2024 SABR Analytics: Watch highlights from Baseball Prospectus Founders Panel
At the SABR Analytics Conference on Saturday, March 9, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona, a panel discussion was held with the founding members of Baseball Prospectus.
Panelists included Clay Davenport, Gary Huckabay, Rany Jazayerli, Christina Kahrl, Joe Sheehan, and moderator Will Carroll.
Earlier that day, Huckabay received the SABR Analytics Conference Lifetime Achievement Award for his efforts in starting Baseball Prospectus back in 1996.
Here are some highlights from the panel:
On how Baseball Prospectus planted the seeds for modern baseball analysis
- Kahrl: “We created a website to sell the book (1996 Baseball Prospectus Annual) and then we realized, not as quickly as we should have but in a couple of months, maybe the Internet is a bigger deal than the book. And that really kind of stood what was our original business model on its head.”
- Jazayerli: “When you ask why pitchers are being pulled out of the game in the fifth inning all the time … pitcher abuse points probably started us on the road of getting pitchers away from throwing 140 pitches in an outing and blowing out their arms when they’re 22.”
On what has been the biggest surprise in baseball over the last three decades
- Davenport: “Well, I never would have thought that strikeouts would take over the way that they have. Even though, I mean, that was one of our big pushes: strikeouts don’t matter. Boy, was that taken to heart.”
On the future of baseball
- Sheehan: “I feel like we’re in a position of incredible transition right now in the game — trying to balance the entertainment value versus trying to win, which is not something baseball’s really thought about a lot until recent years.”
- Davenport: “We may be approaching an era where every player on the field is essentially working at their absolute peak performance level, which is something that we’ve really never seen before. … They’re all going to be living up to their full potential.”
- Huckabay: “The thing that is going on is going on at a much lower level than Major League Baseball. My son worked out at this place called Mike Murphy Baseball. This is a location where parents are bringing their kids for real actual instruction, not the dad that will ruin your swing forever in Little League. … They’re investing thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to get their kid into college with a scholarship. … You’re getting guys that actually know how to swing the bat, and they actually know how to field. They actually know how to do this stuff. The kids that are coming through this … these kids are amazing.”
Baseball Prospectus contributors past and present. Pictured L-R: Keith Woolner, James Click, Ginny Searle, Will Carroll, Patrick Dubuque, Dave Pease, Clay Davenport, Rany Jazayerli, Christina Kahrl, Robert Orr, Joe Sheehan, Rob Mains, and Gary Huckabay (in front).
On Doug Pappas and his importance to baseball analysis
- Kahrl: “He was really one of the great inventors … in terms of pricing out dollars spent per win and looking at team budgets. And really kind of making us think about (how) there is this other scoreboard that is not on the standings, but is how people are using their money effectively, and, you know, whether or not they’re making money.”
On what has been the biggest surprise to him over the last 30 years
- Sheehan: “We collect data now. You guys use and present data now that we couldn’t have fathomed back then. God, Baseball Reference would update once a year. … Now as we speak, they’re collecting the spin rate of every single pitch that happens in Major League Baseball.”
Transcription assistance from Daulton Zeaman.
For more coverage of the 2024 SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.
Originally published: May 1, 2024. Last Updated: March 20, 2024.