"There's a classic Simpsons episode in which the sly businessman Mr. Burns recruits real Major League Baseball players to join his company softball team in order to win a bet. But when the championship is on the line, Mr. Burns pulls eight-time National League all-star Darryl Strawberry for a substitute, Homer Simpson. "You're a left-hander, and so is the pitcher. If I send up a right-handed batter, it's called playing the percentages," Mr. Burns says to Strawberry. "It's what smart managers do to win ballgames.""
"The Ballers were founded by edtech entrepreneur Paul Freedman as a salve to the departure of the beloved Oakland A's, the Major League baseball team that owner John Fisher ripped away from local fans in what's regarded as one of the most insidious managerial moves in sports history. Though they're not a Major League team, the Oakland Ballers - coyly, the Oakland B's - established an unprecedented national community of fans who rallied around the team in protest of the A's departure."
High-level baseball uses extensive data engineering and granular statistics to inform managerial decisions. The Oakland Ballers, an independent Pioneer League team founded by edtech entrepreneur Paul Freedman, formed a national fan community after the Oakland A's departure. After two seasons the Ballers won Oakland's first baseball title since 1989. The team experimented with letting an AI manage a game, applying data-driven decision-making similar to Major League analytics. Minor league organizations often serve as testing grounds for new sports technologies, allowing creative flexibility and earlier experimentation than major leagues.
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