Even though it’s winter, hackers can find a way into Camden Yards next month.

The Baltimore Orioles and Booz Allen Hamilton are planning to host a hackathon focused on baseball analytics at Oriole Park on Feb. 5.

Register by Jan. 22

Seeing as how baseball is the sport that gave us sabermetrics, we probably should’ve seen this coming. Along with position coaches and scouts, the team also employs data analysts who evaluate players and lineups.

“Our analysts spend a lot of time during the offseason improving our existing statistical models and coming up with new ideas and solutions to help us put the best possible team on the field,” said Orioles Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette.

Baseball analytics also has roots in Baltimore, with Johns Hopkins engineering professor Earnshaw Cook writing one of the first books on the subject in 1964 called Percentage Baseball. The hackathon will provide a chance for data-minded fans to help with those efforts.

“As an organization, we are always looking to find innovative ways to gain an edge. We hope that by bringing together some of the brightest minds in our community for this hackathon, we gain further insights into the analytical side of baseball,” Duquette said. “This event is also a fantastic opportunity for students and other data scientists to gain valuable experience working with baseball data.”

The projects will be presented to Orioles executives, who will judge the competition along with data scientists.

We’re told that space for the event is limited. Participants can register as a team or an individual.

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