I initially created Baseball Graphs to develop new and better ways of presenting baseball statistics. The 2003 season was my first full-season attempt, and it turned out pretty well. I now spend a lot of my time creating and formatting the baseball stats at The Hardball Times.

Along the way, I've also picked up the writing bug. I spend most of my energy writing for THT, but sometimes I like to write about more geeky stuff, baseball research and things like that. That's what this blog is for.

I'm very interested in graphics and other information display, so I'll probably post links to creative stuff like that. I also plan to write historical articles that complement the historical graphs. And I have inexplicably developed an interest in baseball win-related stats, such as Bill James's Win Shares and something called Win Probability Added. So you can expect a few posts about that stuff too.

If you're interested, I've created a complex spreadsheet full of WPA logic, which you can download at ftp.baseballgraphs.com/wpa. If you'd like to read more about Win Shares, try these links:

Win Shares Intro
What They're Good For
Mathematical Details

Archives
December, 2008
April, 2008
March, 2008
January, 2008
January, 2007
December, 2006
November, 2006
October, 2006
September, 2006
August, 2006
July, 2006
June, 2006
May, 2006
April, 2006
March, 2006
February, 2006
January, 2006
October, 2005
September, 2005
July, 2005
May, 2005
April, 2005
March, 2005
February, 2005
January, 2005
December, 2004
November, 2004
October, 2004
September, 2004
August, 2004
July, 2004
June, 2004
May, 2004
March, 2004
February, 2004
January, 2004
December, 2003
November, 2003
October, 2003

To view a list of all articles, click here.

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If there is any aspect of WPA, Win Shares or baseball graphics you're interested in, drop me an e-mail and I'll look into it.

Syndicate Baseball Graphs:

Bill James and Warren Buffett

September 13, 2006

a random thought

I’ve always thought of Bill James as baseball’s Warren Buffett. The similarities between the two are remarkable:

Both were viewed as outsiders in their field (Buffett in investing, James in baseball).
Both lived and worked in the Great Plains of America (James in Kansas and Buffett in Nebraska).
Both brought new, breakthrough ideas of value in their fields.
Both were extremely good with numbers, but their true genius lay in their new insights and their expressions of them.
Both wrote annual reports (James’s Abstracts, Buffett’s Annual Reports) that were highly anticipated by their fans and investors.
Both are known for their brilliant, incisive and sometimes sarcastic analysis.
They both have somewhat idiosyncratic personalities.
They are/have been married to a woman named Susie.
Their heirs won’t inherit a lot of money.

Warren Buffett taught us to value American Express and Geico, Bill James taught us to value Ken Phelps and Tim Raines. Pennants have been won on the ideas of James, billions have been made on the investment strategies of Buffet. And I’m a big fan of both.

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