Statistics and Baseball Fandom: Sabermetric Infrastructure of Expertise

Abstract

Baseball is a rich mélange of tradition, spectatorship, evaluation, and fandom. Statistical fandom is presented as a cultural infrastructure, which influences how all fans perceive the game including what is valued in the game, how the game itself is played, and Major League Baseball as an industry. In building off of Halverson’s conception of a fantasy plane of baseball fandom, this research theorizes an additional statistical plane. Sabermetrics serve as a microcosm for a larger statistical turn in sports and reporting. The labor of saberfans builds a cultural algorithm through statistical analysis that shapes all fan engagement. Sabermetric inputs become an infrastructure of expertise through which the larger sporting public understands and evaluates baseball and culture.