Keeping the Hitter Off Balance: Mixed Strategies in Baseball
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Jesse Weinstein-Gould
Mixed strategies are a key component of game theory. Investigations into whether or not people use optimal mixed strategies have largely been limited to laboratory settings and have produced mixed results. Recently, the empirical framework has been extended into professional sports. This study uses pitch-level data from Major League Baseball games to see if pitchers mix their pitches optimally. The scope of this study is limited to the first pitch of a plate appearance and finds that pitchers are mixing optimally to have success on the first pitch of the plate appearance, but the null hypothesis of optimal play for the plate appearance outcome is rejected.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Conference Paper
- A Statistical Analysis of NFL Quarterback Rating Variables
- Optimizing Football Game Play Calling
- Assessing Methods for College Football Rankings
- Chasing DiMaggio: Streaks in Simulated Seasons Using Non-Constant At-Bats
- Modeling Baseball Player Ability with a Nested Dirichlet Distribution
- `If the Team Doesn't Win, Nobody Wins:' A Team-Level Analysis of Pay and Performance Relationships in Major League Baseball
- Keeping the Hitter Off Balance: Mixed Strategies in Baseball
- Using Simulation to Estimate the Impact of Baserunning Ability in Baseball
- A New Handicapping System for Golf
- Scramble Teams for the Pinehurst Terrapin Classic
- Pythagoras and the National Hockey League