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Baseball Statistics
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Before the 1870s baseball statistics placed nearly equal emphasis on offense and defense, a balance that reflected Chadwick’s preference for the game’s defensive elements. As time passed... baseball’s offensive statistics came to dominate fan interest. Batting averages, runs batted in, and home runs were the most popular and well-known statistics with baseball’s fans and media. When New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth hit his record total of 60 home runs in 1927, the number took on mythic status with everyone who followed the game. Each time a player pursued and broke the single-season home run record the chase attracted widespread excitement, as when Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit 73 home runs in 2001. Similar significance is attached to hitting for a .400 batting average over a season, a feat last achieved by Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams in 1941.
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Some sabermetric statistics have entered the mainstream baseball world. Among statistics that measure a batter's overall performance, On-base plus slugging (OPS) is one of the easiest to calculate. It adds the hitter's on base percentage (number of times reached base—by any means—divided by total plate appearances) to his slugging percentage (total bases divided by at bats). Some argue that the OPS formula is flawed and that more weight should be shifted towards OBP (on base percentage).[2]
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The following grades 6-8 activities allow students to explore statistics surrounding baseball. They are exposed to connections between various mathematical concepts and see where this mathematics is used in areas with which they are familiar. This lesson plan is adapted from the May1996 edition of Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School.
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If you are a baseball fan with any interest in statistics (and how can one be a baseball fan WITHOUT an interest in statistics), then this book is a must-have. Schwarz has written a fascinating book giving the history of baseball statistics, getting into the personalities, politics and trivia involved. A wonderful book!
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Baseball Statistics