Question: A baseball team is comparing two of its hitters, Hernandez and Dimock. Hernandez hit .250 in 2017 and .275 in 2018. Dimock did worse in both years – .245 in 2017 and .270 in 2018. Overall, though, Dimock hit better across the two years, .263 versus .258 for Hernandez. How can this be? Answer:Continue reading “Problem of the Week: Simpson’s Paradox – baseball”
Category Archives: Sports
Industry Spotlight: Baseball (Sports) Statistics
The U.S. baseball season opens Thursday, March 28, and celebrates the 48th season of analytics in baseball, beginning with the founding of the Sabermetric Society in 1971 (the same year that Satchel Paige entered the Hall of Fame). Analytics has come a long way in sports, and now has its own conference, the MIT SportsContinue reading “Industry Spotlight: Baseball (Sports) Statistics”
Job Spotlight: Sports Statistician
The field of sports statistician is not exactly new; the American Statistical Association’s section on Sports Statistics was formed in 1992. Three of Statistics.com’s instructors have professional experience in sports statistics – Ben Baumer (SQL) served as statistician for the NY Mets, Stephanie Kovalchik (Meta Analysis in R) with Tennis Australia, and Joe Hilbe, whoContinue reading “Job Spotlight: Sports Statistician”
Football Analytics
Preparing for the Superbowl Your team is at midfield, you have the ball, it’s 4th down with 2 yards to go. Should you go for it? (Apologies in advance to our many readers, especially those outside the U.S., who are not aficionados of American football, but it’s Superbowl week in the U.S. A quick guideContinue reading “Football Analytics”