Statistics Feed

[sempergumby]

Warning geek question here :

Does anyone know where I can find a service that provides a consistently updated database of player statistical splits (for instance, batter home and road splits, v.s righties, vs. lefties, etc)?

I'm a programmer and was thinking of putting together my own little weekly player matchup decider- something like you see on fantasy football sites- but better (more stats-driven).

Does anyone know where I can find a data service that I could use and how much it would cost?

Thanks,
Semper

[ANDY@HQ]

If by "consistently" you mean daily, ESPN will provide splits updated every day. But it is not is database/spreadsheet form, just from the players pages.

Programmers have been known to use PERL to get the data that way though.

Best of luck.

[sempergumby]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for responding to my question. Regarding ESPN, where do they get their updated stats database? Is it from a service provider? Do all these sites (CBS Sportsline, MLB.com, Baseball HQ) use the same service provider, or are there different ones?

[NICK@HQ]

I haven't read it yet (it's on my reading list for this winter) but there is a book from O'Reilly called Baseball Hacks. I've looked through it enough to know it talks about harvesting free stats from the major sports sites (yahoo, ESPN, etc.) and downloading them into a form in which you can manipulate the data. They even provide the code you need to do it, so even if you aren't a programmer they show you the way.

I'm not sure if the book talks about where ESPN gets the stats from. But in any case, it looks like a fun book that is of use to anyone who clicks this thread.

[PD@HQ]

I have the book but haven't read it yet. In the meantime, I can tell you that the ESPN tables transfer very neatly to Excel. If you highlight the whole table, right click a (non-hyperlink) item in the table, choose COPY and then PASTE it into the Excel sheet, it copies over into discrete cells.

[ANDY@HQ]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for responding to my question. Regarding ESPN, where do they get their updated stats database? Is it from a service provider? Do all these sites (CBS Sportsline, MLB.com, Baseball HQ) use the same service provider, or are there different ones?

Off the top of my head, caveat emptor...

• Espn uses Stats, Inc.
• MLB.com uses Elias and is considered "Official" because Elias is the "official stats provider to MLB."
• I am not sure about CBS, et al.

I also am not sure if the HQ stats provider is public knowledge. I could tell you, but then I would have to steal all your keepers.

[sempergumby]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for your help. I ordered the Baseball Hacks book (which sounds really neat, BTW) and I've dropped Stats Inc. a line. I'm curious as to how much they charge, but I'm sure that I'll find out soon.

Sincerely,
Semper

[RAY@HQ]

I'm pretty sure you're going to find it's exorbitant, semper.

[RobR]

I have the book but haven't read it yet. In the meantime, I can tell you that the ESPN tables transfer very neatly to Excel. If you highlight the whole table, right click a (non-hyperlink) item in the table, choose COPY and then PASTE it into the Excel sheet, it copies over into discrete cells.

I think it works this way from IE. From Firefox, you need to do a Edit -> Paste Special -> Text so that the tables are converted to cells properly.