MLB Network and Related Blogs

I do not really read a lot of other blogs, but I do watch MLB Network a lot and one of their frontline shows has a strong emphasis on advanced metrics. Clubhouse Confidential with Brian Kenny takes an in depth look at baseball from a purely statistical standpoint. Kenny uses metrics such as WAR (wins above replacement), OBP (on base percentage), OBPS (on base plus slugging), and UZR (ultimate zone rating) to rate hitters and fielders, and statistics such as ERA (earned run average), BABIP (batting average on balls in play), K/9 (strikeouts per 9 innings), and K/BB (strikeouts per walk) to analyze pitchers. Clubhouse Confidential examines all of these statistics to project performances for the following season for both players and teams. Baseball statistics conglomerates such as PECOTA, Fangraphs, Baseball Reference, etc. all contribute and feature writers on Clubhouse Confidential to discuss stats and projections. While most other sports shows such as Sportscenter or MLB tonight use "old school metrics" to rate players and discuss their performances, Clubhouse Confidential uses more accurate predictors of performance and has moved to the forefront of baseball analysis.

The main problem with sabermetrics and these other metrics is that a lot of older analysts, General Managers, players, announcers, etc. have not really accepted them as main stream statistics. This brings me to the purpose of my 20% project, I think that these statistics have been extremely accurate and have proven to help smaller market teams to remain competitive in divisions dominated by teams like the Yankees and Dodgers. Also, statistics such as these have been increasingly accepted in other predictive forms (see Nate Silvers 365 blog). That is why I believe that shows such as Clubhouse Confidential should be viewed with a higher degree of respect and statistical analysis should be taught more in schools and respected more for its predictive ability.

Driving Questions

My driving question for the 20% is, why should advanced statistics matter in baseball and how can we learn about them? As a huge baseball fan, this is something that I find extremely interesting as well as pertinent for teaching math in schools. Recently, in baseball, advanced metrics (Sabermetrics) have been a huge part of free agent acquisitions, player ratings, and team building. While my favorite team, the Yankees, do not really use these metrics as much as other teams (because they have a lot of money), teams such as the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays use these metrics religiously to help improve their teams. If you have ever seen the movie Moneyball, then you will have a slight idea of what I am talking about.

Relating this all back to school is pretty simple, Math in schools has always been driven by algebra/calculus rather than statistics or any sort of practical math. As a student who has never used anything I learned in algebra or trig or any of those, I see a practical application for statistics in an extremely large business in the US. Therefore, I think that statistics should receive a stronger emphasis in schools and I will use baseball as the main point of my argument for more statistics.