I love baseball, but I used to think it was really boring…
Years ago I passed up an opportunity to go to Fenway Park when I was at a week-long vendor training in Boston. I didn’t like baseball – thought it was boring – and I ended up at the Bull and Finch Pub (aka. Cheers) instead. While Cheers was cool, looking back, I’m sure it’s not nearly as cool as Fenway where I still have not been to this day (we need a client in Boston – hint, hint!). Back then I was travelling a lot as a consultant for Arthur Andersen’s Business Consulting group (SIDENOTE: I hear that Arthur Andersen is making a come back which is FANTASTIC news! To this day, those were some of the best group of folks I’ve worked with in my now over 20 year technology career!), and I only watched baseball to help me get to sleep in hotel rooms. Turning on a game and setting to volume to just be able to hear the ambient noise of the crowds eating hot dogs and doing the wave would put me to sleep in a matter of no time at all.
I don’t know what changed, but now I LOVE baseball! Especially the Astros – this is our year! The dual between the pitcher and the batter is just a classic example of skill and competition. Ballparks are like cathedrals and one of these years I’m going to do THE baseball tour and visit all 30 parks in one season (bucket list item for sure).
So what’s the point of this post? I don’t know. Maybe that change is inevitable. Maybe I should tie baseball into Big Data as sabermetrics is ruling the game these days (and if baseball franchises are using Big Data in their business, YOU should definitely be using it in yours! Contact Us if you’d like us to help you figure out how you can catch up to Dallas Keuchel’s fast ball with Big Data!). Or maybe it’s just that I’m excited that the boys of summer are back. I think that’s it. –Jeff M.