Zero Base Baseball!

Proof that Zero Base Thinking brings results that go against the common knowledge, a mathmatician has analyzed various batting order combinations, and, out of the 360,000(!) possible lineups of the 9 players, found that having the team slugger bat 2nd, and the weakest hitter bat 7th or 8th instead of 9th could be worth 10 more wins per season!

I wonder how long it will take for a major league manager to put this math to the test? Don't be surprised if it never happens. (How can a geek ever know baseball better that a baseball professional?) Hidebound thinking is one of the hallmarks of people with power. I would expect that years of positive results in the minors will precede any move to test this out in the majors. Still, with all of the pressure to win, you never know. I'll be watching.

Link via Paul Hsieh at Geek Press. Scroll down to Monday. Read as you go. Enjoy!