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H
ard at
W
ork
who wanted to acquire all the
information that I could.
“Craig Wright had worked
with the Texas Rangers. I
always believe in having the
best scouts. When I became
the general manager, I made
some changes; it was Craig
who had the information on
minor-league players. I hired
Craig because I wanted that
viewpoint. At the time, it would
have been outlandish. Of course,
I never played professionally,
and Craig never did, but that
didn’t frighten me, because I
just wanted his information.”
With the help of executives
such as Claire and Billy Beane
of the Oakland A’s, baseball led
the way in incorporating stats and analytics in a more organized
way. That practice has expanded throughout pro sports.
Elias Sports
Bureau
Created in 1913 and based out of New
York City, the Elias Sports Bureau is
the Official Statistician for the National
Football League, Major League Baseball,
the National Basketball Association, the
National Hockey League, Major League
Soccer, and the Women’s National Basket-
ball Association.
The Elias Sports Bureau is also the pri-
mary source of statistics for ESPN, Turner
Sports, the NFL Network, and other net-
works and media outlets. It provides infor-
mation to many major Web sites, too. Much
of the information and graphics you see
during a game—for example, comparing the
statistics of a specific player with those of
someone 15 years ago—was developed by
the historical and number-driven minds of
the Elias Sports Bureau.