ABSTRACT
The media keeps track of a range of measures for batters and pitchers, but they also keep track of specific hitting and pitching patterns call streaks and slumps. Players are considered “hot” if they get hits in a large number of consecutive games. On the other hand, teams are concerned when a player is hitless in a large number of consecutive at-bats, the so-called “ofer” statistics. (These slumps are reported as “0 for 20” or “0 for 15” hence the phrase “ofer.”) This chapter illustrates the use of graphs to visualize patterns of hot and cold hitting of players. One challenge in interpreting these graphs is that random data, analogous to sequences of flips of a fair coin, can appear streaky. A special graph is illustrated that can help distinguish between coin-flipping data and streaky hitting data from ballplayers.
