalez was fired following a 9-28 start that had the club on pace to lose 120 games.Atlanta is 51-63 under Snitker and needs to win just three of its final 11 games to avoid the franchises first 100-loss season since 1988.They are big (games) for us -- thats why were going out there to win, not to show up, Snitker said. Were going out to try to win the ballgame.Ageless right-hander Bartolo Colon (14-7, 3.14 ERA) will look to serve as the stoppene more win to become only the fourth pitcher to ever win at least 15 ga