Effective Spin: Intro

All good research starts with a question. So as I sit here beginning a project that I have considered for some time, I ask myself “What is it that I am trying to accomplish?” I believe that question is of the essence of anything we do in life.

Anyone who knows me knows. Baseball has been, is, and always will be a huge part of who I am. But that part of me has taken a sizable turn. When I was young, like everyone else, I thought my calling was playing Major League Baseball. I was quickly humbled, and my focus turned to my next calling: writing. But after realizing simply writing was not enough, I wanted to get involved with hands-on, tangible experience. That brought me to the UNC Baseball Analytics department.

In my conversations with or even simply reading the work of some of my peers involved with baseball analytics at the collegiate level — namely my former director at UNC, Micah Daley-Harris, Ethan Moore of Cal Poly, Sam Bornstein of Iowa, Robert Frey of Finding the Edge Podcast, and Sam Denomme of Wake Forest, among countless others that I could name — I was pushed to put my best foot forward at UNC. And although my final season with the program was unfortunately cut short, this is an opportunity for personal and professional growth.

When one door closes, it is because there was another door that was meant to be opened. As COVID-19 impacted many lives, I can also say that it changed mine. Heading into graduation, I was ready to take a position with the Tampa Bay Rays. Things quickly changed, and I recently set my sights on pursuing my Master of Science in Business Analytics at Wake Forest University. I can’t wait to dig deeper with their baseball program, learn about the lab, and continue my academic and professional career.

There are many things I do not know — I view that as an opportunity. We may not discover anything groundbreaking here due to certain limitations with public data. These limitations, or growth opportunities will be expressed in each piece. So as I look to grow my skills and reach beyond my comfort zone, I expect to fail, but that is okay. If baseball taught me one thing, it is how to cope with failure.

So let’s go back to the beginning where I asked, “What is it that I am trying to accomplish?” My vision here is that I facilitate insightful conversations that make us think deeply about the game of baseball. And at the end of the day, I will try to put an “Effective Spin” on every piece I write.