daily box score Stories - Beyond the Box Score
Daily Box Score 10/26: Guess Again
It is the sovereign right of every sports fan to question--loudly, if need be--the decisions of those who are lucky enough to coach professional teams. For the same reason I have little sympathy for celebrities who complain about the paparazzi even as they build their brands, I have little...
Daily Box Score 10/16: What Do the Playoffs Tell Us?
Playoff baseball is excellent. Does anyone deny that? Even casual fans become glued to the TV come October. For sheer excitement value, you really can't beat the playoffs. But a question lurks behind the playoffs. The answer to the question seems so obvious that it almost always goes unasked....
Daily Box Score 10/9: The Fog of Playoffs
The playoffs are underway, and there have already been some exciting moments. The old refrain that the playoffs are a crapshoot is as tired as it is common (even in its more expletive-peppered variety). Forgive me for stating the obvious, but in a straight casino, a crapshoot really is random....
Daily Box Score 10/5: Let's Play 163
One of my biggest pet peeves in professional sports announcing is when, at the end of a very close game, the announcers ascribe the victor's outcome to the fact that they "wanted it more." Or that they "played harder." At the end of a game, if the center fielder misses the catch, then guess what?...
Daily Box Score 9/30: Not What But How
Once upon a time in the west on the internet, there was trio of sheriffs whose only job was to law up the ravine, and afterward to stand valiantly for low-angle shots while tumbleweeds rolled past. Sure, they still live down by the old church, and occasionally they stop by the burlesque house. But...
Daily Box Score 9/28: Pitch Selection and Game Theory
The last time I wrote about game theory, I discussed the strategy involved in bunting for a hit. One surprising observation was that the payoffs for bunting for a hit and swinging away appear not to be equalized. The reason this was surprising was because if the payoffs were not equal, we expect a...
Daily Box Score 9/25: Taking it to the Beat
We don't talk much about traditional sportswriters here on Beyond the Box Score. Part of that, I think, is appropriate. Our approach is so wildly different from those of beat writers that anything we say about them would either be negative or unrelated. But beat writers have been with us since...
Daily Box Score 9/23: Self-Similarity
The notion of consistency, that bugaboo of thinking baseball fans everywhere, has eluded our frontal attacks for decades. What conclusions can we draw from the fact that player's performance has been stable from year to year? Is it a mere trivial fluke or parlor trick? Or does it betray some...
Daily Box Score 9/21: Let the Great Axe Fall
The title of this post is, alternatively, "Why Cooper is not Sterling." You get no link help in interpreting the title above. It might seem like being a major league manager is a cushy job. Your primary job responsibilities are to fill out the lineup card, consume tobacco products/sunflower seeds,...
Daily Box Score 9/17: Pricing Risk & Giving Incentives
Life is characterized by uncertainty. Maybe you think it's a bummer; maybe it's what gets you out of bed in the morning. But either way, uncertainty is part of daily life. It's involved in personal relationships, business, and yes, even sport. It's important to keep in mind that uncertainty is a...
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