THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

I’ve been following the Israel Baseball League some, so this is really cool, but I’d much rather see them invest in putting this technology in AAA and AA stadiums.

There’s a nice entry on the Israel Baseball League on Wikipedia, with a map and other interesting information.  I believe they play 7-inning games, so this by itself raises potentially interesting questions about the effect of shorter games on the competitive environment, the possibility of using smaller pitching staffs (and shorter intervals between games, less concern about pitch counts), and so on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Baseball_League

Should have added that in addition to having 7 inning games, they settle ties not by playing extra innings but with a shootout—home run derby.  Shades of international football and hockey.

BaseRuns works in Israel, too!

http://biblemetrics.blogspot.com/

http://biblemetrics.blogspot.com/2007/10/run-mystery-solved.html

Thanks for the link, Tango.

Just to clarify, the IBL doesn’t record pitch-by-pitch data, just play-by-play. The only “technology” at the field (I wouldn’t call them stadiums) is an official scorekeeper with a laptop. And some of the games had a radar gun.

Having attended a bunch of IBL games this summer, my opinion is that seven innings is generally enough. Baseball is a long enough game already. Who has time for a nine-inning game on a weeknight?