AP Sports is using “robot” reporters to cover Minor League Baseball
Video games have actually been doing this with in-game stats for a while (Out of the Park Baseball is particularly notable here), so not a huge surprise. I suspect that many of the minor league reporting that does exist (e.g., Pinstripe Alley’s Baby Bombers recaps of the Yankees farm teams) is pretty template-y to begin with; computers are just more efficient at plugging in the numbers.
If you haven’t read this piece by David Ortiz (it’s almost a month old, so hopefully you have), do so now. Powerful piece on PED allegations in the MLB.
Which MLB Pundit Makes The Worst Predictions? Grading ESPN And Sports Illustrated
We have tracked the predictions of 14 MLB pundits from ESPN and Sports Illustrated—each of whom made preseason picks in the 2009, 2010, and 2011 seasons—across nine categories: six division winners, two pennants, and the World Series.
Here is how they ranked based on our $1 bet yield metric, which calibrates predictions for boldness by measuring the average payout (using Vegas odds) had you placed $1 bets on each of the pundit’s selections. We have included the 2012 World Series prediction for each of the pundits.
Just like that, New York Yankees upgrade their starting rotation
So think through what just happened here. For 12 relaxing months, any time all of us baseball geniuses were asked what we thought about the Yankees, we could just push our favorite knee-jerk-analysis button and answer: “Who the heck’s going to pitch on the nights CC Sabathia doesn’t?”
Uh-oh. So much for that.
(via Quickish)
