Yet another example of the statistical illiteracy of journalists in general and sports journalists in particular — the false claim in today’s New York Times that a champion player of the card- and dice-based baseball game APBA has “a knack for rolling doubles”:

The 16-year-old-Wells, a fast-talking native of Wyomissing, Pa., who has a summer job as a busboy, became the first person to win the tournament twice. His first title came in 2002, when he was 9, his second in 2008. The older players have accepted him, some begrudgingly, as a member of their fraternity.

…Wells has a knack for rolling doubles, which are the best for a hitter. Combinations like 66, 11 and 33 usually result in extra-base hits or home runs.

For the record, no one has “a knack” for rolling anything with fair dice. Either the dice are loaded, or Wells is rolling random numbers just like everyone else. He may be skilled at amassing better cards that offer higher probabilities of extra-base hits, but that’s a different matter entirely.