What it is:
I will be creating a graphical user interface using the programming language Visual Basic to create a electronic scorekeeping book for baseball. It will be a simple and user friendly system which will allow people to score games and statistics which will also go into a database to keep and compile live and rolling statistics over the course of an entire season. With this I will be able to generate a probability database which will be able to calculate the most likely scenarios for what the at bat batter will do in his situation. For example a righty hitter up to bat with runners on first and third with one out and a lefty pitching in a 2-0 count will produce success projections for how many runs are likely to score with this batter up against that pitcher. I will also incorporate Bill James' book on statistics on baseball to be able to give probabilities of winning the game during the game as scenarios are changing.
Ideally Who it appeals to:
A program like this could be applied to larger scale scenarios that can be used by betting companies to predict outcomes of who will win games and who will perform best within the game and over the course of a season, as a team as well as individual people. This program could be sold to high schools and small colleges for the players to see how well they fair against opposing teams as well as for the administrations to keep track of their teams and their players statistics.
Progress:
With the limited time available and the enormous amount of variables the update on the program is that it is going to be an electronic scorekeeper marketed for the average fan who likes to keep track of the games. It will also record the statistics for every player on the home team in regard to their offensive statistics. Using this in conjuction with altered Bill James' formula I have created it will output the most vital new sabermetric statistics called Runs Created. With the research I have done I have found the expected runs from each position on the baseball field in every out situation, combining this with the altered runs created number it is able to give a percentage predictor of the runs that should be scored in that instance in time. This can be useful for coachces so that they can figure out when to bunt, when to steal, and when to swing away.
Tools Used:
This program was coded in Microsoft Visual Basic as to make for the best graphical user interface, so it would have a clean look as well as be very functional. Visual Basic allowed me to hook it up with Microsoft Access as to use databases so that the program could keep track of statistics and output the information necessary as fast as possible, as a coach would need this information immediately and would not have any time to wait.