Bill James introduced his formula for predicting a team’s expected winning percentage (Expected W%) for a season. The formula is Expected W% = (Runs Scored)2 / [(Runs Scored)2 + (Runs Allowed)2] and is called the Pythagorean Theorem of Baseball. Bill James’s rationale for his theorem was that the number of runs a team scored (RS) compared to the …
Martin Cobern is VP, R&D of APS Technology Inc., in Wallingford, CT. He has known Stan for over 30 years and was one of many who read and commented on his book. Sandlot Stats. He grew up as a Dodger fan in the Bronx, until the great Western betrayal left him without a team. When …
The All-Star game marks the halfway point in the season. Honestly, for the past few years I had very little interest in the game. As a Yankee fan, this year I really looked forward to seeing Mariano Rivera pitch in his last All-Star game. I was also intrigued by the thought of the Mets young …
July, 2013, marks the first anniversary of my blog. First, I would like to thank each one of you for reading my postings and emailing suggestions for new postings. For those of you who have just started reading my postings, please use the archive feature to look at past postings. I am happy to announce …
One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from the great football coach Bill Parcells. When referring to a team’s performance Parcells said, “You are what your won-loss record says you are.” Well as of June 24, 2013 the Yankees’ record is 41-34 and they are 2.5 games out of first place. According to Coach Parcells’ …
As we approach the 2013 All-Star game, it would be fitting to look back at the last All-Star game held in NYC at the old Yankee Stadium in 2008. The following post, written by one of my Baseball and Statistics students, recounts her experience at the 2008 All-Star weekend. Out of every baseball game I …
My wife Tara and I traveled from our home in Naples, FL to meet my baseball buddy in Sarasota, Florida. My baseball buddy is John-Norman Tuck who is a renowned artist and hair stylist from Sarasota. John-Norman and I traveled for about one hour to Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, FL. Two blocks from the …
After writing my April posting about the Rutgers athletic scandal and President Barchi, I thought the story was over. In my April posting I said, “Here is my take on the situation. Since Coach Rice reports to AD Pernetti and Pernetti reports to Barchi, Rutgers is trying to stop the damage at the AD level. …
Can Miguel be the first .400 hitter in 72 years? After playing in 45 games this year he had a BA = .391, an IPBA = .447 and a SOA = .133. Since his IPBA is 20 points higher than .427 all Miguel needs to do (Ha! Ha!) is for the rest of the season …
Disappointment number one is the Toronto Blue Jays. A week before Thanksgiving Toronto conducted a trade with Miami receiving Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and Emilio Bonafacio for prospects. Add to that the acquisition of R.A. Dickey, the NL Cy Young Winner in 2012, from the Mets. It seemed to be a no-brainer to make …