Fang's Bites

Bloomberg’s Sportfolio Examines Baseball Analytics

Darren Rovell’s “CNBC SportsBiz: Game On!” may get more publicity as it’s aired through the NBC Sports Network, but did you know that Bloomberg has a sports business show of its own? Sportfolio is very good and is hosted by Rick Horrow. The show airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.

This week, the show will focus on baseball analytics and Rick will speak with several MLB executives including Chicago Cubs GM Theo Epstein, Anaheim Angels GM Jerry DiPoto and many who subscribe to the effectiveness of using the numbers.

We have this press release from Bloomberg previewing today’s show.

“Sportfolio” on Bloomberg TV Takes A Look At “Baseball By The Numbers” This Wednesday Night

Special edition examines the business of baseball from the analytic side…includes sit-downs with The Cubs’ Theo Epstein and Tom Ricketts, Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall, Angels GM Jerry DiPoto, Brewers GM Doug Melvin, SABR President Vince Gennaro and others

(March 27, 2012)- Sportfolio, the weekly sports business show hosted by Rick Horrow on Bloomberg Television, spent several days in and around the first ever Society For American Baseball Research (SABR) Convention two weeks ago in Mesa, Arizona, and will present a special “Baseball By The Numbers”  show this week, as MLB comes closer to this weekend’s opening day.

The show will premiere Wednesday, March 28 at 9 PM and Midnight ET on Bloomberg TV (DirecTV 353, check your local cable systems for the channel near you).  It will repeat at 9 AM ET on Saturday 3/31 and Sunday 4/1. It will be online after Thursday 3/29 at bloomberg.com/sportfolio

Included in the show will be some of the biggest and most expansive thinkers in baseball who are spending this spring around The Cactus League. They include:

• Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and President Theo Epstein
• Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall
• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim GM Jerry DiPoto
• Los Angeles Dodgers trainer/injury guru Stan Conte
• Milwaukee Brewers GM Doug Melvin
• SABR President Vince Gennaro

All sit down with Bloomberg to talk about the effect of analytics on the game today and look ahead to what is coming in the business of baseball for the 2012 season.

Interesting stuff. I’m not an analytics person, but if you’re into SABRmetics, then tonight’s show will be for you.

Doing Some Tuesday Links

Been busy at work today and expecting a busy late afternoon and evening. I’m squeezing in some linkage while I can.

First, USA Today’s Michael Hiestand briefly discusses the impending ESPN/ACC deal plus looks at the ratings for some of the weekend sports events.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age says at the network upfront presentations this week, marketers are already looking to buy ads on NFL and college football broadcasts before buying on network primetime programs.

Mike Shields from Mediaweek writes that ESPN is looking to automatically roll an ad as soon as a viewer logs onto ESPN3.com giving an advertiser prime space.

Radio industry newsletter All Access says an ESPN Radio/Deportes combo in San Diego has not paid employees for months. Not one month, but several months.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writing in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center gives us an inside look at the ESPN Innovation Lab in Orlando.

CNBC Sports Producer Tom Rotunno subbing for Darren Rovell takes a look at the effect LeBron James is having on the rest of the NBA Playoffs now that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been eliminated from the postseason.

Georg Szalai from the Hollywood Reporter recaps ESPN’s upfront presentation in New York today.

David Tanklefsky of Broadcating & Cable says UFC has signed a deal to put the upcoming UFC 114 event as well other fight cards on Roku in the future.

Thomas Umstead from Multichannel News says cable operators are calling for a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquaio pay per view fight and soon.

Diego Vasquez in Media Life Magazine speaks with a Univision programming executive about the ratings expectations for the World Cup.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Versus is finding an audience for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Stuart Elliot of the Times has his take on ESPN’s upfront presentation. 

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman feels SNY’s Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez played blind on Sunday. Whatever Bob.

Keith Groller from the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says the Philadelphia Flyers have captured Eastern Pennsylvania’s attention as the TV ratings prove.

Tim Lemke says two months after being excited by the launch of Bloomberg Sports’ baseball analytical fantasy program, his mood about it is very tempered.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner explores what it would mean to Maryland to enter the Big Ten conference.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times feels Fox Sports’ Chris Myers went overboard with some comments on the Dan Patrick Show yestesrday. 

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says the Blackhawks cleaned up in the ratings on Sunday for the local NBC affiliate.

Ed talks with a Bay Area sports radio host about the relevance of the San Jose Sharks in the local market.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks about ESPN’s Chris Berman getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In Truth & Rumours, William Houston writes that hockey drew the first six spots in Canada’s national weekend TV ratings. 

Sports Media Watch notes that last night’s Game 1 of the Phoenix Suns-Los Angeles Lakers series dropped in the ratings from last year.

SMW says NASCAR on Fox failed to impress on Sunday.

SMW talks with NBA Digital Senior Vice President and General Manager Bryan Perez about NBA TV and other league-owned networks.

Jason Fry writes in Deadspin that Captain Blowhard after threatening to leave the Mothership, really had no other place to go and will most likely return to ESPN when his contract is up.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore says Sunday’s ratings for the Blackhawks win over San Jose were down slightly from last year.

Steve also has Versus’ plans in case tonight’s Montreal-Philadelphia game goes into overtime and spills into Chicago-San Jose.

That will do it for now.

Bloomberg Sports Ready to Launch Fantasy Baseball Experts League

Last month, I wrote about the launch of Bloomberg Sports‘ entry into fantasy baseball. Since the program went online and for sale to the public, it’s received quite a bit of buzz. And it’s establishing a Fantasy Baseball Experts League with an online program that will be webcast tonight.

LIVE ONLINE TONIGHT: BLOOMBERG SPORTS FANTASY BASEBALL DRAFT

Watch Six Experts, Six Fans Compete to Select the Stars and Sleepers who will help them Win the 2010 Bloomberg Baseball Challenge

Lead Writer Jonah Keri Offers Up Sleepers And Surprises For Fans As Well

New York, March 15 – As fantasy draft time quickly approaches, BLOOMBERG L.P. will be hosting a live online fantasy baseball draft tonight for the 2010 Bloomberg Baseball Challenge.  Fans will have a chance to watch six experts and six fantasy baseball fans compete to select the best major league players that will help them win the Challenge.  Bloombergsports.com lead content writer Jonah Keri has also assembled a series of key facts and sleeper picks using the BLOOMBERG SPORTSTM fantasy tools that he will share with fans that may be getting ready to make their own selections for their leagues. Tonight’s draft can be followed live at 8:30 p.m. EDT at www.bloombergexperts.rtsports.com.  

“As Spring Training is heating up, baseball fans are planning for their fantasy drafts,” said Bill Squadron head of the Bloomberg Sports product.  “The idea of hosting a draft is to celebrate the time when fans turn to the crucial choices they will need to make for their teams in the next few weeks.  It’s an exciting time for BLOOMBERG SPORTS and we are confident that Jonah Keri’s key facts will give fans an edge when making this season’s picks.” 

Tonight’s draft will pit six fans with fantasy experience against six experts that include:  Harold Reynolds, MLB Network Analyst;  Ron Shandler, Founder of BaseballHQ.com; Lawr Michaels, Senior Content Manager for Mastersball.com; Tim Heaney, Managing Editor of KFFL.com; Steve Gardner, USA Today fantasy baseball columnist and Derek VanRiper, Baseball Editor of Rotowire.com. .  The six fans were selected from over 300 entrants who responded over a five day period from around the world.  

Additionally, the 2010 Bloomberg Baseball Challenge Draft will feature key facts compiled by Bloomberg Sports lead content writer Jonah Keri and will include information on sleepers.  Below are a few examples of what fans can expect:   

When Chris Young of the Arizona Diamondbacks struggled to find his batting stroke last year, he shuttled throughout the batting order. Young’s 2009 splits show the speedy outfielder at his best in the lead-off spot, where he started the season. Young batted .315 from the lead-off spot in 2009, but no better than .264 at any other spot in the lineup. 

Justin Morneau hit 14 of his 30 homeruns off fastballs last year. But opposing pitchers should keep going after him with heat. Morneau hit just .262 on four-seam fastballs in 2009, vs. .334 on sliders.

Few players have better plate coverage than Ichiro Suzuki. But the Mariners hit machine does struggle to make contact on pitches belt-high on the outside corner. In 2009, Ichiro totaled 18 more strikes than balls hit into play on those pitches. It was the only portion of the strike zone that yielded more strikes than balls in play.

Josh Beckett may want to try a new approach when pitching to Derek Jeter. Beckett has thrown Jeter a ton of low fastballs, only for the Yankees shortstop to respond with a .329 average against the Red Sox pitcher in the past three years. Beckett threw Jeter 50 pitches in 2009; 39 of those were fastballs, 25 belt-high or lower. Of the 13 hits Jeter totaled against Beckett last year,9 were hit to the right side.  

Three National League sleepers include:

Jorge de la Rosa, Colorado Rockies: Elite strikeout rate (9.4/9 IP), but bad luck (low 70% strand rate) kept ERA, WHIP elevated. Coors Field isn't the pitcher's nightmare it used to be, and de la Rosa could be an elite #2 behind Ubaldo Jimenez is 2010.

Seth Smith, Colorado Rockies: 888 OPS and 15 homers in just 335 ABs last year. Talent's there just needs opportunity; trading expensive, defensively-challenged right fielder Brad Hawpe would create that opportunity.

Ricky Nolasco, Florida Marlins: The cognoscenti know your league might not: Nolasco's '09 ERA was nearly 2 runs higher than support-neutral stats would have predicted, due to horrible luck (.336 BABIP, 61% strand rate). Monster 4.4:1 strikeout-to-walk rate portends ace numbers in 2010.

Three American League sleepers include: 

Desmond Jennings, Tampa Bay Rays: He'll start the season in the minors, but a Carl Crawford trade (if the Rays drop out of the race) or Matt Joyce struggles would push Jennings into the big club's everyday lineup. Huge batting average and stolen base potential, and Rays have shown they're not shy about promoting elite prospects to the show.

Colby Lewis, Texas Rangers: Japanese League stats can be iffy, but superhuman 10.3:1 strikeout-to-walk rate last year prompted Texas to bring Lewis back to the U.S. on a two-year contract, with a spot in the rotation. Improving Rangers defense, led by vacuum cleaner Elvis Andrus at short, bodes well for further success.

Brett Anderson, Oakland A's: Another huge K/BB rate (3.3:1), combined with worm-burning groundball rates, bode well for the second-year lefty. Another low strand rate victim in '09, Anderson's talent combined with a pitcher-friendly park could produce 15 wins and an ERA under 3.50 this season.

For additional notes, facts and information, visit the Bloomberg Baseball blog at: BloombergSports.MLBlogs.com.  To learn more about BLOOMBERG SPORTS fantasy baseball products, please visit: BloombergSports.com.

Good stuff.

Some Friday Linkage

Work has been crazy this week, but I’m hoping next week will be easier. I have a ton of press releases to post, but I’ll do some links just so you know I haven’t forgotten about doing them.

You have your Weekend Viewing Picks, of course. 

National

Starting with the Sports Business Daily, we have the full roster of spots for Super Bowl XLIV on CBS.

Also from Sports Business Daily, the final ratings from last weekend including the Pro Bowl which was the highest rated sporting event.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost discusses how CBS is trying to sell even more spots for the Super Bowl.

SportsbyBrooks explores ESPN Radio firing Michael Irvin from his Dallas radio show after three year old rape allegations surfaced this week.

And apparently, Irvin is firing back filing a countersuit against the accuser.

Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi is critical of Lindsey Vonn’s pose on this week’s Sports Illustrated cover.

Erin Whiteside at the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State University says women lose when sports stars become authority figures.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says the NCAA’s expansion of its men’s tournament is a money grab.

Dave Kindred writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says Super Bowl week can be the best week and the worst week for a sportswriter.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says the ratings for Super Bowl XLIV actually might match the media hype.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram writes that CBS’ Jim Nantz has an affinity for the New Orleans Saints.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman writes a regular New York sports radio caller was saved thanks to football.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post mourns the late Tom Brookshier.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says even the broadcast team has pregame jitters.

Laura Nachman says the Philadelphia CBS affiliate will have a Super Bowl special this weekend.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post talks with former CBS Sports producer Frank Chirkinian about the early days of the NFL.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner writes that producing the Super Bowl for TV is a team effort.

Tim Lemke looks at Bloomberg Sports’ fantasy baseball package.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes that his CBS Sports colleagues are surprised that Bill Cowher is still on television.

Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the furor over the Tim Tebow Super Bowl advocacy ad shows why athletes rarely take controversial stands.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times talks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale about South Florida’s basketball program.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News looks at the Michael Irvin firing from ESPN Radio in the Metroplex.

Barry has more on the firing.

Ray Buck in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram also delves into the Irvin dismissal.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle says watching the Super Bowl in Canada is definitely a different experience.

In the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht writes that CBS’ analysts are leaning towards the Indianapolis Colts.

Mel has the Super Bowl Sunday viewing lineup.

And in his media notebook, Mel writes that the Oklahoma City Thunder are setting ratings records.

Midwest

In the Cincinnati Enquirer, John Kiesewetter says Pete Rose will be Andy Furman’s first guest on Monday. 

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel feels the Super Bowl could surpass 100 million viewers for the first time.

Ed Sherman has this week’s winners and losers.

Jim O’Donnell of the Chicago Tribune writes that the success of “The Blind Side” came unexpectedly to Memphis Grizzlies TV analyst Sean Tuohy.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says CBS is expecting monster viewership if Super Bowl XLIV is close.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also notes that CBS could reach record numbers on Sunday.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret News says last Saturday’s BYU-Utah game had one of the most surreal moments caught on camera.

Jay Posner in the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the NFL is riding a big momentum wave heading into the Super Bowl.

John Maffei from the North County Times says CBS is bringing back sideline reporters for the Super Bowl.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star tells us that there’s plenty of other sports to watch on Sunday other than the Super Bowl.

Jim writes as CBS’ Jim Nantz prepares to call the New Orleans Saints’ penultimate game on Sunday, he recalls seeing their first.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times says ESPN is all over the Super Bowl and it doesn’t even have the game.

Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News speaks with former ESPN’er Larry Burnett who has made a name for himself in SoCal as a play-by-play man.

Tom has more with Larry in his blog.

Tom also has everything you need to know about Super Bowl Sunday.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin in the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Canadians won’t be able to watch the US Super Bowl ads.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the Super Bowl might match the hype.

Gary Mason of the Canadian Press says despite heavy financial losses, NBC expects record ratings for the Winter Olympics.

William Houston of Truth & Rumours writes that after a four year absence, CTV’s Brian Williams looks forward to hosting the Olympics once again.

William notes that one of Canada’s greatest Olympians was snubbed for the Olympic Torch Relay.

And William has one more post on the snub.

And that will do it. Enjoy your Super Bowl Weekend.

Wrap Up of The Bloomberg Sports Baseball Launch

Today, I had the opportunity to attend the unveiling of a new statistical program developed by Bloomberg, the same people behind the financial network which helps clients analyze stocks and trends. The unveiling took place at Bloomberg headquarters in New York and representatives from the company as well as MLB.com were on hand to describe the program and to show those of us in attendance what we can expect when the product goes public on February 18.

Bloomberg has taken the same approach for financial markets and applied this to statistical analysis for baseball. The program will help fantasy owners choose players for their leagues and also give them real-time stats for their drafts as well as provide updated information so they can decide on trades, cuts and pick-ups.

In addition, teams have a powerful version of the program which gives them more information and can allow for prediction of pitches, analyze swings and arm slots. Currently, teams are using Bloomberg Sports Baseball on a trial basis for the offseason and Spring Training. I learned the program is being tweaked throughout the trial period to give teams exactly what they want. We’ll see if this is a gamechanger in both fantasy and in MLB overall. This certainly has the potential.

For fantasy league owners, Bloomberg has complete access to MLB databanks and can tap into real-time information. What this program can do is marry all of your leagues together. You can draft your teams from whatever league your team is based, ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, Yahoo, it doesn’t matter. You can manage them in Bloomberg Sports, make changes from there and apply them to your leagues. You don’t have to go to each website to make changes. That’s a big advantage.

Your Draft Kit looks like this and players are shown like a baseball card. You can also make them appear in a grid if you wish.

What’s interesting is that if you click on a player, statistical information will appear like a baseball card and you can choose from certain views to see batting average, on-base percentage, ERA, WHIP, etc. Where you might have had to buy a fantasy magazine to get this information, you now have Bloomberg Sports as a one stop shopping destination for the stats you need.

If you’re considering a certain player, you can call him up to find the latest information. Let’s say you want to know what’s going on with Jason Bay of the New York Mets, you do a search and you will get articles, not only from Bloomberg and MLB.com, but from blogs, newspapers and other websites. Bloomberg will not only gather this information, but also link back to the original source driving traffic to the site.

Now, let’s go from the draft kit to the actual in-season program. You can do a side-by-side comparisons of players with charts, graphs, and plenty of bells and whistles which you can access to make the right decision on which one to keep and which one to drop.

For instance, if you want to look at Ryan Braun’s statistics, you can do a search and this will give you his offensive production and if you click on the pic here, you will also find fielding information. It’s quite fascinating what Bloomberg has done here to bring all of this information.

And the interface seems to be user-friendly from all appearances. Now this may change once people start using it, but the format seems easy on the eyes and doesn’t scream or force you to squint.

The information for pitchers is in similar format to batters, and you can find charts showing trends plus statistical data to assist in your assessment of whether to keep, drop or trade, if you league allows you to do so.

We also learned that writer Jonah Keri will become of the Head of Content for Bloomberg Sports. He’ll lead a staff of writers which will provide fresh content for MLB.com and for subscribers. That staff will be announced in the coming days.

Teams have been using a souped-up version since the Winter Meetings in December and the Biz of Baseball’s Maury Brown reviewed the program when it was officially unveiled at that time.

MLB.com is already taking orders for the program, which comes in three categories, Draft Kit, In-Season Tools or both. The Draft Kit is $19.95, In-Season Tools is $24.95 while getting both will cost you $31.95.

Quite a fascinating program and I thank Bloomberg Sports for inviting me to watch the demonstration. It was also a great opportunity to meet baseball bloggers and also meet up with my trophy wife, Amanda Rykoff, the OCD Chick, with whom I have conversed extensively on Twitter, but didn’t have the chance to formally talk in person until today.

Thanks to Joe Favorito for inviting me and thanks to Bloomberg for feeding us. That goes a long way.

Live from Bloomberg Headquarters, Part 5

We’re now in a question and answer period of the Bloomberg Sports/MLB presentation. I will ask to see if I can get some screen grabs of the program.

Some good stuff was demonstrated. You can get more info about the program from The Biz of Baseball.

Live from Bloomberg Headquarters, Part 4

We’re now getting a demonstration of the pro product for the Bloomberg/MLB program and to sign in, one has to use fingerprint verification. Biometric identification! That’s cool.

Hitters can be broken down into averages in certain areas in the strike zone. The program can show where hitters hit the best. It also shows where a certain pitcher’s strength against the hitter lies.

For pitchers, you can see which pitches are best used against a certain hitter and really break down the hitting zone. It’s a fascinating program.

You also get info from a pie chart that shows every pitch and can even predict what will be thrown next based on the statistical data. 

Teams are using this on a trial basis right now, but when the season starts, there will be a fee, but this really gives scouts and general managers a great tool to chart hitters and pitchers.

Live from Bloomberg Headquarters, Part 3

After being fed lunch and commiserating with the always lovely OCD Chick, Amanda Rykoff, we’re finding more about the Bloomberg Sports/MLB product.

Writer Jonah Keri is going to be the head of content for Bloomberg Sports and provide articles for MLB.com for those subscribers to the fantasy program. You’ll be able to compare players stats and make a projection of his stats. In addition, you can find real-time stats and news. The program will have a real-time scrolling ticker.

Bloomberg’s site will also cull from blogs and newspapers and provide links to the articles that will bring even more content to subscribers.

Check out more at the Bloomberg/MLB site for subscription information.

More later.

Live from Bloomberg Headquarters, Part 2

I’m live Tweeting from the MLB.com/Bloomberg launch event so if you want some full reactions, you can go to twitter.com/fangsbites to read my reactions, plus if you search #BBGSports on Twitter, you’ll see various bloggers and others who give their reactions as well.

The program has a lot of bells and whistles. The fact that MLB has given total access and cooperation for this program is big. Plus, it’s quite cheap for fantasy players in its first year: Draft kit is $19.95 and in-season service is $24.95. Entire package costs $31.95.

More later.

Live from Bloomberg Headquarters, Part 1

Here at Bloomberg headquarters in New York City and finding some interesting info about its new MLB fantasy product. It will allow you to marry your league from ESPN.com, Yahoo, CBSSports.com, etc. and you can change your roster from the Bloomberg program and post it to your fantasy league.

It also gives you a way to analyze players, project their statistics and find the best player for your league. In addition, statistics are updated in real time from the Bloomberg/MLB.com website. This is definitely a gamechanger.

More later.

Live From New York, It’s Bloomberg Sports

Your humble blogger is at Bloomberg headquarters in New York City today for the launch of a sports data program for MLB.com. Can’t say much about it right now, but suffice to say it’s going to be quite interesting.

I’ll blog and hopefully be able to take pictures with my iPhone. If I can’t, you’ll certainly get a written description.

Keep your RSS and Twitter feeds updated.