Graduation Year
2020
Date of Submission
12-2019
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Economics
Reader 1
Serkan Ozbeklik
Terms of Use & License Information
Abstract
Home runs have thrust the MLB into the spotlight in popular press and in scholarly publications in the past few years. Prior research on home runs has suggested that steroids or an expanded schedule are at the root of the problem. A review of previous empirical literature on baseball shows the influence of advanced data on incentives to hitting has not yet been explored. A current theory suggests that advanced data (Statcast) could be behind the MLB home run spike from 2015-2019. Using an aggregate of team-level HR/H by year, I find that after Statcast data was introduced in 2015, we have experienced a significant increase of HR/H on the team level compared to before 2015. This model is suggestive by nature of its specification, however it should spur the conversation on alternate explanations for this home run phenomenon.
Recommended Citation
Hosmar, Andrew, "Advanced Analytics & Big Data: How Amazon Has Already Changed MLB History" (2020). CMC Senior Theses. 2360.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2360
Title Page
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
