Baseball managers represented by "Chernoff faces"

[petrel]

A statistics whiz has figured out a way to translate managerial tendencies in baseball into faces....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/sc...rssnyt&emc=rss

From the article:

The mathematician, Steve C. Wang, applied a method called Chernoff faces, in which data points in many dimensions are presented in a form that people react to more intuitively: the human face.

While reams of categorical data can be imposing and hard to parse, translating the differences among them into facial characteristics can communicate distinctions with striking clarity. By turning rates of bunting, stealing and pinch-hitting into hair sizes, nose shapes and smile widths, Dr. Wang used a kind of statistical Mr. Potato Head to portray the spectrum of managerial characteristics in a way that intrigued even the skippers themselves.

(* * *)

Here are some Chernoff pictures of current baseball managers, along with a key at the bottom.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...PROFILE.lg.jpg

--Pet

[TheNamelessPoet]

omg mclaren is a RIOT

[CatKnight]

I think I'd have serious trouble playing for some of these guys. I'd be too busy looking at their face!

[SirKodiak]

Joseph Adler's book Baseball Hacks (2006) covers how to do this using the free stats program R in hack #36 (p. 185-8). I found it to be a great book.

[ohms_law]

hehe
Chernoff faces are always fun.

Neat stuff. Thanks for posting about it Petrel.