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Using the New PI to Sort Splits

Posted by Raphy on November 12, 2009

One of the interesting new features of the PI is the sortable summary provided when using the game finder. This summation provides the total statistics of the games found can be ranked by a variety of different stats. I find this very exciting because it represents the first step in searching splits. Let me explain with an example.

Suppose we wanted to find the player with the most hits on the road in a single season.

  1. Use the Game Finder called Player Batting.
  2. select "Find Players with Most Matching Games in a Season"
  3. Limit your search to Visitor
  4. Search for H>=1

That will provide you with this list:

Rk Player Year #Matching PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1 Lou Brock 1969 72 Ind. Games 340 319 116 23 7 6 26 18 59 .364 .398 .536 .934 1 1 8 1 2
2 Ichiro Suzuki 2001 70 Ind. Games 348 330 128 17 5 3 35 9 29 .388 .410 .497 .907 2 2 2 5 1
3 Ichiro Suzuki 2004 69 Ind. Games 344 322 145 15 5 4 40 18 23 .450 .480 .565 1.045 0 2 10 2 3
4 Bobby Richardson 1962 68 Ind. Games 345 323 117 22 3 5 33 11 12 .362 .381 .495 .876 9 2 1 0 5
5 Jim Rice 1977 68 Ind. Games 308 282 106 13 7 12 38 22 43 .376 .429 .599 1.028 0 0 2 4 6
6 Don Mattingly 1986 68 Ind. Games 328 303 131 30 2 14 53 21 16 .432 .463 .683 1.147 0 4 6 0 9
7 Felipe Alou 1968 68 Ind. Games 319 294 110 19 3 7 34 22 27 .374 .417 .531 .948 0 2 6 1 7
8 Hank Aaron 1956 68 Ind. Games 299 280 114 19 10 11 51 13 15 .407 .426 .664 1.090 1 5 4 0 9
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/12/2009.

Until now we had to stop at this point and say that "Lou Brock had the most road games with a hit in a season (since 1954)". However, the new version of PI lets us take this a step further. Assuming that it is logical that the player with the most hits on the road in a season would be among the top 300 in games with a hit, we can find that player by sorting for hits. After completing the above search, simply click on the column heading "H" and you will be presented with this list:

Rk Player Year #Matching PA AB H ▾ 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1 Ichiro Suzuki 2004 69 Ind. Games 344 322 145 15 5 4 40 18 23 .450 .480 .565 1.045 0 2 10 2 3
2 Don Mattingly 1986 68 Ind. Games 328 303 131 30 2 14 53 21 16 .432 .463 .683 1.147 0 4 6 0 9
3 Lance Johnson 1996 67 Ind. Games 316 293 128 19 9 8 38 19 12 .437 .470 .645 1.115 1 2 4 1 2
4 Ichiro Suzuki 2001 70 Ind. Games 348 330 128 17 5 3 35 9 29 .388 .410 .497 .907 2 2 2 5 1
5 Mark Loretta 2004 67 Ind. Games 328 292 126 24 2 5 40 24 17 .432 .466 .579 1.045 0 9 1 3 6
6 Paul Molitor 1991 65 Ind. Games 319 285 124 18 5 10 36 30 22 .435 .492 .639 1.131 0 0 8 2 1
7 Felipe Alou 1966 67 Ind. Games 321 306 123 21 6 12 34 9 29 .402 .425 .627 1.052 1 1 2 4 3
8 Matty Alou 1969 66 Ind. Games 313 299 121 23 6 0 27 12 10 .405 .431 .522 .953 0 0 3 2 2
9 Joe Torre 1971 66 Ind. Games 299 272 121 19 3 15 65 25 30 .445 .493 .702 1.195 1 0 9 1 9
10 Willie Wilson 1980 61 Ind. Games 296 287 120 14 8 1 22 6 26 .418 .434 .533 .967 1 0 0 2 1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/12/2009.

Brock drops down to #22 and Ichiro now tops the leader board!
Let's do the same thing for hits at home:

Rk Player Year #Matching PA AB H ▾ 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1 Darin Erstad 2000 70 Ind. Games 328 304 135 21 1 11 57 22 37 .444 .479 .628 1.107 0 2 2 0 3
2 Kirby Puckett 1988 66 Ind. Games 293 279 131 26 5 13 58 11 32 .470 .491 .738 1.230 0 1 3 2 3
3 Wade Boggs 1985 71 Ind. Games 328 281 130 24 2 6 38 43 31 .463 .535 .626 1.162 1 1 2 2 9
4 Ellis Burks 1996 65 Ind. Games 310 275 129 31 6 23 78 29 45 .469 .521 .876 1.397 1 2 2 3 8
5 Dante Bichette 1998 65 Ind. Games 293 279 128 25 2 17 78 12 20 .459 .481 .746 1.227 0 1 2 1 8
6 Jeff Cirillo 2000 67 Ind. Games 317 273 128 36 1 9 74 36 24 .469 .525 .707 1.232 1 5 1 2 7
7 Kirby Puckett 1989 67 Ind. Games 294 278 128 28 2 7 51 12 18 .460 .480 .651 1.131 0 3 5 1 6
8 Eric Young 1996 62 Ind. Games 310 277 127 13 4 7 55 22 10 .458 .506 .610 1.117 0 3 1 8 2
9 Kirby Puckett 1986 64 Ind. Games 297 280 127 21 6 14 49 9 34 .454 .481 .721 1.203 2 0 2 6 3
10 Rod Carew 1977 69 Ind. Games 318 280 126 23 8 8 53 32 23 .450 .502 .675 1.177 1 4 8 1 2
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/12/2009.

Clearly, this technique is limited. It can't be used for stats that usually occur in bunches (most pitching stats). It also can't be used for rate stats like batting average. However, for a lot of hitting stats it can be a fun and useful new tool.

Related posts:

    Team Splits: Bug Fix
    Feature Watch: Team Splits
    Feature Watch: Player Splits
    10 for 10: #2 1920-39,52,53 RetroSheet Data, Improved Box Scores, Gamelogs, and Splits
    A Splits Tease

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Game Finders, Leaders, Site Features, Splits, Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

7 Responses to “Using the New PI to Sort Splits”

  1. gerry Says:
    November 12th, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    "Suppose we wanted to find the player with the most hits on the road in a single season." Single season SINCE 1954, that is. Darren Erstad's 135 hits at home in 2000 falls well short of George Sisler's 150 hits at home in 1920. Sisler also had 130 away in 1922, which puts him high on that list. Lefty O'Doul had 144 at home in 1929. Bill Terry had 130 on the road in 1930. Al Simmons had 129 at home and 124 on the road in 1925. Hornsby had a very balanced 126 at home and 124 away in 1922. He had 136 at home in 1924. Chuck Klein had 143 at home in 1930 and again in 1932. I haven't found anyone with more hits on the road than Suzuki's 145, but there are a lot of places I haven't looked.

  2. Raphy Says:
    November 12th, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    Gerry I mentioned since 1954 in the post. I'm sorry if I didn't do it often enough.
    "Lou Brock had the most games with a hit in a season (since 1954)"
    I could mention it every time I discuss a search, but it would get tedious.
    The focus was using PI in a new way.
    Yes, for now it is limited to games since 1954, but that is evident to anyone who wants to do a Gamefinder search.

    BTW - what is the source for your information?

  3. Raphy Says:
    November 12th, 2009 at 10:07 pm

    Reading the post again, I didn't mention since 1954 enough.
    Sorry Gerry.

  4. gerry Says:
    November 13th, 2009 at 12:06 am

    Raphy, I enjoy your posts, and Andy's, and others, and I hope you'll all keep that in mind when I'm being a pain in the ass. I think the most important place to mention "since 1954" is the first time in the essay where it's relevant, and you didn't do that, so I got on my hobby horse. I was careless and overlooked that you included the obligatory phrase in the "Lou Brock" sentence, and had I not made that mistake I'd have cut you a little more slack (but only a little - I have a reputation to maintain).

    My source is Retrosheet. I looked up a few guys who had high single season hit totals during the Retrosheet years, and clicked on "Splits," and, voila. If I actually knew my way around computing I would find some way to download all of Retrosheet (if they would let me) and then run it through some clever script looking for large numbers in the Home and Road splits, but as it is all I know how to do is look up a few guys one at a time and report back on what I find.

  5. Raphy Says:
    November 13th, 2009 at 12:21 am

    Thanks Gerry. I was trying to figure out which pages at retrosheet you were using when I discovered that
    Retrosheet has a splits leader page. I had no idea that the page existed. You can find it here:
    http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/MISC/XSL.htm

  6. gerry Says:
    November 13th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    Awesome.

  7. Andy Says:
    November 13th, 2009 at 9:43 pm

    Thanks for keeping us honest, Gerry.

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