Statistical Breakdown?

Well, how much database skill do you have? You can do it yourself with the data here.

If you don't do relational databases, give me an idea for the layout you're looking for (including all necessary formulas would help) and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks for your prompt response and your willingness to help. I am having difficulty with the information, so it would be great to get your help. Let me know how I can be more specific for what I need.

I want the average BA of the entire league broken down month to month, in the last reasonable number of years (please don't spend too much time on this). I don't know what would be reasonable, so say 10?

Thanks.

I can do this for 2006-07 only. Those are the years that I'd tracked game-by-game data. Unfortunately, only 2007 has been thoroughly checked, so I fear that 2006 may prove to be a little off when checking against official stats.

I'll schedule some time tomorrow to get that for the past two years. What will be the next step?

Thanks! I don't know what you mean by the next step; I think it's to see the data.

It looks like my 2006 data is in need of too much repair, so I can only present the 2007 data to you. Sorry about that.

These figures are for the entirety of NPB. I should probably break these up further into Central League, Pacific League, and Inter-League play. But they should give you an idea.

+------+------+-------+------+------+------+------+------+--------+--------+--------+
| year | mnth | ab    | h    | bb   | hbp  | sac  | tb   | ba     | obp    | ops    |
+------+------+-------+------+------+------+------+------+--------+--------+--------+
| 2007 |    3 |  1660 |  415 |  116 |   16 |   48 |  626 | 0.2500 | 0.2973 | 0.6744 | 
| 2007 |    4 |  9399 | 2455 |  808 |  111 |  288 | 3647 | 0.2612 | 0.3181 | 0.7061 | 
| 2007 |    5 |  9558 | 2509 |  800 |  117 |  306 | 3836 | 0.2625 | 0.3178 | 0.7191 | 
| 2007 |    6 |  7449 | 1982 |  611 |   91 |  249 | 2957 | 0.2661 | 0.3195 | 0.7165 | 
| 2007 |    7 |  8355 | 2273 |  619 |   92 |  258 | 3408 | 0.2721 | 0.3200 | 0.7279 | 
| 2007 |    8 | 10155 | 2699 |  855 |  124 |  348 | 3952 | 0.2658 | 0.3203 | 0.7095 | 
| 2007 |    9 |  9973 | 2604 |  783 |  122 |  318 | 3828 | 0.2611 | 0.3134 | 0.6973 | 
| 2007 |   10 |  1546 |  368 |  145 |   25 |   45 |  540 | 0.2380 | 0.3055 | 0.6548 | 
+------+------+-------+------+------+------+------+------+--------+--------+--------+

Please note that OBP is being calculated with all sacrifices, not just sacrifice flies. I was not differentiating sacrifice hits from sacrifice flies the past couple of years, but will be doing so starting this year. (I hope to update the older data, too.)

Is this the kind of thing you're looking for?

This is perfect, and thanks for your help.

I read in Warren Cromartie's book about his experience in Japanese baseball that he tended to hit better in the later parts of the season because pitchers wore themselves out.

I was curious if it was true, and clearly from the 2007 season, it is not, or at least it is no longer. Maybe it was just Cromartie who did better as the season went on, or maybe it was the case 15 years ago, but not now. The information is interesting, but counters what he says.

Thanks again and if you have any thoughts, I'd be curious to hear,

Bobby

- Maybe it was just Cromartie who did better as the season went on, or maybe it was the case 15 years ago, but not now. The information is interesting, but counters what he says.

I did a study about 11, 12 years ago that showed how the two best Japanese and two best foreign players on each team performed compared to their other teammates on a month-to-month basis. The other teammates thus became a control group.

I don't recall what the pattern was other than that Japanese stars tended to be hot at the start of the season, while foreigners were stronger in August and September.

In another study, I found that triples decreased more in Japan in the second half of the season than they do in the majors.

More studies with similar results might suggest that Japanese players' legs get a little heavier as the season wears on.

Thanks for your post, Jim.

Maybe the difference has to do with the fact that 11/12 years ago, many American players did not stay in the league for more than a year or two. So for the average American (as a large percentage of the foreigners were American), the first half of the season was spent adjusting to the new league whereas by the end of the season, many had adjusted.

Additionally, maybe Americans 11, 12 years ago were less bound to the heavy training regimen that NPB players go through season-long than their Japanese counterparts. By the second half the season, the Japanese batters who exploded at the beginning of the season were tired while American players were still relatively fresh and facing tired pitching.