Not only will Bailie Brown ’21 be the first female to earn a bachelor’s degree in sport analytics from Falk College, but she also was recently hired by Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros. We caught up with Brown to learn more about her passions for statistics and baseball, as well as the tools and connections that have enriched her time at Syracuse University. 
How did you first get into the analytics side of baseball? What websites, podcasts or games were influential for you?
I first started thinking about the analytics side of baseball in high school. I would come home from school and immediately turn on MLB Network, watching shows like MLB Now that introduced me to the idea of analytics. From there, I continued to research and learn as much as I could about analytics, and I knew I wanted to make a career out of it. I have definitely channeled analytics into the fantasy baseball leagues I’ve been a part of, as well as trying my best at Beat the Streak.
What kind of programs and resources do you use for data analytics?
My favorite programs to use for analysis are Tableau and R, but I’ve also had experience with Excel, SQL and Python. I have always loved visual arts, so Tableau is awesome in that it allows me to create really cool visualizations. I also used it a lot during my internship with USA Triathlon.
Recently, I’ve been using R a lot as I’m working on my thesis—I use it to create visualizations as well, but also to run regressions, scrape and clean data and more.
My favorite data resources are websites such as Fangraphs, Baseball Savant and Baseball-Reference. There are so many great resources out there for collecting baseball data!
How have the Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club and the Sport Analytics Women Club stayed connected over the last year? What activities do you enjoy with those groups?
The biggest way I’ve stayed connected with the Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club this year has been through my participation in SABR’s Diamond Dollars Case Competition. I competed on one of our four teams this year (my fourth competition) and had a great time preparing and presenting with my team. The club still meets on Zoom and is a great place to connect and talk about baseball with other analytics majors.
We’ve been lucky that our Sport Analytics Women club has been able to meet (mostly) in-person this year. We’ve had various guest speakers Zoom in, worked on a research project together and have created a great space for women interested in sport analytics to connect.
What was the biggest challenge for you over the last year in terms of online or hybrid learning? How did you try to overcome it?
The biggest challenge for me this past year has been remaining productive. It’s really easy to be lazy when I don’t have to get up and go to campus every day. I’ve (mostly) succeeded in overcoming this by continuing to wake up early, following a morning routine and setting a schedule to get my work done each day. I’ve found that taking care of myself and keeping a schedule are key in staying productive during online and hybrid learning.
Who do you have winning the World Series this year and why is it the Astros?
I would love to see the Astros win the World Series while I’m working for them this year, and I do think they’ll end up having a really great season. The NL has some really strong teams at the top, too. I think either the Dodgers, Padres, or Braves could win the NL Championship and go on to the World Series, but I’m not ready to commit just yet.