The first month is always a learning experience, as it should be, and certainly this baseball season has been no exception. As could be expected, some of what we've learned has been good, some not so good. And in at least one case, we learned that a data-driven process vigorously supports a sometimes controversial defensive strategy that was enforced by the Baltimore Orioles more than 40 years ago.
Earl Weaver was managing the Orioles in those days, and while he's best remembered for believing in "pitching, defense and three-run homers," he was even more adamant about one particular defensive strategy. "You don't get beat by the ball in front of you," he preached endlessly, often to the chagrin of his center fielder, Paul Blair. "It's the ball over your head that beats you. If it goes over your head and stays in the park -- it better be caught."
Four decades later baseball is using data to back up a philosophy that wasn't always unanimously accepted but has stood the test of time.
