BI223 Syllabus - The Colby College Community Web

BI223
SCIENCE AND BASEBALL
Prof. Herb Wilson
Email: whwilson@colby.edu
Office:113 Arey
Office phone: x5739
Office Hours: M 3:00-4:00
T 2:00-3:00
and by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Baseball is an important part of the fabric of the United States. The French writer Jacques
Barzun wrote in 1954, “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better
learn baseball.” While acknowledging that baseball contributes fundamentally to American
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history and sociology, we will focus on the scientific aspects of baseball in this course.
Baseball is rich in statistics that can be profitably studied and analyzed. Physiology,
biomechanics, animal behavior, evolution, and physics can all be studied using baseball. In
essence, we will view baseball through the lenses of a number of scientific disciplines. This
class fulfills the Natural Sciences (non-laboratory) Distribution Requirement.
COURSE WEBSITE
web.colby.edu/baseball
COURSE GOALS
v To increase the understanding and appreciation of the game of baseball
v To learn basic principles of statistics and probability
v To learn basic principles of evolution, animal behavior, biomechanics and solid
physics
v To appreciate the strength of evidence-based scientific approaches to understanding
the natural world as well as baseball
v To acquire some proficiency in the programming language, R
REQUIRED TEXTS
Asinof, Eliot. 1963. Eight Men Out. Owl Books, New York.
Bissinger, Buzz. 2006. Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak and Joy in the Mind of
a Manager. Mariner Books, New York.
Harbach, Chad. 2011. The Art of Fielding. Little, Brown. New York.
Lewis, Michael. 2003. Moneyball. W. W. Norton, New York.
Sawchick, T. 2015. Big Data Baseball. Flatiron Books. New York.
Turbow, Jason and Michael Duca. 2010. The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, &
Bench-clearing Brawls. Anchor Books, New York.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
First hour exam
Second hour exam
Discussion participation
Talk based on independent research project
Statistics problem sets and blog posts
Final exam
15%
15%
12%
12%
20%
26%
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ATTENDANCE
I expect students to attend all classes. Students are responsible for any work missed. Failure
to attend class may result in a warning to the Dean of Students office as well as penalties to
your grade. Chronic absenteeism will result in dismissal from the course. Absences may be
excused and extensions granted for the following reasons: critical emergencies (to be verified
by the Dean of Students), athletic or other extracurricular trips (to be verified by the team
coach or faculty sponsor), illness (to be verified by Health Services of the Dean of Students
office) or other circumstances discussed with me in advance. For the full college policy on
attendance, please refer to the Colby College Student Handbook.
Texting is not permitted during class; your grade will be penalized.
SPECIAL NEEDS
If you know of anything that might affect your participation in this class, please contact me
so that we can find a suitable approach for your situation. If you require special
consideration because of a learning difference or disability, please confer with me as soon as
possible.
PLAGIARISM AND ACADEMIC HONESTY
Distilled to its essence, plagiarism is stealing. I have a zero-tolerance policy of plagiarism.
Failure to attribute sources in your independent project exposes you to a charge of plagiarism.
Faculty are required to report incidents of plagiarism in our classes. The charge of plagiarism
will appear on your permanent Colby record and you run the risk of an F on the paper or in
the course. Please check with me or use the resources of the Writing Center to make sure
you understand your obligations to credit your sources.
PARTICIPATION
You should come to the Wednesday discussions prepared to talk. Your contributions to class
discussions are particularly important. You should be willing to take risks, to express a
different perspective, and to try out new ideas. Don’t let your voice go unheard.
INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROJECT AND TALK
Each student will be required to conduct an independent research project. The project can be
based on any aspect of baseball of interest as long as an original hypothesis is proposed and
tested. The results of the project will be presented as an oral PowerPoint presentation during
the last two weeks of class. The talk will be given in the pecha kucha style (a timed
PowerPoint presentation involving 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds). You can Google
“pecha kucha” to see examples of this efficient speaking style.
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CRITICAL DATES RELATED TO THE RESEARCH PROJECT
Mar 17
Apr 15
Paragraph describing the topic of your independent research project
1-2 page summary of the current findings of your research project
RUBRIC FOR GRADING DISCUSSION PARTICIPATION
EXCELLENT (5 points), Evidence that reading has been done completely and evidence of
significant preparation for class discussion, including formulation of independent ideas,
outside research, efforts toward comprehensive analysis, and attention to in-class themes.
Characterized by active, constructive, and thoughtful participation in class discussion,
including a willingness to take intellectual risks, initiate discussion leadership, and take
responsibility for one's own learning.
VERY GOOD (4 points), Evidence that reading has been done completely and evidence of
some preparation for class discussion. Characterized by generally attentive attitude and some
thoughtful and constructive participation in the day's discussion.
GOOD (3 points), Evidence that the reading has been done completely, but without effort at
analysis or independent comprehension. Characterized by passive or occasional participation
in class discussion.
MARGINAL (2 points), Evidence that part of the reading has been done or that the reading
has been done poorly-or, participation that is not constructive or is disrespectful of others.
Poor reading includes not looking up unfamiliar words or completing the additional
preparation exercises. Arriving to class late, ringing cell phones, text messaging will result in
an automatic MARGINAL grade.
UNACCEPTABLE (1 point), Evidence that the reading has not been done. Evidence of
partial reading, combined with participation that is not constructive or is disrespectful of
others. Extreme tardiness, being asked to stop whispering, passing notes, or the like is
UNACCEPTABLE.
ABSENT (0 points).
[Rubric modified from original developed by Professor Tilar Mazzeo]
Discussion grades are assigned for each Thursday discussion. Keep in mind that good
discussion does not always mean being right or always having the answer; it can also mean
asking good questions, taking a risk with an idea, or helping us to work through an issue as a
group.
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SYLLABUS
Note: This syllabus is subject to change! We will cover all of the topics listed but the pace of
coverage of topics may change. Some topics may demand more discussion; others may
require less. The exam dates will not change.
Date
Topic
Feb 4
Introduction
Feb 9
Feb 10
Feb 11
Film: The Private Life of Plants; Introduction to R
R Laboratory: Graphics (ggplot2)
Discussion: The Baseball Codes, pp. 1-171
Feb 16
Feb 17
Feb 18
Recorded lecture: Deception and deceit in animals; Linear regressions using R
R Laboratory: Using dplyr in R; RMarkdown documents
Discussion: The Baseball Codes, pp. 172-257; Superstition papers (download
from course website)
Feb 23
Feb 24
Feb 25
Recorded lecture: Racism; Negro Leagues film; Pythagorean predictions
R Laboratory: Lahman database; Combining dplyr and ggplot2
Discussion: Eight Men Out
Mar 1
Mar 2
Mar 3
Recorded lecture: Evolution; Randomness and streaks
R Laboratory: Batter evaluations
Discussion: Creationism paper (download from course website)
Mar 8
Mar 9
Mar 10
Recorded lecture: Population genetics; Discussion of Gould paper (download
from course website); BABIP
R Laboratory: Batting and multiple regression
Discussion: Moneyball
Mar 15
Mar 16
Mar 17
Recorded lecture: Physiology; PED discussion; Evaluating speed vs. age
R Laboratory: Career arcs
Exam
Mar 22
Mar 23
Mar 24
Spring Break
Spring Break
Spring Break
Mar 29
Mar 30
Mar 31
Recorded lecture: Psychology; Base-out states
R Laboratory: Eras of baseball
Discussion: 3 Nights in August
Apr 5
Apr 6
Apr 7
Recorded lecture: Meteorology; Coors Field; Log5 predictions
R Laboratory: Evidence of PED use from Lahman database
Discussion: Big Data Baseball, pp. 1-111
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Apr 12
Apr 13
Apr 14
Recorded lecture: Physics I; Effect of DH on run scoring
R Laboratory: Evaluating pitching
Discussion: Big Data Baseball, pp. 112-233
Apr 19
Apr 20
Apr 21
Recorded lecture: Physics II; Ball park factors
R Laboratory: Comparing day versus night games
Exam
Apr 26
Apr 27
Apr 29
Class presentations I
R Laboratory: Home field advantage; Travel effects
Discussion: The Art of Fielding [Note Friday class]
May 3
May 4
May 5
Class presentations III
R Laboratory: Pitch F/X
Class presentations IV