Is There Such a Thing as Streakiness in Baseball?

Areas of Science	Pure Mathematics
Difficulty
Time Required	Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites	Basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel and statistics
Material Availability	Readily Available
Cost	Very Low (under $20)

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Abstract

Here's a project that will teach you about math as you follow some of your favorite players or teams. You'll be comparing day-to-day performance with long-term averages, and trying to determine if the "streaks" and "slumps" over shorter time periods are due to random chance or something else. When you've finished, you'll have a better understanding of some important concepts in statistical analysis and baseball.

If a player goes 0-for-20, does that mean anything? Using probability theory, how often would you expect a .275 hitter to go 0-for-20? How much can streaks be explained by luck alone, and how much are they affected by a player? As for teams, do their runs of wins and losses mean anything?

Select a group of regular players and get their game logs from ESPN.com. Look at moving averages of their batting average over 2, 3, 4 or 5 games. Estimate the probability that they would exhibit this performance based on their career and season statistics. Or do the same for teams.

Credits

Gabriel Desjardins

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MLA Style

Science Buddies Staff. "Is There Such a Thing as Streakiness in Baseball?" Science Buddies, 28 July 2017, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Math_p004/pure-mathematics/baseball-streaks. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

APA Style

Science Buddies Staff. (2017, July 28). Is There Such a Thing as Streakiness in Baseball? Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Math_p004/pure-mathematics/baseball-streaks

Last edit date: 2017-07-28

Variations

For the team study, adjust their probability of winning by their opponents winning percentage.

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Is There Such a Thing as Streakiness in Baseball? *

Abstract

Credits