Winter 2020–2021: My Offseason Opportunity
Over the past several months, the exterior landscape of my Midwest residence has looked barren and frigid; accompanied by socially distant holidays, draining political news, and shortened days. However, my lifestyle has portrayed quite the opposite. I have thrown myself into frantic finals week efforts, trips to Chicago and Saint Louis, and an application process that tested and strengthened my abilities.
After some casual Twitter scrolling in mid-December, I stumbled upon a tweet from the Iowa Baseball Managers announcing they were hiring Data Analysts. I considered myself highly under-qualified, but realized my resume simply needed some slight fine-tuning and the courage to hit the submit button. I am unable to recall the exact series of events, but it is likely I hit submit, did not give it another thought, and proceeded to unwind with watching ESPN for the night. However, the submission became a reality when I received news that I had made it to the questionnaire round. My naive confidence opened the newest document in my inbox only to feel my jaw drop.
The questionnaire asked how I would choose to apply linear and logistic regression to baseball, which MLB player I thought was most likely to outperform their Steamer projection, and other thoughtful analytical baseball-related questions. To be brutally honest and transparent, my reaction was that I was not qualified enough for this and I was way in over my head. However, I swiftly removed the thought and reset my stance. I decided I was going to devote all of my energy and effort into this process because even if it resulted in failure, it also resulted in personal growth.
I spent a considerable number of hours doing extra research, reflecting on the questions and associated subtopics, and stalking current managers… simply to immerse myself. The Iowa Baseball Program had no idea how much they had lured me in: an equal comparison being what Kershaw’s curveball does to hitters.
To expedite my story telling, after an interview panel with a group of current managers and then another interview with the managers and Director of Baseball Operations, I was offered the position. On the phone I quite literally squealed and hung up overcome with both embarrassment and immense gratitude.
Since then, myself and three other new Data Analysts have partaken in Zoom meetings roughly twice a week, which have been incredible learning opportunities. On Tuesday evenings, I am often devoting intense concentration to learning about pitch-tracking devices such as Trackman and Rapsodo, or the intricacies of spin efficiency and gyro spin. On Thursdays, I have continued to diversify my knowledge on creating graphic models and healthy life habits. (No Grandma, I am not just getting the players water and snacks). Coupled with these virtual meetings is additional “off-season training,” where I am adding programming to my hobbies arsenal, specifically the R language at the moment. This dedication of time and energy can be overwhelming at times but is fueled by such a passion and desire to learn that I simply cannot complain.
As new members of the analytics department, our learning has been primarily structured around Data Camp. This website provides an assortment of education options, from more structured units to more niche skills. I have completed six of their courses over the past six weeks:
- Introduction to R
- Intermediate R
- Introduction to the tidyverse
- Introduction to Data Visualization with ggplot2
- Data Manipulation with dplyr
- Joining Data with dplyr
I would highly recommend Data Camp and the courses I have completed. Along with the courses we were given our first “mini assignment.” This was extremely rudimentary, but my first time ever using R outside of Data Camp’s built-in interface. I spent an embarrassing amount of time figuring out how to import my data, but from there I created simple vectors and data frames using my coding knowledge. The mini assignment provided me a reality check into what coding with R truly looks like and my mind became frantic with possible ideas and data manipulation ideas.
The other main takeaway from the mini assignment was that coding is frustrating. Being a learner that often picks up new material faster than most, I spent hours fuming in the library when I had miss-typed only a character or two. Nevertheless, the reward of seeing a successful string of code run through is extremely satisfying. My novice coder comparison would be simply reaching first base (whether it be by hit, by walk, or by HBP) after an extended strike-out slump.
After the mini assignment and continuation of Data Camp courses, we were given our first individual assignment: a pitcher’s Trackman report. Again, the culmination of anxiousness, self-doubt, and excitement captivated my mind. Each of us was asked, “to create a one page report… summarizing and visualizing information you feel is valuable to know. This report should include tables and visualization created in R Studio using the Trackman CSV file.” Similar to the last assignment, I began by throwing myself into endless Google searches to get a grasp on where to begin. I concluded that a pitch characteristics and summary statistics table would be a great starting point, thus I chose to craft those in Excel, based on the CSV data file I was given, and paired it with a graph for visualization purposes.
Next, I reluctantly double-clicked to open R where the entirety of my coding knowledge to this point would be used. After creating data frames for the strike zone coordinates, type of pitches, and respective colors of pitch types, I began creating plots. I wish it were as simple as I make it sound, but I will spare readers the unexciting code intricacy details.
After reviewing the entirety of my presentation and reflecting, I smirked. I was quite satisfied with my work and all that I learned throughout the process — whether it be tribulation or triumph. A main takeaway I found was the endless options of transforming, manipulating, arranging, and visualizing a set of data. As I begin my next project, a hitter’s Trackman report, I will let my curiosity lead and reign it in only sparingly; only to produce the most important and useful data.
These visualizations are quite simple to those with coding experience, but it is work I am proud of. If someone were to have told me I would have enough knowledge to create these two months ago, I would have laughed and continued on with my ignorant bliss regarding R code. However, as I look to the future, I am incredibly excited. The skills I have gained thus far do not yet seem a reality, much like the fact that the 2021 season is now officially underway. Regardless, things I am aware of include: how helpful, kind, and understanding the managers leading my Data Analyst onboarding process are, how devoted and welcoming every single manager, coach, and staff member in this program is, and how I am capable of more than I give myself credit for.
After reflecting on my first two months in the University of Iowa Baseball Manager program I inexplicably grateful, overjoyed, and ready to continue #MovingTheNeedle.
As always, Go Hawks.
Haley Stessman
