Your MLB managers in creepy cartoon form

April 1st, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

The game of baseball lends itself to statistical analysis, perhaps more so than any of the American majors. (Actually, it definitely lends itself to stats more than any of the other big three.) If you read Fire Joe Morgan you know this. If you read old, curmudgeon columnists, you would know that there are crazy computer out there doing Lord knows what, but that they can’t measure heart, man.

And if you listen to Steven C. Wang, a mathematician at Swarthmore College, all MLB managers tendencies can be truncated down into weird faces. (Pictured: right.)

The mathematician, Steve C. Wang, applied a method called Chernoff faces, in which data points in many dimensions are presented in a form that people react to more intuitively: the human face.

While reams of categorical data can be imposing and hard to parse, translating the differences among them into facial characteristics can communicate distinctions with striking clarity. By turning rates of bunting, stealing and pinch-hitting into hair sizes, nose shapes and smile widths, Dr. Wang used a kind of statistical Mr. Potato Head to portray the spectrum of managerial characteristics in a way that intrigued even the skippers themselves.

While this is undeniably a cool, as well as more visually appealing way to chart out this data, I’m worried about Lou Piniella’s state of mind here. There are frowns and then there are frowns. But hey, at least Willie Randolph is smiling.

After the way the Mets season ended last year, that’s good to see.