History of Baseball Statistics
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about
baseball? Some might think of a line-drive home run disappearing
over the fence, or a 100-mile fastball live on the corner striking out the
batter. Some might think of a beautiful dive catch that saves the team.
Like this, there are a lot of things that come to your mind when you
think about baseball, but one of the essential things is ‘numbers’.
Baseball and numbers are in an inseparable relationship. Unlike other
sports, we can understand what happened in the game just by looking at
the statistics. When the pitcher pitches a ball, the speed is recorded. If the
batter swings and makes an in-play, the result is recorded. After the ball is
in-played, the fielder’s result, the movement of the runners are recorded.
Each of these plays combines to make one game, each game makes a
series, each series makes a season, and every single result of plays and
movements that happened in the season is represented numerically.
Numbers account for a very high proportion of baseball; baseball is even
often called a game of statistics. Why could this be?
Baseball is very simple compared to other sports. With an exception of
fielders, baseball is basically a 1v1 battle between a pitcher and a batter.
There are no spatial variables: It is a simple situation where the pitcher
has to throw, and the batter has to hit. In addition, there is a definite
division of offense and defense, top-half and bottom-half of the inning.
Therefore, it is uncomplicated to quantify the plays.