2024 Gold-Glove Winners

Major League Baseball has announced its 2024 Gold-Glove winners.

What Happens in Seoul Stays in Seoul (2024 Edition)

I am off to Seoul to speak in a workshop on Theoretical Challenges in Network Science! I really enjoy visiting Seoul, and I am very happy to have another chance to visit.

Dodgers Win the 2024 World Series!!!!

The Dodgers have won the 2024 World Series!

Today was the 5th game of the series. The 5-run deficit that the Dodgers overcame is the largest comeback to win a clinching game in World Series history. Walker Buehler came into the 9th inning to get the save two innings after he started game 3. (Gerrit Cole of the Yankees threw more than 100 pitches today. He's the first pitcher to do that in the World Series in either 21 or 27 World Series games. The broadcasters indicated the number in the 6th inning, but I forgot which one it is.) Here is the game's box score.

Obviously, Freddie Freeman was named the series MVP.

Mookie Betts is now the only active player with 3 World Series rings.

I was very happy when the Dodgers won in 2020, but that season has a giant asterisk, and I have been able to enjoy things much more with this year's World Series championship in a proper season.

Thankfully, now that the World Series is over, I won't have to see any more of these damn political commercials anymore this year. Sweet relief.

"Using Mathematics to Study how People Influence Each Other’s Opinions"

Our article for teenagers and preteens about mathematical modeling of opinion dynamics has just been published in final form. Here are some details.

Title: Using Mathematics to Study how People Influence Each Other’s Opinions

Authors: Grace J. Li, Jiajie (Jerry) Luo, Kaiyan Peng, and Mason A. Porter

Abstract: People sometimes change their opinions when they discuss things with each other. Researchers can use mathematics to study opinion changes in simplifications of real-life situations. These simplified scenarios, which are examples of mathematical models, help researchers explore how people influence each other through their social interactions. In today’s digital world, these models can help us learn how to promote the spread of accurate information and reduce the spread of inaccurate information. In this article, we discuss a simple mathematical model of opinion changes that arise from social interactions. We briefly describe what opinion models can tell us and how researchers try to make them more realistic.

RIP Fernando Valenzuela (1960–2024)

Dodger great Fernando Valenzuela died today. I knew that he was really sick and he seemed to be in trouble, but of course I was hoping that he would pull through. Fernando is one of those players that will always be synonymous with the Dodgers, and I was very pleased when the Dodgers finally officially (and belatedly) retired his uniform number in 2023.

You can read more about Fernando Valenzuela on Wikipedia page.

Update: Here is ESPN's article about Valenzuela's death.

Update (10/24/24): I'll add a bit more detail.

For baseball in Los Angeles, Fernando Valenzuela is a legend.

Among other things, he changed the entire fan base of the Dodger organization. He is an absolutely pivotal figure in the history of the Dodgers.

On the performance side, he of course had an incredible beginning and an amazing peak. He started the All Star Game as a rookie, and he's the only player to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award in the same year. He's also the last MLB player with 20+ complete games in one season.

Update (10/26/24): Here is an obituary article by Jay Jaffe.

What Happens in Atlanta Stays in Atlanta (2024 Edition)

I am heading to Atlanta for the first time since DragonCon 2013. I will be attending the 2024 SIAM Conference on Mathematics of Data Science (MDS), and it even takes place in one of the Dragon*Con hotels. :)

The Dodgers are Going to the World Series!!!

The Dodgers beat the Mets in the 6th game of the National League Championship Series (NLCS), and we're now off to the World Series to face the Yankees!

This is the 12th time that Dodgers and the Yankees (our traditional rivals) are facing each other in the World Series, though it's the first time since 1981.

The Dodgers scored a record number (46) of runs for an NLCS (and the second-highest total for any league championship series), and — I think, if I understood the broadcast correctly — Shohei Ohtani reached base a record number of times for a postseason series.

The NLCS most valuable player (MVP) is Tommy Edman.