Reference: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-018-0970-9
In a normal regular season, major league baseball teams play a total of 162 games over the course of seven months. During the long and competitive season, it is important for teams to develop chemistry as it directly correlates to the team’s performance. The article written by Danielle Jarvie examines the effect of long-term teammates on the performance of an MLB team. Metrics such as network density, network centralization, and average weighted degree were collected and analyzed to predict team wins and performance.
The network density represents the total shares years the players have spent together on a team, while the network centralization measures the shared time the players played on the current team together. The average weighted degree depicts how well a player is connected to other players on the team.
Figure 1: Represents nodes that show a player’s connection to other players. Larger node shows a longer time spend on a team together.
Through analyzing the results, it was found that there was a correlation between the overall years spent by a team together and their rankings for that season. More years spent together meant the team was performing well during the season. However, if only a few of the players have spent increased time together, then the team performed worse overtime. Overall, it was found that for every year the team as a whole spends together, they gain 14% higher probability to win their division.
With the world series (MLB finals) in full swing between the Dodgers and Rays, it was interesting to read about the correlation between social networks and team performance. The Dodgers have kept their core players intact for the last few years and as a result they’ve made it to the finals in 3 of the last 4 years. Connecting the in-class material to real world examples has allowed for a deeper understanding of the topics and their applications. Social networks play a big role in the success of team sports as evident by the findings of the article.