There’s a classic Simpsons episode in which the sly businessman Mr. Burns recruits real Major League Baseball players to join his company softball team in order to win a bet. But when the championship is on the line, Mr. Burns pulls eight-time National League all-star Darryl Strawberry for a substitute, Homer Simpson.
“You’re a left-hander, and so is the pitcher. If I send up a right-handed batter, it’s called playing the percentages,” Mr. Burns says to Strawberry. “It’s what smart managers do to win ballgames.”
High-level baseball is very mathematically-driven, with teams hiring dozens of data engineers to study granular statistics that can inform managerial decisions. But like Mr. Burns in that Simpsons episode, it’s tempting to overanalyze baseball statistics to the point of absurdity.
The Oakland Ballers, an independent Pioneer League baseball team, took that concept of “playing the percentages” to the next level: they let an AI manage the team for a game.
The Ballers were founded by edtech entrepreneur Paul Freedman as a salve to the departure of the beloved Oakland A’s, the Major League baseball team that owner John Fisher ripped away from local fans in what’s regarded as one of the most insidious managerial moves in sports history. Though they’re not a Major League team, the Oakland Ballers – coyly, the Oakland B’s – established an unprecedented national community of fans who rallied around the team in protest of the A’s departure. After just two seasons, the Ballers just won Oakland’s first baseball title since 1989.
“The Oakland Ballers uniquely have the experience of being like a major league team in a minor league market,” Freedman told TechCrunch. “We can have creative flexibility. We can play with things and experiment with things way before the MLB or NBA or any of those leagues could do something.”
Minor league baseball organizations are often called upon to test new technology before it gets implemented in the majors, like challenging calls with instant replay footage or the automated ball-strike system. The Ballers embraced this attitude, especially given Freedman’s own background in tech, but have added in a dash of whimsy, piloting things that would never actually debut in Major League Baseball.
Techcrunch event Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025 Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before Sept 26 to save up to $668. Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025 Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before Sept 26 to save up to $668. San Francisco | REGISTER NOW
Last year, this meant partnering with Fan Controlled Sports to let fans make managerial decisions during one late season game. The Ballers ended up losing that game, in part because fans advocated for the funniest possible managerial decisions, rather than the savviest – at one point, the fans called upon a pitcher to pinch hit.
This time around, once the team clinched their postseason berth, the Ballers partnered with the AI company Distillery to commission AI software that could manage a baseball game in real time.
... continue reading