I’m Grant Gardner and you’re listening to Statistically Speaking, a podcast from the Samford University Center for Sports Analytics in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m Zachary Taunton and each week we are going to explore how big data and advances analytics is impacting the business side of sports. So, here is this week’s episode... --- Zachary Taunton (ZT): Welcome back to statistically speaking, I’m Zachary Taunton. Today we have a very special guest with us. We have Brooke Jenkins who is a member of the Sports Marketing program here at Samford University. How are you doing today, Brooke? Brooke Jenkins (BJ): I’m doing well, thank you Zach. ZT: First off, Brooke. Tell me what is on your left hand right now. BJ: Currently I am wearing a Houston Astros World Series ring. ZT: That is the coolest, how do you get that? Tell me the story. BJ: Yeah, so it’s really neat. I started last year looking for internships, specifically in Houston. Just with being from Houston, was really focused on there. So, I applied for some things and ended up getting a few interviews with the Houston Astros and through that landed an internship in their Retail & Merchandise Department as well as Authentication. So, I started in May of 2017 and worked all the way through the summer and had a neat experience getting to see really how the operations of a game day work for the Houston Astros; a little bit of everything. I had a great time also getting to see the business side of it. I did a lot of projects with my bosses and just had a really hands-on experience. So, sadly I had to come back to Samford in the fall and continue with school. It’s the worst. And once we had a playoff run I was like, “How can I get back to help?” Because not only is it my city but now it's the team that I've worked for. After talking with my bosses I was able to go back and work all three games of the World Series. That was Games 3, 4, and 5 that happened in Minute Maid. Game 5 as y’all know was just - it was something else. I had a really great time being able to go back and be a part of history for Houston as that’s our first ever World Series win. And it was such a neat experience. I still talk with my bosses and keep in contact with them. And I kind of thought that was the end of it, but in January I received a phone call from them one night and they were like, “Hey, we have some exciting news!” And I was like, “Okay, what’s going on?” They ended up saying that I qualified for one of the World Series rings. Jim Crane, the owner, who is just amazing ended up purchasing World Series rings for every member of the Houston Astros team, including front office and part time. So yeah, this is what’s on my finger BJ: Yeah, wearing a little bit of history there. BJ: Yeah, just a little bit. It’s a big deal for Houston and I’m really excited and honored to be able to be wearing it right now. ZT: What a cool experience. So, let’s talk about that World Series and the Astros in general. How would you say - since this is in fact the sports analytics podcast - how would you say that sports analytics impacted the World Series and how did the Astros use it to win? BJ: Data analytics has become a huge part of sports. I mean obviously Moneyball came out a few years back and since then I feel like the game has really changed. Some of you might know that Sports Illustrated, a few years ago, put on their cover page “The 2017 World Series Champions” and it had George Springer and said the Houston Astros, and this was all based off of how our team over the past few years has been put together through data analytics. Our general manager Jeff has really done a great job of our scouting and how we put together our team. That has all been through the data analytics that goes on in the baseball operations part of our front office. From that Sports Illustrated was able to predict that this year - or this past season - the Houston Astros would be able to win the World Series. That’s just a little bit about how data analytics has been able to not only help the Houston Astros, but baseball as a whole as it continues to become more databased. ZT: Yeah, it’s crazy, data analytics at this point are just a crystal ball...If you’re good at math and what not. Tell me a little bit about what you plan to do. Do you want to go back and maybe work for the Astros? Is that an opportunity that's maybe available to you? BJ: Well, I have one year left of college; I’m just a junior. So, I've got another year and we'll go from there. I would love to go back to Houston. I love the city. I love the people. I would really love to be able to go to the Houston Astros the organization means so much to me and it's such a group of class act people. From Jim Crane, our owner himself, who took the time this summer to invest in me whether it was just knowing my name and being able to interact with me on that basis and as I mentioned earlier purchased all the rings for his employees. It really is a class act organization and I would love to have the chance to work for them someday, but if any team would like to hire me post-graduation I would love it. ZT: The last question I have for you here. So, given that sports analytics is the way that so many sports are going, baseball probably the most, how sustainable do you think that is as a competitive advantage? Because everybody is trying to do it. Meaning is it just going to be a trend that sooner or later everyone is doing it the same way or do you think there’s a way that teams like the Astros can sustain that advantage? BJ: I think that’s a really good question and I think that it was really packed with a lot of things. Overarching with it more teams are starting to become data based. So, teams like the Houston Astros that have already gotten ahead on that, I feel like have the advantage while other teams are trying to catch up. I do feel like you will have to find your niche in data analytics because there are so many different things that can happen with it. So, if you don’t figure out a way to differentiate yourself then it will all just kind of flatline and everybody will kind of be at the same playing field. But teams like the Houston Astros who kind of have it already figured out do have a head start within data analytics. ZT: Well, thank you so much for coming in and letting us see your World Series ring and how cool that is. What a cool experience you’ve been able to have so thanks so much for sharing it with us today. BJ: Yes, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. --- Thank you for listening to Statistically Speaking. This podcast was created and produced by Zach Taunton and Grant Gardner. To learn more about the Samford University Center for Sports Analytics, and download more episodes of the podcast, visit our webpage at samford.edu/sports-analytics and follow us on Twitter @SamfordSACenter.