Sabermetrics, Prediction Markets, and Channel-Surfing YouTube

The inherent nerdiness of baseball

On Wednesday, Major League Baseball implemented its latest attempt to better measure the sport with the debut of a rule change: teams now have two chances to challenge balls and strikes per game, forcing a review. The innovation was a middle-ground between full "robot umps" and no review at all, with fans and players preferring some human element involved (explore the new ABS rule).

The sport's obsession with data collection goes back to the 1850s. English migrant Henry Chadwick adapted cricket's scoring conventions to the nascent American game, inventing the box score in 1859 and key statistics like batting average and the "K" abbreviation for a strikeout, which are still used today. 

In time, some viewed the conventional metrics as insufficient. That skepticism culminated in Bill James, whose sabermetrics brought empirical analysis to baseball statistics in 1977 (jumpstarting a revolution narrated in the book and film "Moneyball"). The league went all-in on the approach in 2015 when it deployed Statcast in its stadiums, which tracks every pitch, hit, and play in the field using 12 ballpark cameras, generating more than 7 terabytes of data per game for real-time machine learning. 

... Read what else we learned about MLB here.

Also, check out ... 

> See how the data revolution changed how batter lineups are constructed. (Visualize)

> Five big questions about the 2026 season, from deep-reference site FanGraphs. (Read)

> Ranking every baseball stadium outfield by how hard it is to play. (Visualize)

>  The mind-numbing logistics behind transporting 30 teams to 2,430 games each year. (Watch)

In partnership with Raisin

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What is Anthropic?

Anthropic is an artificial intelligence company and the developer of Claude, a set of large language models powering the company's AI chatbot of the same name (learn how LLMs work). In 2021, wanting to be more safety-oriented and better understand how models make decisions, siblings Daniela and Dario Amodei left OpenAI to co-found Anthropic alongside five other former employees. As a public benefit corporation, it has promoted the responsible development of AI for the long-term good of humanity.

Rather than relying solely on human feedback to improve Claude, Anthropic introduced constitutional AI. This approach enables AI systems to self-critique and revise their outputs in accordance with a codified set of principles to reduce potential harm. The company also invented the Model Context Protocol, a standardized method for connecting LLMs to external data and tools, enhancing these models' capabilities and helping clear the way for AI agents.

As of early 2026, Anthropic's partnerships with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have made Claude the only advanced, large-scale LLM natively available across all three cloud service providers. Despite controversies over its use of copyrighted material to train AI, Claude's use in cyberattacks, and disputes with the Pentagon over the lawful use of AI, these partnerships and additional enterprise adoption have brought Anthropic's valuation to $380B as of February 2026.

... Read our full explainer on Anthropic here.

Also, check out ... 

> Claude's board is tasked with advocating for AI development that benefits society. (Read)

> How Anthropic's staff philosopher teaches Claude human ethics. (Watch)

> Claude's consumer growth surged after its fallout with the Pentagon. (Visualize)

> Watch how a vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business. (Explore)

Prediction markets, explained

Prediction markets are platforms where people can place bets that pay out based on specific event outcomes. On many modern online prediction markets—which are often powered by blockchain technology—users can bet on almost any future event, from who will win the Super Bowl to the contents of a public company's earnings report. These platforms have experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, with global trading volumes more than quadrupling from $15.8B in 2024 to roughly $63.5B in 2025.

People have been betting on the outcome of such events since the 1500s. However, three economists in Iowa—who were seeking an alternative, market-based solution to the shortcomings of political polls—are credited with creating the first modern prediction market in 1988. Today, the two most popular in the US are online platforms Kalshi and Polymarket.

Although legislation around prediction markets is still nascent, these platforms are increasingly subject to state gambling laws in the US. Some have suggested that insider trading—which is forbidden on the stock market—should be similarly prohibited on prediction markets.

... Read our full write-up on prediction markets here.

Also, check out ... 

> The rivalry between the CEOs of the two top prediction markets. (Read)

> How prediction market lingo comes from Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang. (Learn)

> Critics are concerned that the ability to bet on everything imperils the real world. (Explore)
> A prediction market was more accurate than most polls about the 2024 presidential election results. (Listen)

In partnership with Raisin

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Best of the Week

We added 280 resources this week to our knowledge collective—share your favorite link or outlet with us to see it featured here next week!

How a cut flower goes from a Colombian farm to a US vase in under 72 hours. (Watch)

Watch YouTube as if it was broadcast TV. (Surf)

... Or practice typing classic books (Orwell, Austen, you name it). (Type)

Contactless payment card tech derives from Cold War spy devices. (Watch)

BTS turned an entire city into a music venue. (Read)

A British Airways pilot mapped every flight of his career into a global map. (View)

Six Degrees of Wikipedia, where you connect two topics in six clicks or fewer. (Play)

An online magazine about low-tech solutions that runs on solar power (and might flicker off). (Read)

Three rock stars who made surprisingly great country music. (Read)

This absurd site finds a photo from its archive of someone pointing directly at your cursor. (Explore)

James Fenimore Cooper was struck by the Louvre's open access—and was observed measuring the length of its galleries (thank you to reader Iva!). (Read)

Historybook: President John Tyler born (1790); Baseball player Cy Young born (1867); Walmart founder Sam Walton born (1918); Dow Jones closes above 10,000 for first time (1999); Actress Patty Duke dies (2016).