Baseball Data at Season, Play-by-Play, and Pitch-by-Pitch Levels

Abstract

Baseball provides a rich context to learn statistical concepts, and one can learn much about baseball players and teams though exploratory analyses. We describe three readily available extensive baseball datasets that describe baseball at the season, play-by-play, and pitch-by-pitch levels. We use R to illustrate some sample analyses with these datasets and provide a list of possible explorations for the student. There is a review of the literature and a description how these datasets can be used to communicate statistical concepts.

• Batting
• Density estimate
• Lowess smoother
• Pitching
• Plate appearance
• Streakiness