Presentation 2 for Tom Klinkowstein's Directed Research Class, Pratt Institute in New York City. Summer 2012.

1. A BR IEF HIS TOR IC A L TI M ELI N E
of BA SEBA L L S TATIS TIC S
2500 B.C. • The abacus is invented in Sumeria. 1861 • Chadwick publishes a list of the collection
of games played, outs, runs, homeruns and
825 A.D. • Persian mathematician Muhammad strike outs for prominent players on bigger
ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi popularizes the clubs. It is the first database of its kind.
decimal point.
1867 • Chadwick creates the box score, borrowed
1857 • Early sportswriter Henry Chadwick, from the scorecard in cricket.
the “Father of Baseball” switches from • Chadwick creates the abbreviation “K”
writing primarily about cricket to baseball for strikeout.
for the newspapers he works for, and • Chadwick creates the statistical
begins to keep track of individual players’ measurements Batting Average (BA) for
achievements to provide numerical hitters and Earned Run Average (ERA)
evidence of which players helped or hurt a for pitchers. They are the considered the
team to win. defining stat of a player for the next 100+
years, and are still popular today.

2. Boxscore from 1876

3. A BR IEF HIS TOR IC A L TI M ELI N E
of BA SEBA L L S TATIS TIC S
1912 • The National League begins keeping 1951 • Hy Turkin publishes The Complete Encyclopedia
official record of ERA. The American of Baseball. It is the first book of historical
League does the same soon after. Earlier stats and figures.
ERA statistics are available, but were
calculated many years after the fact. 1964 • Johns Hopkins engineering professor
Earnshaw Cook’s book Percentage Baseball is
1947 • Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager released. It is one the first highly analytical
Branch Rickey hires Allan Roth to be the and scientific baseball publications to gain
first full-time team statistician on an MLB national media attention, but the book was
team. The two develop the formula for On not accepted by most baseball associations.
Base Percentage (OBP), which calculate how
often a batter gets on base by any means (not 1969 • Macmillan Publishing published its first
just with a hit like with BA). Baseball Encyclopedia, which was the first time
a computer had been used to compile stats.

4. A BR IEF HIS TOR IC A L TI M ELI N E
of BA SEBA L L S TATIS TIC S
Earnshaw Cook “Percentage Baseball” cover

5. A BR IEF HIS TOR IC A L TI M ELI N E
of BA SEBA L L S TATIS TIC S
1977 • Historian and baseball writer Bill James 1994 • The Sabermetric Manifesto, an essay by David
releases the first annual copy of The Bill Grabiner, is published.
James Historical Baseball Abstract, and James
coins the word “sabermetrics” after the 1996 • Baseball Prospectus, an organization
Society for American Baseball Research, devoted to the sabermetic analysis of baseball,
SABR, which scientifically analyzes and is founded. The organization publishes an
studies baseball statistics. The Historical annual book by the same name which consists
Baseball Abstract was published annually of advanced analysis and history.
until 1988. James’ work is the basis of all
modern sabermetrics. 2000 • Baseball-Reference.com, the defining source
for stats on every player in team in every major
1988 • Total Baseball becomes the primary baseball and minor league in history, is launched.
stats encyclopedia, using more sophisticated
software that Baseball Encyclopedia.

6. A BR IEF HIS TOR IC A L TI M ELI N E
of BA SEBA L L S TATIS TIC S
The Historical Baseball Abstract Baseball-Reference.com Home Page

7. A BR IEF HIS TOR IC A L TI M ELI N E
of BA SEBA L L S TATIS TIC S
2003 • The book Moneyball is published. It is
the story of Billy Beane, the General
Manager of the Oakland Athletics, and
the team’s sabermetic, analytical approach
to assembling a competitive baseball team
despite Oakland’s disadvantaged revenue
situation. They were the first MLB team
to build a team with primarily sabermetric
analysis, and were so successful that it is now
used in every Major League front office. The
movie came out in 2011.
2005 • Fangraphs.com, another sabermetic
Moneyball Book Cover & Movie Poster
analysis website, is founded.

8. CU R R E N T V ISUA L S in
BA SEBA L L TODAY
MLB.tv Online Game Cast

9. CU R R E N T V ISUA L S in
BA SEBA L L TODAY
Pitchf/x Chart Showing A Pitcher’s outing

10. CU R R E N T V ISUA L S in
BA SEBA L L TODAY
A Typical Graph on Baseball-Reference.Com,
Showing a Team’s Batting Stats

11. CU R R E N T V ISUA L S in
BA SEBA L L TODAY
A Scorecard, Usually Done While At a Game