Justin Ketterman edited 2.tex  about 9 years ago

Commit id: a3b4f0f577a8ce15adbffd3611ca2aa69e44e01a

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\par  Going to various universities, I would try to find a number of candidates who have incredible averages. Let’s say we have a bunch of them who have a small standard deviation between them, say their batting average is $.375 ± .1$. How do I know which ones to choose? Well, in order to win in baseball, at least on the offensive side, we need to score as many runs as possible. So the player who can get the most number of bases with the least number of at bats would be more valuable. This statistic is known as the Slugging Percentage, or $SLG$. It can be expressed as total bases $TB$ divided by the number of official at bats $AB$, or more concisely:  \[SLG = \frac{TB}{AB}.\]  The problem with $SLG$ is that it only measures official at bats. $AB$ does not record events such as sacrifice balls, walks, or hit by pitches, which when used at the right time can be the difference between winning and losing. This means that it’s losing a game. It’s  leaving out a bunch of potential runs that the batter is earning. So, we can add these factors into our formula. Adding walks, hit by pitch, and sacrifice flies, we can get a better representation of how well they will perform. It’s known as the on-base percentage \[OBP = \frac{H+BB+HBP}{AB+BB+HBP+SF}\]  Given this information, I now know what to look for in my offense and how to make the tough decision of who to choose from in a sample of excellent batters. Next up, I’ll need some pitchers who can keep the other team from scoring.  \paragraph{What Makes a Great Pitcher?}