Sabermetrics is a term coined by baseball statistician Bill James to describe the objective and scientific measurement and analysis of baseball statistics to determine why teams win or lose, the relative value of players, and a host of other conclusions. The term sabermetrics comes from the acronym SABR, which is the abbreviation of the Society for American Baseball Research. Sabermetric analysis of statistics differs from traditional baseball statistical analysis by using a different set of reasoning. For instance, sabermetricians might see a player's batting average as a poor way of determining how a player will help a team; instead, a sabermetrician might try to determine how many runs a player creates for a team ("runs created") and will see that as a better determinant of a player's value. Sabermetrics has grown in popularity with the expansion of fantasy baseball leagues, and many professional baseball teams and general managers make use of sabermetric principles in determining player worth and setting team strategy.
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Fast Facts
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The Society for American Baseball Research founded in Cooperstown, New York, in 1971
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Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane has reportedly used sabermetric principles
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Beane's methods are outlined in the bestselling book Moneyball
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Examples of common sabermetric statistics and/or terms
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- Walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP)
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- Runs created (RC)
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- On-base plus slugging (OPS)
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- Defense Independent Pitching Statistics (DIPS)
