math project

1. The Numbers of Baseball
By: Cooper Bowen

2. History of the Sport
Baseball was invented in the year 1839,
making it the oldest American invented
sport. However, the MLB wasn’t founded
until 1969. The beginning of the sport
only saw 8 teams instead of the 30 we
see today. Many of the original stars of
the game are still remembered and
idolized today. Although they seem very
different, the games that are played
today are very similar to the games that
were played over 100 years ago. That is
what is so beautiful about baseball, it is
very simple, but there is a lot of
customization and the game’s tactics
have gone through a lot of changes and
eras. For example, a 6” person and a
5”4’ person can both play this sport with
no advantage to either one. Additionally,
you can have whatever stance and

3. Rules of the Sport
Baseball is composed of two
teams of nine. The games last
9 two-part innings. Each team
bats until the fielding team gets
three outs. An out is gotten by
striking someone out, catching
the ball before it hits the
ground, tagging a runner when
he isn’t on a base, or getting
the ball to the next force base.
A run is gotten when someone
on the hitting team goes
around every base and touches
home plate. While hitting, if
you see 3 strikes, you are out.
If you see 4 balls, then you
reach first base. A strike is
anything that you can hit easily.

4. The Math of
BaseballBaseball is a game of numbers, averages, and
statistics. Many people overlook this fact, but it plays
a very important role in higher level play such as
college, minor league, or professional. Three of the
most important statistics in baseball are ERA, BA,
and OBP. ERA or earned run average is the average
number of runs you give up in a game. This stat only
applies to pitchers. BA or batting average is the ratio
of your hits to at bats in recent games. OBP or on
base percentage is the ratio of the amount of times
you get on base (hit, walk, hit by pitch) compared to
the number of times you have a plate appearance.
These stats can help us answer many questions in
baseball. For example, if you wanted to know the
odds of someone getting a hit in an at bat, you simply
just look at their batting average and convert it into a
decimal. So if someone had a 0.308 batting average,
the would have a 30.8% chance of getting a hit. I got
this by moving the decimal point over two spots to the
right to convert it into a fraction.

5. Statistics
BA - Batting Average
Babe Ruth - .342
Mike Trout - .307
Ted Williams - .344
Barry Bonds - .298
Tony Gwynn - .338
ERA - Earned Run Average
CY Young - 2.63
Nolan Ryan - 3.19
Sandy Koufax - 2.76
Bob Gibson - 2.91
Randy Johnson - 3.29
OBP - On Base Percentage
Babe Ruth - .474
Mike Trout - .416
Ted Williams - .482
Barry Bonds - .444
Tony Gwynn - .388

6. Findings
I found that batting
average is lower than on
base percentage, probably
because you have a better
chance to get on base with
walks included, and OBP
includes hits and walks,
while batting average only
includes your hits.
I also found that with ERA,
good ERAs are lower
while high ERAs are very
bad. I also found that a
very good ERA is around
2.50 to 3.

7. Citations
https://www.baseball-reference.com
https://www.meta-chart.com