Friday Filler

I just finished reading an op-ed piece by a professor of computer science in today’s Tribune, on using artificial intelligence to help select candidates to Cooperstown. Talk about dumb, and I say that as someone with a Ph.D. Why genuflect at the altar of AI? Read on: “With baseball now a sport driven by data analytics, perhaps the shift from sports writers to artificial intelligence is the direction needed to make selections. This would take into account both on-field and off-field factors so that a decision could be made that captures the spirit of what a Hall of Fame-worthy career should be.” What a crock. Why? Because humans decide on the parameters of the algorithms used. A group of data-heads will define what constitutes a HOF player by inputting the minimum number of hits/wins/RBIs/strikeouts/etc. needed for entry into Cooperstown. Anybody who falls short gets shown the door. And if I disagree with the parameters? Who’s to say that 300—or 275—wins should guarantee a pitcher his plaque, provided he also tallies on the right side of strikeouts: WHIP; ERA, innings pitched per game and whatnot else the data-heads throw in? I’d like to see some examples of how this would work. Does Kirby Puckett get in with 2304 hits, Minnie Minoso with 2113? Why or why not? Ditto Tommy John and Jim Kaat. Analytics can’t even agree on a definition for WAR. How are they going to agree on standards for HOF entry? It’s just stuff to pass a Friday morning in January.