USF Students Attend, Present at Baseball Analytics Conference

Attendees

Both Orry Night, ‘15, and Patrick Drolet, ‘16, currently intern for the Beverly Hills Sports Council, a baseball agency representing numerous first round draft picks and All-Stars. Francisco Flores, ‘16, and Justin Marshall, ‘15, both worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks while undergraduates at Arizona State. Marshall is now an assistant producer for the Oakland Athletics. Matt Hines and Colin Weaver, ‘16, have never worked in baseball, but were enthusiastic to learn from industry insiders.

Diamond Dollars Case Competition

Drolet, Weaver, and team captain Night presented in the conference’s Diamond Dollars Case Competition, assisted with research and preparation by Marshall. Students had one week to construct the perfect Cole Hammels trade from an asset value standpoint before presenting their analysis to Major League Baseball team executives. Dr. Agha, Assistant Professor of Research Methods and Strategic Management, also attended to see her former students in action and provide feedback.

Highlights

The conference began with the big shots, as MLB Network host Brian Kenny moderated a player panel of Curt Schilling, John Kruk, and Doug Glanville. Students also heard from current general managers Dave Stewart of the Diamondbacks and Jeff Bridich of the Colorado Rockies, as well as Larry Baer, president of the Giants, and Tony Larussa, now the Chief Baseball Officer for the Diamondbacks. SABR featured audience tweets on all the good stuff in daily conference summaries, including remarks from Hines and Weaver: Day 1; Day 2; Day 3.

Program Support

Students express a tremendous thank you to the program for easing the registration and lodging costs, as well as to the donors (listed below) whose contributions enabled travel to Phoenix from both the San Francisco and Orange campuses. Students especially wish to thank Brent von Forstmeyer, Associate Director, and alumnus Grady Howes, who each went above and beyond in their commitment.

Donors

Current Students

• Anonymous, ‘16
• Robert Belluomini, ‘16
• Vanessa Padrones, ‘16
• Austen Powers, ‘15

Alumni

• Tyler Durrell, ‘13
• Geoff Bentzel, ‘12
• Andrew Henggeler, ‘12
• Grady Howes, ‘12
• Mike Libby, ‘09
• Jesse Zitrin, ‘08
• Rachel Thomas, ‘08
• Jesse Hooper, ‘07
• Dustin Rocke, ‘03
• Mitchell Adams, ‘02
• Tammara Bradford, ‘00

Faculty & Staff

• Brent von Forstmeyer

Retired Faculty & Staff

• Stan Fasci