In the spring of 2008, my colleague, Professor Larry Levine, knowing how much baseball was part of my life, suggested that I offer a course which introduces a student to the area of mathematics called sabermetrics. Sabermetrics uses statistics to replace subjective decisions in baseball with objective decisions. This course would be offered as part of …
Before reading another excellent posting by one of my baseball and statistics students, here is an update on free agency signings and non-signings. As a Yankee fan, I can’t tell you how excited I am about the signing of Brian McCann, the 30 year old former Braves catcher. The 2013 Yankee catchers were near the …
The blog below was written by Dr. Martin E. Cobern, a longtime friend of Dr. Stan, the Stats Man. Despite the fact that we support warring factions in the baseball wars, our friendship has lasted for over 40 years. When he is not blogging, Dr. Cobern is Vice-President, Research at APS Technology, Inc. in Wallingford, CT. I know …
Speaking of marathons, here is an interesting statistic about this year’s New York Marathon. Of the 50,740 runners who started the NYC Marathon, only 436 did not finish. The oldest finisher was 89 years old. How About that? Now, returning to baseball, I would like to offer my congratulations to the Red Sox organization and …
Of course, this title refers to the Boston Red Sox. The 1991 Minnesota Twins are the only other team to win a championship one year after finishing in last place. What a tremendous WS we have just witnessed! Yes, there were some strange endings to games like a game ending with a walk off obstruction …
As the 2013 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals begins, I felt it would be appropriate to discuss how the World Series started. Before 1903, many attempts were made by baseball to declare a champion between existing leagues. Leagues were made and disappeared throughout the 19th Century. In 1894, Pittsburgh’s owner …
The “Shul By The Sea” is actually Temple Beth-El in City Island, NY. My talk was titled Minorities in Baseball. The audience was really into baseball and made me feel welcome. I observed they were wearing Yankee and Mets hats and shirts. My talk looked at the contribution of Jewish, African-American, and women baseball players. The …
My guest blogger for this blog is Jack Dolan. From 1963-1965, Jack served as Associate Producer at ABC-TV Sports working under the tutelage of Roone Arledge and with such well-known broadcasters as Jim McKay, Curt Gowdy, Jack Buck, Chris Schinkel, et. al. Jack contributed to an earlier blog where we both told our stories about …
I really looked forward to a special weekend which consisted of my 51st high school reunion at Hackensack High School on Saturday, Sept 21, followed on Sunday by Mariano Rivera Day and the New York Football Giant game. The reunion was fabulous as I turned the clock back to 1962. Driving home from the reunion Saturday …
This month I posted 2 blogs about Tommy John and Dr. Frank Jobe and why both should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. After reading my posts, my wife, Tara, reminded me about the day our family met Tommy John. Below is Tara’s story about what happened that day. In 1987, when our younger …