Tom Tango
Encyclopedia
Tom Tango and "TangoTiger" are aliases used online by a well-respected expert in baseball
sabermetrics
and ice hockey
statistical analysis. He runs the Tango on Baseball sabermetrics website and is also a contributor to ESPN
's baseball blog TMI (The Max Info).
In 2006, Tango's book The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, which was co-written with Mitchel Lichtman and Andrew Dolphin, was published featuring a forward by Pete Palmer
. In The Book he and his coauthors analyzed many advanced baseball questions, like how to optimize a lineup or when to issue an intentional walk. They also introduced the wOBA
metric to measure overall offensive contributions.
Tango maintains the "Marcel the Monkey Forecasting System," a simple player projection system which uses three years of weighted player statistics with statistical regression and player age adjustment.
He is well known for developing the FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) statistic, which is claimed to more accurately assess the quality of a pitcher's performance than other statistics, like ERA
. 2009 American League
Cy Young Award
winner Zack Greinke
specifically mentioned FIP as his favorite statistic. "That's pretty much how I pitch, to try to keep my FIP as low as possible".
Tango works as a consultant for several National Hockey League
teams, and has worked for Major League Baseball
. Tango now works for the Seattle Mariners
and Toronto Blue Jays
as a statistical analysis consultant.
Born and raised in Canada
, he resides in New Jersey
with his family and has insisted on keeping his true name secret.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
sabermetrics
Sabermetrics
Sabermetrics is the specialized analysis of baseball through objective, empirical evidence, specifically baseball statistics that measure in-game activity. The term is derived from the acronym SABR, which stands for the Society for American Baseball Research...
and ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
statistical analysis. He runs the Tango on Baseball sabermetrics website and is also a contributor to ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's baseball blog TMI (The Max Info).
In 2006, Tango's book The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, which was co-written with Mitchel Lichtman and Andrew Dolphin, was published featuring a forward by Pete Palmer
Pete Palmer
Pete Palmer is a major contributor to the applied mathematical field referred to as sabermetrics. Along with the Bill James Baseball Abstracts, Palmer's book The Hidden Game of Baseball is often referred to as providing the foundation upon which the field of sabermetrics was built.Palmer began his...
. In The Book he and his coauthors analyzed many advanced baseball questions, like how to optimize a lineup or when to issue an intentional walk. They also introduced the wOBA
WOBA
In baseball, wOBA is a statistic, based on linear weights, designed to measure a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. It is formed from taking the observed run values of various offensive events, dividing by a player's plate appearances, and scaling the result to be on...
metric to measure overall offensive contributions.
Tango maintains the "Marcel the Monkey Forecasting System," a simple player projection system which uses three years of weighted player statistics with statistical regression and player age adjustment.
He is well known for developing the FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) statistic, which is claimed to more accurately assess the quality of a pitcher's performance than other statistics, like ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
. 2009 American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
Cy Young Award
Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...
winner Zack Greinke
Zack Greinke
Donald Zackary "Zack" Greinke is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. Greinke won the American League Cy Young Award in 2009 with the Kansas City Royals.-High school & minor leagues:Greinke was born in Orlando, Florida...
specifically mentioned FIP as his favorite statistic. "That's pretty much how I pitch, to try to keep my FIP as low as possible".
Tango works as a consultant for several National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
teams, and has worked for Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. Tango now works for the Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...
and Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
as a statistical analysis consultant.
Born and raised in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, he resides in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
with his family and has insisted on keeping his true name secret.
Books
- Tom Tango, Mitchel Lichtman, and Andrew Dolphin. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2007. ISBN 1-59797-129-4.