Sports Reference Blog

Archive for December, 2013

Announcing the Player Streak Finder

5th December 2013

Today we push out a tool I've been meaning to write for a while: a player streak finder. Inspired by the great Baseball Reference streak finders, this tool will let you find consecutive player games or seasons in which a particular criteria was met. For instance, if you're wondering which QB has the longest streak of games without an interception, the answer is Tom Brady, with 11 (for games with at least 14 pass attempts). Or how about which running back has the most consecutive seasons of 1000+ yards (Emmit Smith, with 11).

You can also filter by team on offense (or defense for games searches), for instance to find out which quarterback has the most consecutive games against the Browns with a TD pass or which Bears running back has the most consecutive 1000+ yard seasons.

Posted in Announcement, Pro-Football-Reference.com | 7 Comments »

Speaking our Piece About Jack Morris

5th December 2013

I don't think it's a secret that the sabermetric case for Jack Morris is an especially thin one.  A ranking using WAR has him about the 25th best player on the ballot.  But we hear all of these stats about how much of a workhorse Morris was.  Here is an example from Tom Verducci.  Now it's true that Morris pitched into the 8th the most of his era, but when he did he was actually way below average among of group of pitchers who pitched 100+ outings of that length.

Morris worked deep in the games, but it was largely due to usage rather than effectiveness.   When he went 8 innings he was league average, when he went five innings he was league average.  The chart below shows the number of innings completed by the starter per start.  So the "0" row is not all first innings, but just the games they didn't make it out of the first inning.  Their complete games would be in the 9 row.  Now there is a value to pitching late into games and Morris should be credited by that value, but it certainly looks to me that a big reason Morris went late into games was the astronomical run support he was getting not because he was pitching so much better than the average pitcher.  Note that for outings last one inning or longer Morris' RA is WORSE than league average for every single outing length.

All AL SP's 1975-1997 Jack Morris Frank Tanana (1975 on)
completed innings % of all GS W-L% RA tmAvgRS % of all GS W-L% RA tmAvgRS % of all GS W-L% RA tmAvgRS
0 1.3 0.000 89.23 4.86 0.6 0.000 64.80 5.67 1.5 0.000 83.45 5.38
1 2.7 0.000 29.29 4.61 1.1 0.000 33.48 4.33 2.0 0.000 31.30 4.73
2 4.2 0.000 18.00 4.62 2.5 0.000 20.90 4.00 3.6 0.000 19.13 4.10
3 5.9 0.000 13.06 4.60 3.2 0.000 13.81 5.24 3.6 0.000 13.23 4.60
4 8.0 0.001 10.00 4.52 6.3 0.000 12.39 4.58 5.1 0.000 9.80 4.61
5 14.0 0.412 6.45 4.94 5.7 0.375 8.79 4.50 9.9 0.324 6.91 4.94
6 18.4 0.504 4.78 4.62 12.3 0.540 5.78 5.80 17.2 0.500 4.95 4.78
7 18.4 0.637 3.43 4.51 21.3 0.730 3.94 5.88 21.9 0.633 3.51 4.70
8 12.3 0.545 2.93 3.75 19.5 0.413 3.86 3.83 15.1 0.368 3.00 2.86
9 14.1 0.842 1.68 4.91 26.0 0.867 1.77 4.53 18.8 0.880 1.48 4.97
10 0.5 0.713 1.88 2.76 1.3 0.250 2.44 2.14 0.4 0.000 0.90 0.50
11 0.1 0.667 1.63 2.54 0.2 1.64 3.00 0.4 1.000 0.82 2.50
12 0.0 0.667 1.59 2.75 0.2 3.00 5.00
13 0.0 0.59 2.57 0.4 0.00 1.50
14 0.0 0.750 1.77 4.25

 

It seems to me if the basis of your argument for Morris in the HOF was that he pitched deep into a lot of games (and was about avg in those outings) then you have a pretty weak argument.  The summary of our view is that Morris was a pretty good pitcher on very good teams, but really is not a whole lot better than someone like David Wells or Frank Tanana.  And certainly not better than Mike Mussina or Kevin Brown.

Posted in Announcement, Baseball-Reference.com, Hall of Fame, Stat Questions, Statgeekery | 95 Comments »

Historical Western Conference vs Eastern Conference Disparity

5th December 2013

In light of the Eastern Conference's "embarrassing" showing in games against the West so far this year, here's a rundown of how each conference has fared against the other for every year since 1951 (before 1971, the NBA had Eastern and Western "divisions" which were de facto conferences):

+---------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
| year_id | east_w | east_l | east_wpct | west_w | west_l | west_wpct | e_vs_w | w_vs_e | e_h2h | w_h2h |
+---------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
|    2014 |    118 |    155 | 43.2%     |    157 |    120 | 56.7%     |     26 |     63 | 29.2% | 70.8% |
|    2013 |    577 |    651 | 47.0%     |    652 |    578 | 53.0%     |    188 |    262 | 41.8% | 58.2% |
|    2012 |    474 |    516 | 47.9%     |    516 |    474 | 52.1%     |    114 |    156 | 42.2% | 57.8% |
|    2011 |    579 |    651 | 47.1%     |    651 |    579 | 52.9%     |    189 |    261 | 42.0% | 58.0% |
|    2010 |    594 |    636 | 48.3%     |    636 |    594 | 51.7%     |    204 |    246 | 45.3% | 54.7% |
|    2009 |    621 |    609 | 50.5%     |    609 |    621 | 49.5%     |    231 |    219 | 51.3% | 48.7% |
|    2008 |    582 |    648 | 47.3%     |    648 |    582 | 52.7%     |    192 |    258 | 42.7% | 57.3% |
|    2007 |    583 |    647 | 47.4%     |    647 |    583 | 52.6%     |    193 |    257 | 42.9% | 57.1% |
|    2006 |    588 |    642 | 47.8%     |    642 |    588 | 52.2%     |    198 |    252 | 44.0% | 56.0% |
|    2005 |    584 |    646 | 47.5%     |    646 |    584 | 52.5%     |    194 |    256 | 43.1% | 56.9% |
|    2004 |    559 |    671 | 45.4%     |    630 |    518 | 54.9%     |    154 |    266 | 36.7% | 63.3% |
|    2003 |    575 |    655 | 46.7%     |    614 |    534 | 53.5%     |    170 |    250 | 40.5% | 59.5% |
|    2002 |    593 |    637 | 48.2%     |    596 |    552 | 51.9%     |    188 |    232 | 44.8% | 55.2% |
|    2001 |    566 |    664 | 46.0%     |    623 |    525 | 54.3%     |    161 |    259 | 38.3% | 61.7% |
|    2000 |    598 |    632 | 48.6%     |    591 |    557 | 51.5%     |    193 |    227 | 46.0% | 54.0% |
|    1999 |    379 |    371 | 50.5%     |    346 |    354 | 49.4%     |     46 |     38 | 54.8% | 45.2% |
|    1998 |    648 |    582 | 52.7%     |    541 |    607 | 47.1%     |    243 |    177 | 57.9% | 42.1% |
|    1997 |    647 |    583 | 52.6%     |    542 |    606 | 47.2%     |    242 |    178 | 57.6% | 42.4% |
|    1996 |    619 |    611 | 50.3%     |    570 |    578 | 49.7%     |    214 |    206 | 51.0% | 49.0% |
|    1995 |    550 |    598 | 47.9%     |    557 |    509 | 52.3%     |    158 |    206 | 43.4% | 56.6% |
+---------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
| year_id | east_w | east_l | east_wpct | west_w | west_l | west_wpct | e_vs_w | w_vs_e | e_h2h | w_h2h |
+---------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
|    1994 |    562 |    586 | 49.0%     |    545 |    521 | 51.1%     |    170 |    194 | 46.7% | 53.3% |
|    1993 |    583 |    565 | 50.8%     |    524 |    542 | 49.2%     |    191 |    173 | 52.5% | 47.5% |
|    1992 |    573 |    575 | 49.9%     |    534 |    532 | 50.1%     |    181 |    183 | 49.7% | 50.3% |
|    1991 |    521 |    545 | 48.9%     |    586 |    562 | 51.0%     |    170 |    194 | 46.7% | 53.3% |
|    1990 |    517 |    549 | 48.5%     |    590 |    558 | 51.4%     |    166 |    198 | 45.6% | 54.4% |
|    1989 |    522 |    462 | 53.0%     |    503 |    563 | 47.2%     |    186 |    126 | 59.6% | 40.4% |
|    1988 |    464 |    438 | 51.4%     |    479 |    505 | 48.7%     |    145 |    119 | 54.9% | 45.1% |
|    1987 |    465 |    437 | 51.6%     |    478 |    506 | 48.6%     |    146 |    118 | 55.3% | 44.7% |
|    1986 |    460 |    442 | 51.0%     |    483 |    501 | 49.1%     |    141 |    123 | 53.4% | 46.6% |
|    1985 |    462 |    440 | 51.2%     |    481 |    503 | 48.9%     |    143 |    121 | 54.2% | 45.8% |
|    1984 |    461 |    441 | 51.1%     |    482 |    502 | 49.0%     |    142 |    122 | 53.8% | 46.2% |
|    1983 |    458 |    444 | 50.8%     |    485 |    499 | 49.3%     |    139 |    125 | 52.7% | 47.3% |
|    1982 |    461 |    441 | 51.1%     |    482 |    502 | 49.0%     |    142 |    122 | 53.8% | 46.2% |
|    1981 |    466 |    436 | 51.7%     |    477 |    507 | 48.5%     |    147 |    117 | 55.7% | 44.3% |
|    1980 |    454 |    448 | 50.3%     |    448 |    454 | 49.7%     |    124 |    118 | 51.2% | 48.8% |
|    1979 |    425 |    477 | 47.1%     |    477 |    425 | 52.9%     |    205 |    257 | 44.4% | 55.6% |
|    1978 |    428 |    474 | 47.5%     |    474 |    428 | 52.5%     |    208 |    254 | 45.0% | 55.0% |
|    1977 |    436 |    466 | 48.3%     |    466 |    436 | 51.7%     |    216 |    246 | 46.8% | 53.2% |
|    1976 |    388 |    350 | 52.6%     |    350 |    388 | 47.4%     |    181 |    143 | 55.9% | 44.1% |
|    1975 |    378 |    360 | 51.2%     |    360 |    378 | 48.8%     |    171 |    153 | 52.8% | 47.2% |
+---------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
| year_id | east_w | east_l | east_wpct | west_w | west_l | west_wpct | e_vs_w | w_vs_e | e_h2h | w_h2h |
+---------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
|    1974 |    315 |    341 | 48.0%     |    382 |    356 | 51.8%     |    131 |    157 | 45.5% | 54.5% |
|    1973 |    318 |    338 | 48.5%     |    379 |    359 | 51.4%     |    134 |    154 | 46.5% | 53.5% |
|    1972 |    283 |    373 | 43.1%     |    414 |    324 | 56.1%     |    125 |    215 | 36.8% | 63.2% |
|    1971 |    291 |    365 | 44.4%     |    406 |    332 | 55.0%     |    139 |    213 | 39.5% | 60.5% |
|    1970 |    309 |    265 | 53.8%     |    265 |    309 | 46.2%     |    169 |    125 | 57.5% | 42.5% |
|    1969 |    314 |    260 | 54.7%     |    260 |    314 | 45.3%     |    176 |    122 | 59.1% | 40.9% |
|    1968 |    274 |    218 | 55.7%     |    218 |    274 | 44.3%     |    154 |     98 | 61.1% | 38.9% |
|    1967 |    223 |    182 | 55.1%     |    182 |    223 | 44.9%     |    133 |     92 | 59.1% | 40.9% |
|    1966 |    184 |    136 | 57.5%     |    176 |    224 | 44.0%     |    124 |     76 | 62.0% | 38.0% |
|    1965 |    181 |    139 | 56.6%     |    179 |    221 | 44.8%     |    121 |     79 | 60.5% | 39.5% |
|    1964 |    170 |    150 | 53.1%     |    190 |    210 | 47.5%     |     98 |     78 | 55.7% | 44.3% |
|    1963 |    169 |    151 | 52.8%     |    191 |    209 | 47.8%     |     97 |     79 | 55.1% | 44.9% |
|    1962 |    179 |    141 | 55.9%     |    181 |    219 | 45.3%     |    107 |     69 | 60.8% | 39.2% |
|    1961 |    162 |    154 | 51.3%     |    154 |    162 | 48.7%     |     84 |     76 | 52.5% | 47.5% |
|    1960 |    180 |    120 | 60.0%     |    120 |    180 | 40.0%     |    102 |     42 | 70.8% | 29.2% |
|    1959 |    159 |    129 | 55.2%     |    129 |    159 | 44.8%     |     87 |     57 | 60.4% | 39.6% |
|    1958 |    162 |    126 | 56.3%     |    126 |    162 | 43.8%     |     90 |     54 | 62.5% | 37.5% |
|    1957 |    155 |    133 | 53.8%     |    133 |    155 | 46.2%     |     83 |     61 | 57.6% | 42.4% |
|    1956 |    154 |    134 | 53.5%     |    134 |    154 | 46.5%     |     82 |     62 | 56.9% | 43.1% |
|    1955 |    150 |    138 | 52.1%     |    138 |    150 | 47.9%     |     78 |     66 | 54.2% | 45.8% |
+---------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
| year_id | east_w | east_l | east_wpct | west_w | west_l | west_wpct | e_vs_w | w_vs_e | e_h2h | w_h2h |
+---------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
|    1954 |    173 |    187 | 48.1%     |    151 |    137 | 52.4%     |     73 |     87 | 45.6% | 54.4% |
|    1953 |    168 |    183 | 47.9%     |    183 |    168 | 52.1%     |     67 |     82 | 45.0% | 55.0% |
|    1952 |    169 |    161 | 51.2%     |    161 |    169 | 48.8%     |     79 |     71 | 52.7% | 47.3% |
|    1951 |    181 |    187 | 49.2%     |    173 |    167 | 50.9%     |     80 |     86 | 48.2% | 51.8% |
+---------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+

In the early stages of 2013-14, we are indeed seeing an historic level of inter-conference imbalance. The West's 70.8% winning percentage vs. the East is tied for the highest by one conference/division vs the other, matching the mark set by the Eastern Division in 1960.

Powered by the transcendent 59-16 Celtics (who won 10 more games than any other team), the 49-26 Philadelphia Warriors, and the 45-30 Syracuse Nationals, the East dominated a Western Division that boasted only one team -- the 46-29 St. Louis Hawks -- with a record anywhere near .500. (Aside from St. Louis, the other West teams had a combined 74-151 record that season.)

Posted in Announcement, Basketball-Reference.com, History, Trivia | 10 Comments »

Filter Searches By Favorites

3rd December 2013

search_favorites

Building on the user favorites feature, we've introduced the ability to filter by your favorite players in player season finder and player game finder searches. If you're logged in, you should see a "Search only across your favorites" checkbox above the "Get Results" button on these searches. Selecting this option will restrict the search to only players in your favorites list. Maybe you could add your favorite quarterbacks to your list and see where they compare on AY/A, or follow some favorite fantasy backs and see who has the best yards per attempt figure in 2013.

Posted in Announcement, Pro-Football-Reference.com | Comments Off on Filter Searches By Favorites