Phillies #CollegeSeries Baseball Analytics Night

Sponsored by Temple University's Fox School of Business

On Monday, April 6, college students and recent graduates are invited to go behind-the-scenes with baseball analytics executives at this exclusive #CollegeSeries pre-game event!

Please note that this event is no longer available.

Event Details

  • Learn from executives who are an integral part of the Phillies’ Baseball Operations, Research and Development, and Integrative Baseball Performance Departments during a moderated question-and-answer session in the Phillies Media Room. Panelists will provide excellent insight into how analytics is utilized in baseball operations, as well as share their career experience and advice. Speakers include: Andy Galdi, Director, Strategic Initiatives, Baseball Operations, The Phillies; Michael Czahor, Lead Quantitative Analyst, Integrative Baseball Performance, The Phillies; and Kiri Oler, Quantitative Analyst, The Phillies.
  • Practice networking with Phillies executives and other special guests during a Phillies Networking Hour. Meet informally with front office personnel from various departments, as well as those who spearhead the Phillies intern and Phillies Ballgirls programs. Attendees are invited to bring their resumes.
  • Meet members of Temple University's Fox School of Business who will be on-site to share information about their graduate programs.
  • Cheer on the Phillies with a ticket to that night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays with seating in Sections 241-245 (a ticket value of $30). Ticket price includes $12 worth of concession and merchandise credit.

Additional Details

  • Check-in begins at 4 p.m. and features a Networking Hour and selfies with the World Series Trophies until 5 p.m.
  • The panel portion of the program officially starts at 5 p.m., followed by the Phillies-Blue Jays game at 7:05 p.m.
  • The event is limited to 200 students. Interested professors, recent graduates, and parents of students are welcome to attend.
  • Dress is casual to business casual.
  • Students are urged to ask questions throughout the program, as well as in advance, to @Phillies using #CollegeSeries
  • Cost: $30. Includes (in addition to the above networking and panel) a game ticket sections 241-245 ($30 value), as well as $12 worth of concession credit that can be redeemed throughout the ballpark for food, beverage and/or merchandise.

Speaker Bios

Andy Galdi – Director, Strategic Initiatives – Baseball Operations, The Phillies

Andy Galdi joined the baseball operations department in 2016 as director of research and development. He was promoted to his current position in January 2020. In his role, Andy assists leadership in setting short- and long-term goals across all of Baseball Operations and helps to execute and re-evaluate those goals.

Andy began his baseball career in 2009 as a baseball operations intern with the New York Mets. Following his work at the Mets, Andy spent two years at the NBA Commissioner’s Office as a statistical analyst in league operations, focusing on analyzing referees and the impact of potential rules changes. In 2013, he began working at Google in Mountain View, Calif., where he served as a quantitative analyst for YouTube.

Born in Bethesda, Md., Andy is a 2008 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a double major in business administration and mathematics. He earned his master’s degree from Stanford University in statistics in 2013.

Michael S. Czahor – PhD, Lead Quantitative Analyst, Integrative Baseball Performance Department, The Phillies

Michael S. Czahor graduated with honors from Rowan University in 2013 with a Bachelors in Mathematics. During his time as an undergraduate, he was a statistician intern for the Philadelphia 76ers. His senior project was centered around applied survival analysis methods.

In 2014, Michael was awarded an Integrative Graduate Education Research Trainee (IGERT) Fellowship on behalf of the National Science Foundation to pursue statistical research in the field of wind energy.

In 2016, Michael earned a Masters of Science in Statistics at Iowa State University, focusing on field failures of large-scale wind turbines. While earning his Masters, Michael was hired as a research consultant at the prestigious Fraunhofer Research Institute in Hanover, Germany, where he developed reliability software to predict when field failures of power converters within doubly-fed induction generator turbines would occur.

In 2018, Michael earned a Co-Major Doctorate of Philosophy under Distinguished Professor Dr. Bill Meeker, with honors in Statistics and Wind Turbine Engineering at Iowa State University. While doing his doctoral work, Michael led efforts to analyze Big 12 Referees in NCAA Basketball games. Just after receiving his doctorate in 2018, Michael was hired as a Quantitative Analyst for the Philadelphia Phillies, where he currently works full-time.

In 2020, Michael was promoted to Lead Quantitative Analyst of the new Integrative Baseball Performance Department. His primary research interests include Bayesian modeling in STAN, vector autoregressive time series modeling, and statistical reliability engineering. Michael is also a statistical coach/tutor for students at local universities. Outside of work and research Michael enjoys coaching youth sports and traveling.

Kiri Oler – Quantitative Analyst, The Phillies

Kiri grew up in the Pacific Northwest and graduated from the University of Idaho in 2011 with bachelor’s degrees in English and Math then went on to receive a master’s degree in Security Informatics in 2012.

Following graduation, she performed cyber security research for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, with an emphasis on using graph theory to enhance computer network security for enterprise businesses.

In 2015, she began teaching Algebra and Trigonometry at the community college level and eventually moved to Colorado to teach full-time. While teaching, she spent her free time to apply her analytical research skills to baseball data and presented some of her research at SaberSeminar in Boston. The presentation drew interest from teams, leading to a one-year fellowship with the Minnesota Twins in 2018 before joining the Phillies’ research and development department in 2019, where her research focuses on tactics and strategy for the big league club.

Networking Hour Participants

Check back soon for Networking Hour participants.

2020 Spring Semester

The 2024 spring #CollegeSeries sessions will be held from 4 p.m. - 6:15 p.m., followed by the 6:40 p.m. Phillies game, on the below dates:

The Phillies will also be hosting summer and fall sessions for the #CollegeSeries sponsored by Temple University’s Fox School of Business, with session details and on-sale dates to be announced later this spring.

  • The 2024 summer #CollegeSeries session will be held on August 13.
  • The 2024 fall #CollegeSeries sessions will be held on September 10-11 and September 23-24.

2020 Summer Semester

2020 Fall Semester

  • Monday, August 21 (rescheduled from August 8) - Business of Sports Night for business, sport management, operations, and management students
  • Thursday, September 21 - Finance & Accounting Night for finance/accounting, business, economics, math & sport management students
  • Tuesday, September 26 - Business of Sports Night for business, sport management, operations, and management students
  • Wednesday, September 27 - Baseball Analytics Night for business intelligence/analytics, economics, MIS/information technology/computer science, marketing, business & sport management students
  • Thursday, September 28 - Sports Digital Media & Marketing Night for communications, journalism, broadcasting, advertising, marketing/digital marketing, TV production, social media, business & sport management students

Testimonials

"This experience was like no other networking opportunity I've been a part of. Valuable information in a fun and professional environment. Would recommend to anyone looking for a career in sports." - Alex, University of Scranton

"Very informative opportunity that you cannot pass up as a student." - Jimmy, Temple University

"The College Series was a great event to see the work we’re doing in school translate into real life careers. The panelists had great responses to questions and useful advice that I will apply in my studies and post-grad." - Nicole, Drexel University

"This was a great experience! Getting to talk to people who are doing the work that I want to be doing, listening to their experience and understanding how they got to where they are was so rewarding." - Kathryn, Millersville University

"If you are looking to find out more about the career you wish to pursue in sports, this night is incredible…Through the networking hour, I was able to speak, connect, and gain valuable advice from those who work at the level I wish to be at one day. Thank you to the Philadelphia Phillies for organizing such a wonderful event, that is a must-go! GO PHILS!" - Megan, Desales University

"Such an incredible opportunity to meet and learn from professionals, while also connecting with other students who share similar interests. Events like these are what make the Phillies so special and impactful in the community!" - Lukasz, University of Tampa

"The 2024 Phillies College Series provided an incredible peek behind the scenes of professional baseball. The expert panels and networking opportunities were invaluable for gaining industry knowledge and advice. Ending the day with a Phillies game was the perfect cap to a truly inspiring event. Highly recommend for anyone pursuing a career in sports! Go Phillies!" - Justin, Stetson University

"College Series was an amazing event! I was able to network with lots of people in different fields of work. Everyone was so nice and helpful when providing answers to questions. I would definitely recommend this experience to any college student; it was a great way to understand the work field better, along with what opportunities we as college students can take advantage of." - Loriann, Widener University

"Everyone was really helpful in advising me on how to get my foot in the door and what I should be doing to get a job in the technology field!" - Matthew, Messiah University

Inside Tickets