UPDATE: The developer emailed me with some comments related to issues about the game we raised in the software. Please see just below for a transcript of those comments.

You can hear some of the HHS folks review the great baseball simulation software, OOTP Baseball, on the latest episode of our podcast–Episode 10. (Get to that by clicking on the podcast tab near the top of the screen.)

If you’re interested in buying the software, please use the links in the right sidebar.

DEVELOPER COMMENTS:

In the iOS game that runs on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, teams don’t move between cities and expansion doesn’t happen in historical replays, but in the PC/Mac game, those things happen.

RE the easiness: You can make trading and other things more difficult in the PC/Mac game too, vs. the iOS version. There are options for that in the PC/Mac game, but you can’t in the iOS version.

(The 2013 version of iOOTP is the current one, BTW – 2012 is last year’s version.  In the PC/Mac game, version 14 is the new one and 13 is last year’s. I know, our naming convention is screwy and we should change it at some point, but it’s something that was established before I started working for them.)

In general, the iOS version is geared more toward casual players whereas the PC/Mac game has many more customization options, as well as the ability to set up online leagues.  Also, you can have the computer take over a lot of things you don’t want to do, such as handling your minor league system.  (In Manager Options.)

I noticed that you talked about those things later in the review, but I just wanted to point those things out for the future.  I hope you don’t mind.  We’re really happy you guys covered the game.

A few days ago, Chris Davis reached 61 total homers in his most recent 162 MLB games.

Have you been listening to the podcast? If not, you can catch up on all the episodes on the podcast page.

In the latest one, Ashley and I have a broad conversation about numerous baseball topics, including how different it is to be a fan today versus 25 year ago. And you’ll just have to listen to find out why the episode is titled “Bunting skills competition”.

A new HHS podcast is available!

We have added a page for all the podcasts. You can click on “Podcast” in the navigation bar at the top of the page, or click right here.

It would be very helpful if you could leave a rating or review on our iTunes page. Just search for High Heat Stats, then leave your review.

On our recent podcast (now available on iTunes–just search for High Heat Stats), Adam raised the question of variability in hit-by-pitch totals over the years, and none of us had an exact answer right away.

I’ve delved into it a bit, and was quite surprised by the results.

Continue reading →

I’ve finally gone and done it, and created a baseball podcast! With the participation of Dalton, Bryan, and Adam, we’ve recorded the pilot podcast for High Heat Stats.

This first one is a little long at nearly an hour and three quarters–we’ll try to make future ones a bit shorter.

The podcast is not yet in iTunes, but it should be within about a week. You can still subscribe to the podcast in iTunes by choosing “File > Subscribe to Podcast” from the menu bar and entering the feed URL: “http://www.highheatstats.com/podcast/hhs.xml”.

Podcast Feed | Download Episode #1 (MP3)

I’m proud to say that the podcast is sponsored by the Baseball-Reference.com Play Index. Listen to the podcast for details on how to save money on a new subscription to the PI (not available to existing subscribers, but you can always get a subscription for someone else–maybe for dad for Father’s Day?)

Thanks very much to the folks who helped, particularly to Adam for a bunch of extra technical assistance!

Yeah, weird title, I know.

On my way to work every day, I pass a womens’ health clinic that offers, among many other services, abortions. Most days there is a small contingent of protesters outside the clinic, and one of them is usually holding a sign that reads “Women regret abortions.”

This sign always makes me think of baseball and statistics. If I saw someone holding up a sign reading “Joe Carter had over 100 RBI in his age 37 season!!” I would feel compelled to roll down the window and shout “but he sucked horribly that year with a 77 OPS+….77!!!”

Don’t get me started on the loon heralding Dante Bichette’s second-place MVP finish in 1995.

These are all examples of cherry-picked statistics that give the wrong impression without the complete picture. Joe Carter and Dante Bichette DID do those things, but they also sucked those seasons. Women who have abortions probably do experience feelings of regret, but how much more might they regret giving birth to a child they don’t want for some reason? I don’t think the sign about women regretting abortions presents anything close to the full picture.

Just to be clear, I’m not taking any side on the abortion issue–I’m just pointing out an everyday example of the type of statistical misuse we’re accustomed to seeing in baseball.

LOOGY, referring to the lefty one-out guy, a term coined by Rob Neyer when they became quite popular in the early 1990s.

Here’s a chart looking at single-batter lefty-reliever appearances over the years. Continue reading →

This basic plot shows the fraction of game starts made by left-handed pitchers.

Before making the plot, I had expected this percentage to generally increase over time. That’s clearly not the case.

I’m particularly interested in the major dip starting in 1993. This seems to coincidence with the Steroids Era. Does this suggest that the increase in offense during this period is due, in part, to lack of availability of left-handed starters? Or were fewer left-handed starters used for some other reason?