Archive for December, 2009
I’ve updated my MLB API abstraction layer for python to include an easy way to persist player data, including basic player attributes and game log information, to a MySQL database.
The project is hosted up at Github and the Wiki there now includes an example usage for the library, a script that can be run nightly to create in-season game logs for players.
Please do let me know of any issues you may encounter.
You might have seen it, but MLB released a salary report last week and the news is good, if you play baseball for a living at the highest level: the average MLB salary is $3 million, up from, well, $3 million in 2008 ($2.93 to be more exact- but- whatever). I was interested in where all this money might have gone over the years. What positions are MLB teams putting the premium dollar on? Let me rephrase that- upon what positions are MLB teams putting the premium dollar? Check out the following graph:
The DH had a huge spike in 2006 though 2008. The reasons being seem to revolve around Planet Giambi: in 2007 and 2008 , Jason Giambi earned a cool $23 million to hit the designated hits. Jim Thome pulled in $15m, Big Papi $$13m, and both Mike Sweeney and Gary Sheffield earned $11m. In 2008 we also see Matsui ($13m) and Frank Thomas ($12.5m) entering the fray, keeping the average up.
The cliff-dive regression in 2009 is interesting: most guys moved back into the field for their primary position (Matsui, Damon, and – sort of – Sheffield, moving to the NL), others just didn’t earn the same paycheck (Giambi, Sweeney), and others left us (Thomas).
All told, it seems that MLB teams consistently value the qualities exhibited in the DH above all else: namely, the bat.
Here’s the same numbers, demonstrating the percentage of the league average salary going to position:
Baseball Databank is one of the best sources for free, reliable baseball information on the net, and they just recently released the data for the 2009 season. I put together a small MySQL script to pull together rate statistics for both pitchers and hitters. The script will create supplemental views with the following information: for batters, AB (though that’s in the standard Batting table, it’s helpful to have as to avoid unnecessary joins), PA, TB, OBP, SLG, OPS, ISO, and BABIP; for pitchers, IP, ERA (this is duplicated from the Pitching table), WHIP, K/9, BB/9, HR/9, H/9, K/BB, and LOB%. I’ve added a Qualified column on the batting view which indicates whether or not the person qualified for the batting title that year, according to the formulas laid out here. My totals for qualifiers don’t quite match up before 1957, but I swear I’ve been re-checking the math and it looks square to me. Let me know if you see something obvious (or not so obvious).
You’ll forgive the… ugly… formatting here; I’ve never found a comfortable way to properly indent SQL. It’s just a messy, toolsy language which gets uglier and toolsier the more nested you get. You do what you need to do.
I’d like at some point to add some league-averaged stuff such as OPS+ and ERA+, but for now it is as it stands. Here you go.
DROP VIEW IF EXISTS AVG_Batting; CREATE VIEW AVG_Batting AS SELECT playerID, yearID, SUM(AB + BB + IFNULL(HBP, 0) + IFNULL(SF, 0) + IFNULL(SH, 0)) AS PA, SUM(AB) AS AB, SUM(H - HR - 3B - 2B) + (SUM(2B) * 2) + (SUM(3B) * 3) + (SUM(HR) * 4) AS TB, SUM(H + BB + IFNULL(HBP, 0)) / SUM(AB + BB + IFNULL(HBP, 0) + IFNULL(SF, 0)) AS OBP, (SUM(H - HR - 3B - 2B) + (SUM(2B) * 2) + (SUM(3B) * 3) + (SUM(HR) * 4)) / SUM(AB) AS SLG, (SUM(H + BB + IFNULL(HBP, 0)) / SUM(AB + BB + IFNULL(HBP, 0) + IFNULL(SF, 0))) + ((SUM(H - HR - 3B - 2B) + (SUM(2B) * 2) + (SUM(3B) * 3) + (SUM(HR) * 4)) / SUM(AB)) AS OPS, (SUM(2B + (3B * 2) + (HR * 3))) / SUM(AB) AS ISO, (SUM(H - HR)) / (SUM(AB - SO - HR + IFNULL(SF, 0))) AS BABIP, (CASE WHEN yearID >= 1957 AND (SUM(AB + BB + IFNULL(HBP, 0) + SF + IFNULL(SH, 0)) >= (SELECT FLOOR(G * 3.1) FROM Teams WHERE teamID = Batting.teamID AND yearID = Batting.yearID)) THEN 1 WHEN yearID BETWEEN 1945 AND 1956 AND (SUM(AB) / (SELECT G FROM Teams WHERE teamID = Batting.teamID AND yearID = Batting.yearID) >= 2.6) THEN 1 WHEN yearID BETWEEN 1938 AND 1944 AND (SELECT lgID FROM Teams WHERE teamID = Batting.teamID AND yearID = Batting.yearID) = 'NL' AND (SUM(G) >= 100) THEN 1 WHEN yearID BETWEEN 1938 AND 1944 AND (SELECT lgID FROM Teams WHERE teamID = Batting.teamID AND yearID = Batting.yearID) = 'AL' AND (SUM(AB) >= 400) THEN 1 WHEN yearID BETWEEN 1920 AND 1937 AND (SUM(G) >= 100) THEN 1 when yearID < 1920 AND (ROUND(SUM(G) / (SELECT G FROM Teams WHERE teamID = Batting.teamID AND yearID = Batting.yearID) * 100) >= 60) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS Qualified FROM Batting GROUP BY yearID, playerID; DROP VIEW IF EXISTS AVG_Pitching; CREATE VIEW AVG_Pitching AS SELECT playerID, yearID, ROUND((IPouts / 3), 1) AS IP, ROUND(((ER * 9) / (IPouts / 3)), 2) AS ERA, ROUND(((BB + H) / (IPouts / 3)), 2) AS WHIP, ROUND(((9 * SO) / (IPouts / 3)), 1) AS K9, ROUND(((9 * BB) / (IPouts / 3)), 1) AS BB9, ROUND(((9 * HR) / (IPouts / 3)), 1) AS HR9, ROUND(((9 * H) / (IPouts / 3)), 1) AS H9, ROUND((SO / BB), 2) AS KBB, (H + BB + IFNULL(HBP, 0) - R) / (H + BB + IFNULL(HBP, 0) - (1.4 * HR)) AS LOB FROM Pitching GROUP BY yearID, playerID;
The Richmond FLYING SQUIRRELS (because a name so terrifying deserves capitalization) unveiled their hot new logo today. Are you ready for it?
BEHOLD. That thing looks like it’s ready to grab hold of your face and give you rabies. You cannot stop the FLYING SQUIRRELS, you can only hope to contain them with household pesticides and other counterrodentia methods. ATTENTION OTHER TEAMS, here’s a hot tip from the experts: check it out. Do your homework.
OK I’m from Richmond. I no longer live there- six years in Seattle, now three in Austin. But you know, once a Richmonder, always a Richmonder. I’m guessing the Squirrels will open their life in The Diamond, a huge concrete pit. It’s an awful stadium, was an awful stadium when the AAA Braves played there, and will likely to continue to be an awful stadium. Hopefully the city will give them a new stadium soon, hopefully in Shockoe, which while presenting practical issues such as parking and whatnot, could be a beautiful location.