The Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management

Quality Starts in Baseball: An In-Depth Look at Redefining its Relevance

The two 25-minute presentations by Tisch Center Clinical Associate Professor of Sports Management Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr. are the third and fourth in a series of sports business briefings by the sports faculty of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management at NYU-SCPS. In this podcast, Professor McDonnell discusses the need to revise the current definition of a quality start in baseball and recommends the creation of a new statistic that incorporates pitch counts as well as measures the efficiency and effectiveness of a starting pitcher.

Professor McDonnell, a former financial analyst and accountant with such entities as Madison Square Garden and the Marsh & McLennan Companies, is a member of the full-time faculty of the Tisch Center’s B.S. in Sports Management, M.S. in Sports Business, Graduate Certificate in Sports Business, and continuing education programs. Professor McDonnell’s research area is the business of baseball, where he has written extensively on topics such as revenue sharing, luxury tax, franchise management, player development and is a highly sought-after commentator and blogger for Forbes.com’s SportsMoney.

Part 1 Chapters:

• Defining A Quality Start – 5:24
• Little League/High School Baseball Pitch Counts – 11:44
• Nolan Ryan’s Theories on Quality Starts - 15:07

Part 2 Chapters:

• The Traditional Quality Start vs. “The Nolan Ryan Theory” (2008 – 2010) - 5:18
• The Disabled List Analyses (2008 – 2010) – 8:11
• Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Dominance: An Unconventional Look at Elite Starting Pitchers in a Pitch Count Era – 14:04
• The “Quality Start Factor”: A New Statistic – 18:26
• Professor Wayne McDonnell’s Conclusion 23:56

Available downloads:

• Powerpoint Part 1
• Powerpoint Part 2
• Podcast Audio: Part 1 (MP3)
• Podcast Audio: Part 2 (MP3)