Data, a collection of organized numbers and labels, comes in many shapes and sizes. Ever made a gut decision only to regret it later? Well, note to self, your gut is not located anywhere near your decision making center. And decisions made on data are educated and analytical. Wait a sec, I thought this was Techlife?
Having accurate information, helps make informed decisions. I could talk about how your business would be wise to look at the numbers, but we’ll instead use baseball. Let’s face it, it’s a lot of fun to use a sport that has heaps of data. Sean Forman over at Baseball-Reference.com has compiled the statistics universe of baseball. He has organized baseball stats for teams, players, eras, and more.
Will having better data help you in Yeti Baseball? Not likely. Will it help you in betting on baseball? Quite possibly. Alright, skip the explanation already, let’s get to it, you’re losing me.
Flamethrowers
As of June 30, 2009, pitching phenom Tim Lincecum of the San Franciso Giants had pitched in 74 career games. He had 15 games with at least 10 strikeouts, placing him 6th all time. Other fireballers who started hot careers ahead of Lincecum were Dwight Gooden, Herb Score, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Hideo Nomo who ranged from 27 games to 16 games respectively with 10 plus punch outs.
Baseball-Reference.com Blog and Stat of the Day writer Andy Kamholz, also ran the data on flamethrowers in their first 74 career games with at least 8 strikeouts, and Linceum is number 1 with 39. Followed again by Gooden, Wood, Score, Prior and Nomo who ranged from 38-33.
Homeruns
Babe Ruth hit a lot of homeruns; 714 to be exact. Baseball-Reference.com has a log of every homerun he ever hit. But they provide even more data about each homerun. They document play by play:
- HRs in order they were hit
- What number HR it was of the season it was hit
- What number HR it was in the game
- Date
- Matchup (teams)
- Pitcher
- Inning it was hit
- RBI from that HR
and comprehensive data of Number of HRs:
- Against by Opponent
- Against Left/Right Handed Pitchers
- Against Pitcher (by name and count)
- By Ballpark
- Inside the Park
Award Winning
Baseball likes awards. From Cy Young for pitching, MVPs, Triple Crowns, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers to managers and rookies of the year, most of these are decided by numbers. Which lead players to the hallowed halls of Cooperstown, where Baseball’s Hall of Fame stands as the ultimate achievement based on statistics. Baseball-Reference.com has broken down the awards winners by stats, years, teams, and streaks. Slicing data to make the game more enjoyable and understandable.
Final Thought
A simple design, easy access to information and tools for the casual to the stat freak allow Baseball-Reference.com to shine in data display. As you imagine how a data rich environment with insight and analysis would help your company or organization, keep in mind this site took 10 years to get to the point you see today. Working with a professional can help you understand your data, interpret it and come out hitting homeruns. Stop making calls from your gut, save that for peanuts and cracker jacks.
