How Baseball Managers Use Math

Explains the importance of statistics, percentages and other mathematical calculations to managing a winning baseball team.

How math can be used to improve performance and predict outcomes in professional sports Mathletics is a remarkably entertaining book that shows readers how to use simple mathematics to analyze a range of statistical and probability-related questions in professional baseball, basketball, and football, and in sports gambling. How does professional baseball evaluate hitters? Is a singles hitter like Wade Boggs more valuable than a power hitter like David Ortiz? Should NFL teams pass or run more often on first downs? Could professional basketball have used statistics to expose the crooked referee Tim Donaghy? Does money buy performance in professional sports? In Mathletics, Wayne Winston describes the mathematical methods that top coaches and managers use to evaluate players and improve team performance, and gives math enthusiasts the practical tools they need to enhance their understanding and enjoyment of their favorite sports—and maybe even gain the outside edge to winning bets. Mathletics blends fun math problems with sports stories of actual games, teams, and players, along with personal anecdotes from Winston's work as a sports consultant. Winston uses easy-to-read tables and illustrations to illuminate the techniques and ideas he presents, and all the necessary math concepts—such as arithmetic, basic statistics and probability, and Monte Carlo simulations—are fully explained in the examples. After reading Mathletics, you will understand why baseball teams should almost never bunt, why football overtime systems are unfair, why points, rebounds, and assists aren't enough to determine who's the NBA's best player—and much, much more. In a new epilogue, Winston discusses the stats and numerical analysis behind some recent sporting events, such as how the Dallas Mavericks used analytics to become the 2011 NBA champions.

"Mathletics shows readers how to use simple mathematics to analyze a range of statistical and probability-related questions in professional baseball, basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, and golf, and in sports gambling. The authors describe the mathematical methods that top coaches and managers use to evaluate players and improve team performance, and give math enthusiasts the practical tools they need to enhance their understanding and enjoyment of their favorite sports - and maybe even gain the outside edge to winning bets. Mathletics blends fun and challenging math problems with sports stories of actual games, teams, and players, along with personal anecdotes from Winston's work as a sports consultant. The book includes easy-to-read tables and illustrations to illuminate the techniques and ideas presented, and all the necessary mathematical concepts - such as arithmetic, basic statistics and probability, and Monte Carlo simulations - are fully explained in the examples. The revised edition will include about 75 pages of revised text and roughly 40 new figures. The book will include updates to the data and inclusion of more recent players and teams throughout all the chapters. It will also include new chapters on soccer, lacrosse, and golf, as well as new findings on regression, game theory, and optimization"--Publisher's description.

Using the game of baseball, readers must employ addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to determine hitting averages, distance, and the strike count.

This book illustrates basic methods of data analysis and probability models by means of baseball statistics collected on players and teams. The idea of the book is to describe statistical thinking in a context that will be familiar and interesting to students. The second edition of Teaching Statistics follows the same structure as the first edition, where the case studies and exercises have been replaced by modern players and teams, and the new types of baseball data from the PitchFX system and fangraphs.com are incorporated into the text.

Talking baseball can seem like speaking a different language. Hitters want to increase their BA, OPS, and SLG while pitchers want to decrease their ERA. What’s behind all these acronyms? Statistics! Learn statistics while reading about baseball, the sport of numbers. Packed with factual information and high-interest content, this nonfiction math book uses real-world examples of problem solving to build students' math and reading skills. Let's Explore Math sidebars feature math questions that challenge students to develop their math skills. A problem-solving section at the end of the book prompts students to reflect and apply what they've learned. Demystify math with this leveled book that makes learning math fun and accessible for kids ages 10-12 and appeals to reluctant readers.

Talking baseball can seem like speaking a different language. Hitters want to increase their BA, OPS, and SLG while pitchers want to decrease their ERA. What's behind all these acronyms? Statistics! Learn statistics while reading about baseball, the sport of numbers. Packed with factual information and high-interest content, this nonfiction math book uses real-world examples of problem solving to build students' math and reading skills. Let's Explore Math sidebars feature math questions that challenge students to develop their math skills. A problem-solving section at the end of the book prompts students to reflect and apply what they've learned. Demystify math with this leveled book that makes learning math fun and accessible for kids ages 10-12 and appeals to reluctant readers.

In A Mathematician at the Ballpark, professor Ken Ross reveals the math behind the stats. This lively and accessible book shows baseball fans how to harness the power of made predictions and better understand the game. Using real-world examples from historical and modern-day teams, Ross shows: • Why on-base and slugging percentages are more important than batting averages • How professional odds makers predict the length of a seven-game series • How to use mathematics to make smarter bets A Mathematician at the Ballpark is the perfect guide to the science of probability for the stats-obsessed baseball fans—and, with a detailed new appendix on fantasy baseball, an essential tool for anyone involved in a fantasy league.

Teaching Statistics Using Baseball is a collection of case studies and exercises applying statistical and probabilistic thinking to the game of baseball. Baseball is the most statistical of all sports since players are identified and evaluated by their corresponding hitting and pitching statistics. There is an active effort by people in the baseball community to learn more about baseball performance and strategy by the use of statistics. This book illustrates basic methods of data analysis and probability models by means of baseball statistics collected on players and teams. Students often have difficulty learning statistics ideas since they are explained using examples that are foreign to the students. The idea of the book is to describe statistical thinking in a context (that is, baseball) that will be familiar and interesting to students. The book is organized using a same structure as most introductory statistics texts. There are chapters on the analysis on a single batch of data, followed with chapters on comparing batches of data and relationships. There are chapters on probability models and on statistical inference. The book can be used as the framework for a one-semester introductory statistics class focused on baseball or sports. This type of class has been taught at Bowling Green State University. It may be very suitable for a statistics class for students with sports-related majors, such as sports management or sports medicine. Alternately, the book can be used as a resource for instructors who wish to infuse their present course in probability or statistics with applications from baseball. The second edition of Teaching Statistics follows the same structure as the first edition, where the case studies and exercises have been replaced by modern players and teams, and the new types of baseball data from the PitchFX system and fangraphs.com are incorporated into the text.

Interest in Sabermetrics has increased dramatically in recent years as the need to better compare baseball players has intensified among managers, agents and fans, and even other players. The authors explain how traditional measures—such as Earned Run Average, Slugging Percentage, and Fielding Percentage—along with new statistics—Wins Above Average, Fielding Independent Pitching, Wins Above Replacement, the Equivalence Coefficient and others—define the value of players. Actual player statistics are used in developing models, while examples and exercises are provided in each chapter. This book serves as a guide for both beginners and those who wish to be successful in fantasy leagues.