Using Data Mining Techniques to Predict Win-Loss in Korean Professional Baseball Games

데이터마이닝을 활용한 한국프로야구 승패예측모형 수립에 관한 연구

In this research, we employed various data mining techniques to build predictive models for win-loss prediction in Korean professional baseball games. The historical data containing information about players and teams was obtained from the official materials that are provided by the KBO website. Using the collected raw data, we additionally prepared two more types of dataset, which are in ratio and binary format respectively. Dividing away-team's records by the records of the corresponding home-team generated the ratio dataset, while the binary dataset was obtained by comparing the record values. We applied seven classification techniques to three (raw, ratio, and binary) datasets. The employed data mining techniques are decision tree, random forest, logistic regression, neural network, support vector machine, linear discriminant analysis, and quadratic discriminant analysis. Among 21(= 3 datasets${\times}$7 techniques) prediction scenarios, the most accurate model was obtained from the random forest technique based on the binary dataset, which prediction accuracy was 84.14%. It was also observed that using the ratio and the binary dataset helped to build better prediction models than using the raw data. From the capability of variable selection in decision tree, random forest, and stepwise logistic regression, we found that annual salary, earned run, strikeout, pitcher's winning percentage, and four balls are important winning factors of a game. This research is distinct from existing studies in that we used three different types of data and various data mining techniques for win-loss prediction in Korean professional baseball games.