Death By Data

How Analytics and Technology are Killing Baseball

Since 1846, baseball has grown organically, evolving into a unique blend of athleticism, instinct, and tradition that has connected generations of fans. Yet, in recent decades, the game has undergone a profound transformation. The advent of advanced technology and data analytics has reshaped everything from player recruitment to in-game strategy, shifting baseball from a “human science” rooted in intuition and experience to a technocratic exercise dominated by numbers and algorithms.

 

Former international baseball scout Joel Bradley explores the past, present, and future of a sport caught in the struggle between tradition and innovation, examining how fans raised on fast-paced entertainment are increasingly tuning out as rule changes and new metrics fail to address the deeper cracks in baseball’s foundation.

 

In Death By Data, Bradley examines the cracks forming in baseball’s foundation and asks the essential questions: How do we restore the soul of the game? And what does it truly mean to be a ballplayer?

 

This is more than a critique—it’s a heartfelt call to preserve the human magic that made baseball America’s Pastime and to ensure it continues to inspire generations to come.

 

Joel Bradley

Author
Baseball Coach

Ray Crone

Endorser
MLB Player, 1959

Andrew Painter

Former Trainee
MLB Player - Active

 

 

The 7-Player Baseball Revolution

 

Baseball is in crisis. A game of skill, pressure, and action has become plodding, predictable, and slow. Steals, bat control, and great glovework have been replaced by strikeouts, walks, and home runs. The beauty of baseball has been pushed aside by muscle-bound swingers and throwers who are strangers to the essence of the game.

 

7-Player Baseball is the perfect antidote to the slow death baseball is going through. 7-Player Baseball takes the game and its players back to its roots – hitting the ball, running the bases, playing team defense―with pressure applied through aggressive, strategic play, not with extending pitch counts and tedious trots around the bases.

 

7-Player Baseball was developed by Joel Bradley, coach of elite Florida high school players that include Anthony Rizzo, Luis Guillarme, Andy Painter, and many other major leaguers. What began for Bradley as a solution to training small-roster teams evolved into a thrilling and highly entertaining new form of baseball that also drives its players to improve all phases of their game.

Get all the essentials of the 7-game in the 7-Player Baseball Revolution. The book―jam-packed with photos and diagrams, all in full color―contains 10 brief chapters covering everything from the game’s 7 simple rules, to specialized approaches to hitting, fielding, pitching, and baserunning, to relays, game situations, and improving players’ baseball IQ.

 

7-Player Baseball is exactly the shot of adrenaline that baseball needs. Join the revolution!

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