Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running it, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball Audiobook (Free)

Predictably Irrational meets Moneyball in ESPN veteran writer and statistical analyst Keith Law’s iconoclastic look at the numbers game of baseball, proving why some of the most trusted stats are surprisingly wrong, explaining what numbers really work, and exploring the actual rise of Big Data opportinity for the future of the sport.

For decades, statistics such as for example batting typical, saves recorded, and pitching won-lost records have been used to measure individual players’ and teams’ potential and about Intelligent Baseball: THE STORYPLOT Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Operating it, and the Right Way to CONSIDER Baseball success. But in days gone by fifteen years, a groundbreaking new standard of measurement-sabermetrics-has been embraced by front side offices in Major League Football and among fantasy baseball lovers. But while sabermetrics is regarded as becoming smarter and more accurate, traditionalists, including journalists, supporters, and managers, stubbornly believe that the ‘aged’ way-a mix of obsolete amounts and ‘gut’ instinct-is still the best way. Baseball, they argue, should be operate by people, not really by numbers.

With this informative and provocative reserve, the renowned ESPN analyst and older baseball writer demolishes a century’s well worth of accepted wisdom, producing the definitive case against the long-established view. Equipped with concrete illustrations from different eras of football history, logic, a little mathematics, and lively commentary, he shows the way the allegiance to these numbers-dating back again to the beginning of the professional game-is firmly rooted not in accuracy or success, however in baseball’s irrational adherence to custom.

While Law gores sacred cows, from clutch performers to RBIs to the infamous save rule, he also demystifies sabermetrics, explaining what these ‘new’ numbers really are and why they’re vital. He also considers the game’s long term, examining how teams are using Data-from PhDs to advanced statistical databases-to build long term rosters; changes which will transform football and most of professional sports.