A Mathematician at the Ballpark
Odds and Probabilities for Baseball Fans
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- €8.49
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- €8.49
Publisher Description
In A Mathematician at the Ballpark, professor Ken Ross reveals the math behind the stats. This lively and accessible book shows baseball fans how to harness the power of made predictions and better understand the game. Using real-world examples from historical and modern-day teams, Ross shows:
• Why on-base and slugging percentages are more important than batting averages
• How professional odds makers predict the length of a seven-game series
• How to use mathematics to make smarter bets
A Mathematician at the Ballpark is the perfect guide to the science of probability for the stats-obsessed baseball fans—and, with a detailed new appendix on fantasy baseball, an essential tool for anyone involved in a fantasy league.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This math book for baseball fans is a hardcore yet accessible volume and serves as an entertaining introduction to the "sweet science" of probability. Ross (Elementary Analysis: The Theory of Calculus), a math professor at the University of Oregon, is baseball crazed he swears that his early love of the game made him "comfortable with, and reasonably proficient at, elementary probability." He successfully sets out to introduce basic concepts and use them "to explain some results that have interesting applications for baseball." A chapter titled "Will the Yankees Win if Steinbrenner Is Gone?" is a delightful introduction to the concept of conditional probabilities. In "Who's the Best Hitter," he presents a fascinating look at how statistical measurements of a batter's offensive contribution, including "Slugging Percentage" and "On-Base Plus Slugging," show how two outstanding young outfielders, Yankee Hideki Matsui and Mariner Ichiro Suzuki, had "amazingly close" 2003 seasons offensively, although Ichiro was widely thought to have had a substantially better season than Matsui. And in "What Would Pete Rose Do?" Ross cleverly examines the concept of "double or nothing" and statistically proves that no preplanned strategy can make a losing situation into a winning one. Overall, Ross's book lovingly supports his assertion that "robability is a wonderful window into the workings of baseball, gambling, and, sometimes it seems to me, life itself."
