Thorn: When Big Data Was Small, a foreword to Dick Cramer’s memoir
From SABR member John Thorn at Our Game on March 28, 2019:
Richard D. Cramer has been doing baseball analytics for just about as long as anyone alive, even before the term “sabermetrics” existed. He started analyzing baseball statistics as a hobby in the mid-1960s, not long after graduating from Harvard and MIT. He was a research scientist for SmithKline and in his spare time used his work computer to test his theories about baseball statistics. One of his earliest discoveries was that clutch hitting — then one of the most sacred pieces of received wisdom in the game — didn’t really exist.
In When Big Data Was Small Cramer recounts his life and remarkable contributions to baseball knowledge. I am honored that Dick, my friend for some 35 years, asked me to write the foreword. His book — along with many other fine baseball titles — may be purchased from University of Nebraska Press at 40 percent off its list price until April 30: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/baseball-sale/.
Read the full article here: https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/when-big-data-was-small-f4b3335d0657?gi=747e4119f75d
Originally published: March 28, 2019. Last Updated: March 28, 2019.