Fun Tool of the Day: BBA/MLB Similarity

[bcslouck]

Pretty cool. Boog Powell is still the man. That BBQ is on point.

[usnspecialist]

Jared Gillstrom is a freak.

Code: Select all

Vladimir Guerrero	OF	1996	2011	766.4
Mike Piazza	C	1992	2007	746.9
Jeff Kent	2B	1992	2008	725.5
Larry Walker	OF	1989	2005	719.9
Miguel Tejada	SS	1997	2013	710.2
Jim Rice	OF	1974	1989	706.5
Robinson Cano	2B	2005	2018	705.1
Duke Snider	OF	1947	1964	697.7
Joe DiMaggio	OF	1936	1951	692.3
Rogers Hornsby	2B	1915	1937	688.5

Tai hoi Wie has some interesting comps...

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Paul Goldschmidt	1B	2011	2018	737.5
Mike Trout	OF	2011	2018	725.5
Travis Hafner	1B	2002	2013	699.3
Freddie Freeman	1B	2010	2018	696.2
Charlie Keller	OF	1939	1952	695.5
Kevin Mitchell	OF	1984	1998	689.5
Dick Stuart	1B	1958	1969	687.7
Josh Hamilton	OF	2007	2015	686.3
Anthony Rizzo	1B	2011	2018	681.5
Kevin Youkilis	1B	2004	2013	671.4

Cisco Guerrero has some weird people thrown together.

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Miguel Cabrera	1B	2003	2018	881.8
Fred McGriff	1B	1986	2004	844.6
Vladimir Guerrero	OF	1996	2011	842.8
Ernie Banks	1B	1953	1971	838.0
Billy Williams	OF	1959	1976	836.5
Tony Perez	1B	1964	1986	829.7
Andres Galarraga	1B	1985	2004	824.3
Paul Konerko	1B	1997	2014	824.2
Andre Dawson	OF	1976	1996	821.6
Harold Baines	OF	1980	2001	820.5

[indiansfan]

Ok I am illiterate when it comes to Excel. so I typed in a guys stats on the second page in the yellow space. How do I do the comparison. Sort what???

[indiansfan]

Figured out what I did wrong

[indiansfan]

Ok I think I did this right.

Hector Cano OF - Hall of Fame Slugger

George Watkins OF 1930 1936 874.9
Don Mincher 1B 1960 1972 864.0
Ryan Ludwick OF 2002 2014 849.8
Johnny Frederick OF 1929 1934 827.5
Tony Conigliaro OF 1964 1975 827.3
Ron Northey OF 1942 1957 812.2
Jeffrey Hammonds OF 1993 2005 802.9
Charlie Blackmon OF 2011 2018 800.2
Mike Trout OF 2011 2018 799.9
Travis Hafner 1B 2002 2013 791.4

Not so sure on this one, Don Mincher??? Have to go look up George Watkins. Conigliaro is one of those great "what if" guys

Dan Leonard 1B - Soon to be retired, almost 3000 hits

Joe Cunningham 1B 1954 1966 912.2
Steve Balboni 1B 1981 1993 866.1
Kevin Mitchell OF 1984 1998 862.8
John Milner 1B 1971 1982 858.7
Eric Hosmer 1B 2011 2018 854.9
Wally Westlake OF 1947 1956 852.1
Henry Rodriguez OF 1992 2002 851.5
Del Bissonette 1B 1928 1933 839.9
Joe Pepitone 1B 1962 1973 834.5
Mack Jones OF 1961 1971 828.8

Steve Balboni and Kevin Mitchell? Two sluggers and Balboni had a low batting average? Joe Pepitone I can see. Like Watkins, I have to look up Joe Cunningham

Tony Franco 3B - Ok lets see if he compares to greats or losers

Manny Machado 3B 2012 2018 859.6
Todd Frazier 3B 2011 2018 857.9
Al Rosen 3B 1947 1956 829.6
George Harper OF 1916 1929 817.9
Adam Lind 1B 2006 2017 813.5
Mookie Betts OF 2014 2018 812.1
Johnny Moore OF 1928 1945 810.2
Moose Solters OF 1934 1943 805.0
Joe Crede 3B 2000 2009 802.1
Charlie Keller OF 1939 1952 799.0

Wow, Machado and Rosen. I'm ok with that.

[Rubaboo]

Juan Pablo, run as 2B:

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Name	POS	StartYr	EndYr	Similarity
Roberto Alomar	2B	1988	2004	912.1
Ryne Sandberg	2B	1981	1997	905.1
Lou Whitaker	2B	1977	1995	863.4
Vada Pinson	OF	1958	1975	838.1
Robinson Cano	2B	2005	2018	833.0
Barry Larkin	SS	1986	2004	832.8
Julio Franco	SS	1982	2007	830.2
Jimmy Rollins	SS	2000	2016	823.2
Miguel Tejada	SS	1997	2013	819.4
Joe Morgan	2B	1963	1984	815.1

Juan Pablo, run as 1B:

Code: Select all

Name	POS	StartYr	EndYr	Similarity
Steve Garvey	1B	1969	1987	891.2
Vada Pinson	OF	1958	1975	876.1
Al Oliver	OF	1968	1985	859.1
Mickey Vernon	1B	1939	1960	845.6
Mark Grace	1B	1988	2003	843.4
John Olerud	1B	1989	2005	841.8
Bill Buckner	1B	1969	1990	840.1
Steve Finley	OF	1989	2007	840.1
Johnny Damon	OF	1995	2012	839.9
Dave Parker	OF	1973	1991	835.5

[usnspecialist]

that 2B list for Pablo is awfully impressive.

[Rubaboo]

Jose Estrada

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Name	POS	StartYr	EndYr	Similarity
Nelson Cruz	OF	2005	2018	914.7
Mo Vaughn	1B	1991	2003	899.6
Ryan Braun	OF	2007	2018	896.3
David Justice	OF	1989	2002	886.1
Ralph Kiner	OF	1946	1955	882.6
Darryl Strawberry	OF	1983	1999	882.3
George Bell	OF	1981	1993	874.5
Matt Kemp	OF	2006	2018	871.8
Wally Berger	OF	1930	1940	869.2
Tim Salmon	OF	1992	2006	863.4

This is interesting to me. None of the comp players with high scores have the 'Jose Estrada stat' of more career HRs than BBs.

[Rubaboo]

that 2B list for Pablo is awfully impressive.

Everything about Juan Pablo is impressive.

[RonCo]

Juan Pablo, run as 2B:

Code: Select all

Name	POS	StartYr	EndYr	Similarity
Roberto Alomar	2B	1988	2004	912.1
Ryne Sandberg	2B	1981	1997	905.1
Lou Whitaker	2B	1977	1995	863.4
Vada Pinson	OF	1958	1975	838.1
Robinson Cano	2B	2005	2018	833.0
Barry Larkin	SS	1986	2004	832.8
Julio Franco	SS	1982	2007	830.2
Jimmy Rollins	SS	2000	2016	823.2
Miguel Tejada	SS	1997	2013	819.4
Joe Morgan	2B	1963	1984	815.1

Juan Pablo, run as 1B:

Code: Select all

Name	POS	StartYr	EndYr	Similarity
Steve Garvey	1B	1969	1987	891.2
Vada Pinson	OF	1958	1975	876.1
Al Oliver	OF	1968	1985	859.1
Mickey Vernon	1B	1939	1960	845.6
Mark Grace	1B	1988	2003	843.4
John Olerud	1B	1989	2005	841.8
Bill Buckner	1B	1969	1990	840.1
Steve Finley	OF	1989	2007	840.1
Johnny Damon	OF	1995	2012	839.9
Dave Parker	OF	1973	1991	835.5

Another good example of the issue HoF voters will have.

[RonCo]

This is interesting to me. None of the comp players with high scores have the 'Jose Estrada stat' of more career HRs than BBs.

I like looking at OOTP guys who have very few if any real comps like this. It shows how the OOTP model is not really "right." Not to say that's horrible. No computer model will be perfect. But when I see guys who are wonky, it helps me come to grips with the idea that we sometimes have to adjust our views of what a baseball player looks like to frame a BBA guy in his right perspective.

[Ted]

Claudio Defazio - my favorite quietly good Crusader

Rickie Weeks 2B 2003 2017 919.2
Kelly Johnson 2B 2005 2016 906.5
Robby Thompson 2B 1986 1996 895.7
Davey Johnson 2B 1965 1978 870.0
Gil McDougald 2B 1951 1960 868.0
Jeff Blauser SS 1987 1999 867.0
Neil Walker 2B 2009 2018 863.4
Randy Velarde 2B 1987 2002 861.9
Brian Dozier 2B 2012 2018 857.0

[Ted]

Recently Retired one trick pony Cris Vazquez, whose JAWS is greater than his WAR

Lee May 1B 1965 1982 885.9
Dave Kingman OF 1971 1986 875.4
Tino Martinez 1B 1990 2005 866.5
Mark Teixeira 1B 2003 2016 864.7
Boog Powell 1B 1961 1977 852.4
Gil Hodges 1B 1943 1963 849.7
Andruw Jones OF 1996 2012 848.7
Joe Adcock 1B 1950 1966 847.3
Adam Dunn OF 2001 2014 838.6

[ae37jr]

I know it's a lot of work but we as a community should try to attach these similarity scores to hall of fame threads.i have off tomorrow and volunteer to do it for this class. If someone wants to make it their thing though, all the better

[Ted]

The greatest Crusaders hitter of all time, who apparently makes the all time MLB great catchers look like chumps, Billy Wilson.

Johnny Bench C 1967 1983 715.0
Carlton Fisk C 1969 1993 699.3
Mike Schmidt 3B 1972 1989 694.9
Sammy Sosa OF 1989 2007 692.9
Mike Piazza C 1992 2007 682.6
Yogi Berra C 1946 1965 678.9
Gary Carter C 1974 1992 647.9
Jim Thome 1B 1991 2012 638.3
Eddie Mathews 3B 1952 1968 632.4

He played a decent amount of 1B, so here's that:

Jim Thome 1B 1991 2012 866.3
Sammy Sosa OF 1989 2007 848.9
Harmon Killebrew 1B 1954 1975 822.4
David Ortiz 1B 1997 2016 813.5
Frank Thomas 1B 1990 2008 810.8
Carlos Delgado 1B 1993 2009 801.0
Willie McCovey 1B 1959 1980 799.7
Mike Schmidt 3B 1972 1989 778.9
Fred McGriff 1B 1986 2004 777.8

[Ted]

I know it's a lot of work but we as a community should try to attach these similarity scores to hall of fame threads.i have off tomorrow and volunteer to do it for this class. If someone wants to make it their thing though, all the better

I dunno. I'd rather have someone validate this better before we start using this to legitimately compare our players to MLB guys in the hall. THis is fun, but looking at this lists there are some real odd looking selections. As Ron noted, we don't really accumulate stats the way MLB does.

Also, a 900+ similarity score is easy to understand.

What does a 700 mean? What if you're 849.8 Ryan Ludwick and 799.9 Mike Trout (like Hector Cano). What does that mean?

[crobillard]

Dusty Rhodes, pretty cool

Name POS StartYr EndYr Similarity
Mark Grace 1B 1988 2003 818.1
Steve Garvey 1B 1969 1987 812.4
Bill Buckner 1B 1969 1990 802.2
George Sisler 1B 1915 1930 799.8
Wally Joyner 1B 1986 2001 799.0
Al Oliver OF 1968 1985 791.3
Keith Hernandez 1B 1974 1990 790.3
Don Mattingly 1B 1982 1995 788.6
Mickey Vernon 1B 1939 1960 783.9
Cecil Cooper 1B 1971 1987 782.2

[Ted]

Dusty Rhodes, pretty cool

Name POS StartYr EndYr Similarity
Mark Grace 1B 1988 2003 818.1
Steve Garvey 1B 1969 1987 812.4
Bill Buckner 1B 1969 1990 802.2
George Sisler 1B 1915 1930 799.8
Wally Joyner 1B 1986 2001 799.0
Al Oliver OF 1968 1985 791.3
Keith Hernandez 1B 1974 1990 790.3
Don Mattingly 1B 1982 1995 788.6
Mickey Vernon 1B 1939 1960 783.9
Cecil Cooper 1B 1971 1987 782.2

Bunch of overrated 1B with really high batting averages. Maybe this thing is more accurate than I thought.

[ae37jr]

I dunno. I'd rather have someone validate this better before we start using this to legitimately compare our players to MLB guys in the hall. THis is fun, but looking at this lists there are some real odd looking selections. As Ron noted, we don't really accumulate stats the way MLB does.

Also, a 900+ similarity score is easy to understand.

What does a 700 mean? What if you're 849.8 Ryan Ludwick and 799.9 Mike Trout (like Hector Cano). What does that mean?

Fair enough. Like every other spec of data, I take it for what it's worth. Just cause someone is 900 similar to Babe Ruth I'm not neccesrily going to think he is Babe Ruth. But I can see how maybe others would vote simply on if comp #1 is a hall of famer, then they should be a hall of famer too. I just like getting a gauge on the scope of similar players.


I also like doing current players cause it helps immersion. Connecting your players to real MLB players brings them to life more.

[crobillard]

Dusty Rhodes, pretty cool

Name POS StartYr EndYr Similarity
Mark Grace 1B 1988 2003 818.1
Steve Garvey 1B 1969 1987 812.4
Bill Buckner 1B 1969 1990 802.2
George Sisler 1B 1915 1930 799.8
Wally Joyner 1B 1986 2001 799.0
Al Oliver OF 1968 1985 791.3
Keith Hernandez 1B 1974 1990 790.3
Don Mattingly 1B 1982 1995 788.6
Mickey Vernon 1B 1939 1960 783.9
Cecil Cooper 1B 1971 1987 782.2

Bunch of overrated 1B with really high batting averages. Maybe this thing is more accurate than I thought.

Lol rude. You'd love Dusty if he was on your team. I couldn't think of many better players to slot in behind Collins and knock him over to third or across home plate.