Rounding the Bases

Throughout the entire experience (the whole nine innings!) of researching and exploring sabermetrics, I gained a deeper understanding and appreciation for the game of baseball. I learned that sabermetrics is more elastic than I once thought, that teams may use sabermetrics for simply pitching and other times it’s their whole game plan.

My favorite line in Moneyball is when Billy Beane is speaking to Paul DePodesta about old baseball footage and he becomes nostalgic about his old playing days. He leans back and whispers, “How can you not be romantic about baseball?” He’s right. Prior to this adventure, I admired baseball but from a surface level. Now, I understand what Beane is saying. Baseball is intricate, there are so many small details and functioning that could only be experienced through research. My research in sabermetrics made me enamored with baseball. It’s a beautiful sport, how can you not be romantic about it?

The philosophy of sabermetrics is to find the diamonds in the rough in the world of baseball through organized statistics. Sabermetrics is as complex yet is as satisfying as watching a home run fly over the fence. The idea of projecting the future is captivating. And, the baseball world is barely scratching the surface.