MA331 - Some Possible Project Ideas

• Distribution of runs scored
• At what age do batter peak?
• Who will have a longer career (on average), a young pitcher who strikes out many batters, or a young pitcher who gets by on finesse ("knows how to pitch")
• When does it make sense to intentionally walk a batter?
• Analysis of strategies - intentional walks, ssac bunts, steal attempts
• How significant is home field advantage?
• Markov chain analysis incorporating double-plays, advancement on groundball outs, etc.
• Where should Barry Bonds and Rey Ordonez bat?
• What would Barry Bonds/Alex Rodriguez/... hit playing home games in Coors Field?
• How would playing home games in Coors field affect the performance of Roger Clemens/ Randy Johnson/Greg Maddux/Pedro Martinez/...?
• If a player is a .300 (or .250 or ...) hitter, consider a string of 200AB. Beginning from 10AB, what's the highest/lowest batting average that teh player will have over the stretch?
• In Playoffs and World Series, does the game 1 margin of victory correlate with eventual victory (or scoring margin)?
• Stolen Base percentage with LH batter/ RH batter at teh plate
• With the pitcher coming up and two outs, should the runner on third base take a chance and try to score the run?
• Should fast runnerss be kept together in the batting order? Does breaking them up with a slow runner clog the bases?
• How should tickets be proiced to maximize revenue?

• Analyze the forces on a spinning baseball.
• How do people track and catch flyballs?
• Sweet-spot analysis - the bat-ball collision.
• What difference does altitude make?
• Effect of rain/cold on the baseball.
• Analyze the coefficient of restitution as relative velocity between bat and ball increases.
• How should an outfielder throw the ball to make sure that it reaches the catcher at home plate in the minimum amount of time?

• Hitting by Pitchers
• The average distance of players, in age, from 27
• The percentage of players who are less than six feet tall or more that 6'3"
• Fielding percentage and passed balls
• Double plays/ ratio of Double Plays to Errors
• Usage of pitchers at other positions
• The percentage of fielding plays made by pitchers
• The percentage of games which are blowouts
• The average attendance and seating capacity of the game location
• The condition of the field
• The use of players in specialized roles
• The average distance of teams from .500
• The percentage of games which go nine innings
• The standard deviation of offensive effectiveness
• The standard of record-keeping
• The percentage of managers who have 20 years or more experience in the game

• The percentage of players born within 50 miles of the place home games are played. The percentage of players born more than 1000(or 2000) miles away.

Preliminary proposal       Thursday, January 17      Week 6
Final Proposal             Tuesday, January 22       Week 7
Interim Report             Tuesday, January 29       Week 8 
Oral Reports                                         Week 10
Final Written Report       Friday, February 15       Week 10

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