Baseball team hire eccentric genius

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SUMMARY

Eric Van, a 51-year-old Harvard graduate with an IQ of 143, was hired by the Boston Red Sox after owner John Henry discovered his analytical posts on the Sons of Sam Horn forum. Van, a statistical savant with over 30 years of experience in evaluating player performance, employs basic statistical methods, primarily conditional sample means, to analyze baseball metrics. While his ability to recall statistics impresses casual fans, his lack of formal training in statistics limits the sophistication of his analyses. In contrast, renowned sabermetrician Bill James excels in contextualizing statistics within the broader scope of baseball history and gameplay.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of basic statistical concepts, particularly conditional sample means.
  • Familiarity with sabermetrics and its application in baseball analytics.
  • Knowledge of baseball history and gameplay dynamics.
  • Experience with statistical analysis tools, such as spreadsheets.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research advanced statistical methods in baseball analytics, such as WAR (Wins Above Replacement).
  • Explore the works of Bill James and his contributions to sabermetrics.
  • Learn about the impact of statistical analysis on player evaluation and team strategy.
  • Investigate the role of online forums like Sons of Sam Horn in shaping baseball discussions and analytics.
USEFUL FOR

Baseball analysts, sports statisticians, team managers, and anyone interested in the intersection of statistics and baseball performance evaluation.

The_Professional
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http://www.boston.com/sports/baseba...06/23/his_numbers_are_in_the_ballpark/?page=1
Eric Van wakes his computer with a nudge of the mouse, and moments later the oversize screen is bright with numbers, an elaborate spreadsheet that is impossible to decipher. Moving the cursor across the columns, Van cracks a smile.

A 51-year-old Harvard graduate with an IQ of 143, Van was hired quietly by the team in February after owner John Henry read his posts on Sons of Sam Horn, a website popular among passionate Red Sux fans. Van is a statistical savant who's been using numbers to evaluate player performance for more than 30 years, well before ''sabermetrician" -- the term used these days to describe his type -- was in vogue.
 
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I've seen some of his postings and even participated in debates with him in other message boards. He seems reasonably smart, but appears to lack formal training in statistics, so none of the numbers he cites are any more sophisticated than conditional sample means. He has a lot of these numbers at his fingertips, and that seems to impress the average layperson. He also has a tendency to bend the numbers to suit his biases.
 
Statistics almost never answer questions - they just help you ask the right questions.

Bill James is the only baseball stats guy I've been impressed with. It isn't compiling the stats that's impressive - it's being able to relate them to the game. Bill James knows enough about baseball (the game on and off the field, not the box score), and baseball history, that he can usually put the statistics he compiles into perspective.

In fact, statistics usually only play a minor supporting role in his best articles.