A Baseball Statistics Course

Abstract

An introductory statistics course is described that is entirely taught from a baseball perspective. Topics in data analysis, including methods for one batch, comparison of batches, and relationships, are communicated using current and historical baseball data sets. Probability is introduced by describing and playing tabletop baseball games. Inference is taught by first making the distinction between a player's “ability” and his “performance”, and then describing how one can learn about a player's ability based on his season performance. Baseball issues such as the proper interpretation of situational and “streaky” data are used to illustrate statistical inference.