Drellich: SABR member Willman’s techie baseball website hits ‘cool’ out of the park
From SABR member Evan Drellich at the Houston Chronicle on June 30, 2014, on fellow SABR member Daren Willman:
You don’t have to work for the Astros or any team to be baseball cool in this town, and Daren Willman is quintessential baseball cool.
A 32-year-old who was born in Pittsburgh but spent most his life in Houston, Willman is the lead software architect at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. His office is on Minute Maid Park’s porch, and his day job is a conversation-starter by itself.
“So I have a mobile app – this is more cutesy than anything else,” Willman said. “If I were to take a picture of you and you have a mug shot in our system, it would pull back your criminal history, just by pulling back a picture of your face.”
Seamheads might say Willman’s side projects are even more intriguing. On his own time, he has created a trio of websites, BaseballSavant.com, MLBfarm.com and NFLsavant.com, that could keep any hardcore sports fan entertained for hours.
“Ideally, I just wanted to get back into baseball,” Willman said. “I’ve always been around baseball, loved it. … It was all about getting my hands on the information. But I didn’t realize they had it out there. I wish I had found it six years ago.”
Read the full article here: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Techie-s-website-hits-cool-factor-out-of-the-5587377.php
- Related link: Evan Drellich is one of the featured speakers at SABR 44, July 30-August 3, 2014, in Houston. Learn more at SABR.org/convention.
Originally published: June 30, 2014. Last Updated: June 30, 2014.