Mobile application instantly gives fans more stats and information than even the team manager may have
PARK RIDGE, IL – April 13, 2011 – What do a bum knee, Bill James, and Americaneagle.com have to do with revolutionizing how we visualize baseball statistics?
Legendary baseball Sabermetrician Bill James enthusiastically agreed to be a part of the team putting this game-changing app together. He connected the group with Baseball Info Solutions, a leading baseball data and analytics company. This partnership helped transform an idea of another baseball fanatic, Mr. Steve Selfors, into reality.
Americaneagle.com, a leading website design, development, and hosting firm, today announced the launch of the Bill James Baseball IQ™ app. Bill James Baseball IQ™ changes the way baseball is analyzed. With the swipe of a thumb, fans can choose players and situations and discover player patterns, strengths and weaknesses - all in full-color graphics. For the first time in history, fans have access to every pitch thrown in the past four seasons plus the current season. Baseball IQ™ interprets your input in real-time and generates charts and heat maps that reveal what has never been seen before.
Steve Selfors, the "bum knee"* inventor behind the app, said, "RBIs, Batting Average, OBP, and HRs are all useful numbers, but until the Bill James Baseball IQ app came out, there was no way to analyze key situations and player tendencies in full-color graphics. With Bill James Baseball IQ, we have every pitch and every hit for the past four seasons all at the fingertips of the fan."
"I’ve been playing with it, and it’s absolutely fascinating," said Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski, in an interview with Bill James.
"Imagine pulling up a ‘weather map’ of where players get their hits, or where a player strikes out against lefties with heat, or looking at pitch selection tendencies given certain situations," said John Dewan, of Baseball Info Solutions. "Utilizing Americaneagle.com’s extensive sports experience in creating this unique product, the Baseball IQ app will engage fans with interesting insights like never before."
For more information and to download the Bill James Baseball IQ™ app, visit http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bill-james-baseball-iq/id422611696?mt=8.
About Americaneagle.com, Inc.
Americaneagle.com, Inc., founded in 1978, is a leading Web design, development, and hosting company based in Park Ridge, Illinois. Currently, Americaneagle.com employs approximately 180 professionals in offices throughout the country including Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Washington D.C., New York, Raleigh, and Los Angeles. Some of their 5,000 clients include Fannie May Candies, New York Giants, Stuart Weitzman, NASCAR, BerettaUSA, Chicago Bears, Hobby Lobby, and the U.S. Army. For additional information about Americaneagle.com, visit www.americaneagle.com.
About Bill James
Bill James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed Sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose. His Baseball Abstract books in the 1980s are the modern predecessor to websites using sabermetrics such as baseballprospectus.com and baseballprimer.com (now baseballthinkfactory.com). In 2006, Time recognized him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. He is currently a Senior Advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox. In 2010, Bill James was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
About Baseball Info Solutions
Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) has been supplying top-notch, timely, and in-depth baseball data to customers since 2002. BIS collects a statistical snapshot of every important moment of ever Major League Baseball game with the most advanced technology, resulting in a database that includes traditional data, pitch-by-pitch data, and defensive positioning data. The company also has the highest quality pitch-charting data available, including pitch type, location, and velocity.
About Steve Selfors ("Bum Knee"* inventor)
Steve Selfors was recovering from a knee surgery when he came up with the idea behind Baseball IQ™. While watching the Yankees every night he noticed that in critical situations, Yankees manager Joe Girardi would flip through a 3-ring paper binder looking for information. Having implemented analytical systems for large corporations, Steve felt he could come up with something better. His dream was to put more information into the hands of fans than even the manager has in the dugout. With the iPhone™, this dream became possible.