A Splits Tease

Posted by Sean Forman on March 9, 2010

I'm been getting the new RetroSheet data into our database and I'm working on. This is raw from the database, so the format and columns are a bit funky. This is Babe Ruth in 1927.

split	split_name	G	AB	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
half	1st Half	78	280	29	76	73	48	0.361	0.493	0.754	1.246
half	2nd Half	73	260	31	88	64	41	0.350	0.478	0.792	1.271
month	Sept/Oct	28	106	17	43	20	16	0.368	0.468	0.896	1.364
month	May	28	106	12	34	25	18	0.349	0.473	0.774	1.247
month	June	23	76	9	19	20	16	0.382	0.510	0.829	1.339
month	July	31	111	9	35	31	14	0.423	0.549	0.793	1.342
month	August	26	90	9	27	23	16	0.256	0.407	0.656	1.063
month	April/March	15	51	4	6	18	9	0.333	0.507	0.588	1.095
lineu	Batting 3rd	151	540	60	164	137	89	0.356	0.486	0.772	1.258
hmvis	Home	73	253	28	70	61	42	0.372	0.494	0.775	1.268
hmvis	Away	78	287	32	94	76	47	0.341	0.479	0.770	1.249
site	WAS09	11	43	4	12	10	10	0.349	0.472	0.651	1.123
site	STL07	11	39	4	12	11	7	0.282	0.440	0.692	1.132
site	PHI11	11	45	5	13	8	7	0.289	0.396	0.667	1.063
site	NYC16	73	253	28	70	61	42	0.372	0.494	0.775	1.268
site	DET04	11	41	4	20	12	5	0.293	0.453	0.732	1.185
site	CLE06	11	31	4	11	15	2	0.419	0.609	0.871	1.480
site	CHI10	11	39	3	7	12	8	0.359	0.510	0.795	1.305
site	BOS07	12	49	8	19	8	8	0.408	0.491	0.980	1.471
stad	Open	151	540	60	164	137	89	0.356	0.486	0.772	1.258
stad	Grass	151	540	60	164	137	89	0.356	0.486	0.772	1.258
stad	Day	151	540	60	164	137	89	0.356	0.486	0.772	1.258
oppon	WP of .500+	63	237	25	76	52	41	0.346	0.464	0.738	1.202
oppon	WP lt .500	88	303	35	88	85	48	0.363	0.503	0.799	1.301
oppon	OAK	19	72	9	21	14	13	0.319	0.430	0.722	1.152
oppon	MIN	22	82	8	26	19	16	0.390	0.505	0.780	1.285
oppon	DET	22	83	8	29	19	12	0.325	0.451	0.711	1.162
oppon	CLE	22	70	9	19	23	13	0.371	0.527	0.857	1.384
oppon	CHW	22	73	6	13	25	13	0.315	0.490	0.699	1.188
oppon	BOS	22	87	11	29	16	13	0.391	0.485	0.839	1.325
oppon	BAL	22	73	9	27	21	9	0.370	0.511	0.795	1.305
outcb	in Wins	107	382	51	147	105	58	0.398	0.528	0.887	1.415
outcb	in Ties	1	3	0	0	2	0	0.333	0.600	0.333	0.933
outcb	in Losses	43	155	9	17	30	31	0.252	0.373	0.497	0.870
plato	vs LH Starter	46	155	19	50	37	33	0.297	0.432	0.684	1.116
plato	vs RH Starter	105	385	41	114	100	56	0.379	0.507	0.808	1.315
stsub	as Starter	151	540	60	164	137	89	0.356	0.486	0.772	1.258
total	Total	151	540	60	164	137	89	0.356	0.486	0.772	1.258

Here's Gehrig. I think sitting your rightys might have been the right move against them.

split	split_name	G	AB	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
half	1st Half	82	317	29	102	51	47	0.397	0.484	0.830	1.313
half	2nd Half	73	267	18	73	58	37	0.345	0.463	0.689	1.152
month	Sept/Oct	28	107	6	24	21	17	0.336	0.445	0.626	1.071
month	May	28	112	8	33	16	11	0.420	0.492	0.812	1.305
month	June	27	103	13	31	16	20	0.350	0.437	0.806	1.243
month	July	31	116	10	41	24	18	0.388	0.500	0.810	1.310
month	August	26	91	6	24	24	12	0.352	0.487	0.736	1.223
month	April/March	15	55	4	22	8	6	0.400	0.484	0.818	1.303
lineu	Batting 4th	155	584	47	175	109	84	0.373	0.474	0.765	1.240
hmvis	Home	77	277	24	77	53	44	0.347	0.455	0.722	1.177
hmvis	Away	78	307	23	98	56	40	0.397	0.492	0.805	1.296
site	WAS09	11	39	2	7	13	1	0.333	0.500	0.667	1.167
site	STL07	11	37	3	19	11	4	0.405	0.542	0.784	1.325
site	PHI11	11	49	6	18	4	5	0.490	0.528	1.020	1.549
site	NYC16	77	277	24	77	53	44	0.347	0.455	0.722	1.177
site	DET04	11	45	3	14	9	8	0.444	0.545	0.867	1.412
site	CLE06	11	44	1	9	4	10	0.295	0.354	0.432	0.786
site	CHI10	11	45	2	11	4	4	0.378	0.429	0.822	1.251
site	BOS07	12	48	6	20	11	8	0.417	0.525	0.979	1.505
stad	Open	155	584	47	175	109	84	0.373	0.474	0.765	1.240
stad	Grass	155	584	47	175	109	84	0.373	0.474	0.765	1.240
stad	Day	155	584	47	175	109	84	0.373	0.474	0.765	1.240
oppon	WP of .500+	67	254	22	75	51	34	0.409	0.511	0.839	1.350
oppon	WP lt .500	88	330	25	100	58	50	0.345	0.445	0.709	1.154
oppon	OAK	23	92	10	32	13	14	0.424	0.500	0.891	1.391
oppon	MIN	22	77	6	22	24	6	0.403	0.545	0.818	1.363
oppon	DET	22	85	6	21	14	14	0.400	0.490	0.800	1.290
oppon	CLE	22	79	3	16	15	19	0.304	0.421	0.468	0.889
oppon	CHW	22	85	3	17	9	9	0.318	0.383	0.647	1.030
oppon	BOS	22	89	11	37	14	12	0.416	0.495	0.944	1.439
oppon	BAL	22	77	8	30	20	10	0.338	0.474	0.753	1.227
outcb	in Wins	110	410	39	146	86	50	0.390	0.497	0.827	1.324
outcb	in Ties	1	3	0	0	1	1	0.333	0.500	0.333	0.833
outcb	in Losses	44	171	8	29	22	33	0.333	0.415	0.626	1.041
plato	vs LH Starter	47	179	12	40	24	39	0.307	0.392	0.587	0.979
plato	vs RH Starter	108	405	35	135	85	45	0.402	0.508	0.844	1.353
stsub	as Starter	155	584	47	175	109	84	0.373	0.474	0.765	1.240
total	Total	155	584	47	175	109	84	0.373	0.474	0.765	1.240

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Site Features, Splits, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

8 Responses to “A Splits Tease”

Ross Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Is the "WP of .500+" and "WP it .500" supposed to signify the difference between above and below .500 teams? There is a huge discrepancy between Ruth and Gehrig, as Gehrig's numbers are outrageously higher in the former, opposed to Ruth's (as expected) dip against .500+ teams. Gehrig must have been quite the competitor.
Dave Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
It looks as if you guys are gonna have to throw a "ties" choice in the "team won/loss" section.
You probably didn't need me to tell you that but I just spotted the "ties" and thought of it.
Gerry Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Cool. But it seems odd to see stats for Ruth and Gehrig against Oakland, Minnesota, and Baltimore.
Sean Forman Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
As I said, "raw from the database". This gets cleaned up when shown to the users on the site.
TheGoof Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Not only did Gehrig kick the tough teams in the butt (at least, in 1927), but he was a road warrior. It makes you wonder if his numbers are actually hiding just how great he was. If nothing else, it makes it clear that the 1927 MVP was a worthy pick.
BSK Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
TheGoof-

While your conclusion is likely accurate, Gehrig *probably* won over Ruth only because, at the time, repeat winners were prohibited and Ruth had already won one a few years before.
mark szymcik Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Gehrig's road numvbwers were usually better than his home numbers, so that is no surprise.
tmckelv Says:
March 11th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
I am always interested in a player's stats in the "Team wins" vs. "Team Losses" splits. I don't think there has been a definitive conclusion about what is better (to perform better in wins and worse in losses - or to be reasonably similar in both wins and losses). A conclusion is difficult becase the outcome is already determined.

I have always thought of this in terms of deciding MVP's (using entire season's stats vs. basing it more on game results). I had this theory on taking each game and having "official scorers" award points to players of each team (10 total points broken out for players on the winning team - and 5 total points broken out for players on the losing team). Then at the end of the season the player with the most points would win MVP. It takes into account if a player was on a good team and includes pitchers probably more accurately then they are considered now.

Anyway for this thread I noticed the Team won/Team loss splits for OPS:
Ruth = 1.415/0.870 (0.545 difference)
Gehrig = 1.324/1.041 (0.283 difference)

I am interested in anyone's opinions/thoughts regarding what these numbers mean. Thanks.

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