Is there a way to learn sabermetrics why playing Ottoneu? Was wanting to learn while playing and also using mathematics is fun.
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This is a pretty interesting question - learning the advanced stats that drive baseball and Ottoneu is a non-obvious requirement to Ottoneu success.
I’d probably start with the FG Sabermetrics library:
https://library.fangraphs.com/getting-started/
Any term you don’t know, take a quick peek here. FIP and wOBA are the ones to start with for an Ottoneu points league, since the scoring is based on those stats.
This library is actually an incredible resource now that I’m looking at it.
What if you never passed pre-Algebra in math and need help understanding Sabermetrics? I am asking because I never took statistics in college or high school.
edX has an intro course on the subject that offers a good mix of history, concepts, and tooling.
Books:
- The Numbers Game:
- Baseball Between the Numbers
- A Mathematician at the Ballpark: Odds and Probabilities for Baseball Fans
- “The Book: Playing The Percentages In Baseball”
I might start with Baseball Between the Numbers. “The Book” is required reading but can be a bit technical. “A Mathematician at the Ballpark” might be a cool place for you to start since it’s a bit more focused on mathematics explained in baseball terms.
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@abstractartist3881 - Check out that edX course. BTW, if you feel not understanding Algebra is going to be a barrier to understanding Sabermetrics, get yourself a copy of “Painless Algebra” by Lynette Long. It’s a bit of a silly book, but it does a great job walking through basic Algebra.
“College Mathematics Through Baseball” by Fred Worth is another “baseball math” book worth checking out.
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I’d also suggest starting with “The Hidden Game of Baseball” by Pete Palmer and John Thorn (either an original 1984 edition or the newer 2015 edition–they didn’t add much of substance to the new one). That book–along with Bill James’ annual Baseball Abstracts–really launched sabermetrics. James’ Abstracts are hard to read because they were all ideas that were works in progress when he wrote them, whereas Palmer and Thorn was a more developed and coherent presentation. It was written for a non-technical audience, so it might be right at the level that you’re looking for.
In terms of a statistics text, one of the books that I refer to when I need to explain a statistical concept to a non-technical audience is “The Cartoon Guide to Statistics” by Gonick and Smith. They do a really good job at distilling relatively technical concepts to easy-to-interpret illustrations and a minimum of text. You can get it for really cheap used on Amazon (like “good” condition ones for <$2 plus shipping).
Eventually you’ll want to apply some of these principles to actual data. For that, I recommend “Analyzing Baseball with R.” For this one, get the second edition because there is new material that’s helpful (e.g., Statcast).
The library of sabermetrics on Fangraphs’ Glossary is quite good, but it’s a little overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. If you start with Palmer and Thorn, then you’ll have the background necessary to understand things like the derivation of wOBA (even though this wasn’t developed until ~20 years later), park factors, etc.
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