Death by Data: How Analytics and Technology Are Killing Baseball

Since its origin in the 1840s, baseball has grown and changed organically, a unique blend of athleticism, savvy, and instinct, a central part of American culture across the generations. But in recent years, the game has changed drastically. An invasion of technology and data has reshaped everything from player recruitment to performance mechanics to in-game strategy. Baseball, once driven by individual style and innovation, has become a mechanical march of tech-driven robots. A theology of sameness is preached across the sport, with swings and pitching deliveries manufactured in baseball laboratories. Ballplayers are now collections of biometric data, managers mindless pushers of analytic buttons, scouts replaced by high-speed cameras. In Death by Data, former international scout and long-time coach Joel Bradley examines baseball’s life-and-death struggle between tradition and innovation. He exposes the damage being done by all the gimmicks devised to capture the attention and dollars of young fans. Contrary to the official mantra, rule changes and high-tech metrics are failing to address the deeper cracks in the game’s foundation. Bradley applies a lifetime of passion and expertise to examine those cracks, discussing where baseball is, how it got there, and how to bring back the essence and beauty of the game. Central to the issue, says Bradley, is the question: What does it truly mean to be a ballplayer? Death by Data is a call to rekindle the human magic that made baseball America’s Pastime and ensure it continues to inspire generations to come.

Joel Bradley is a former major league scout and long-time high school baseball coach who developed many major leaguers, including Anthony Rizzo and Andy Painter