The Symmetry of Madison Bumgarner's World Series Game 4 Start

Here's another installment of The Symmetry Series of posts here at Baseball Blogs, where I illuminate the patterns that can be seen in scorecards of great pitching performances.

This one documents the San Francisco Giants' Madison Bumgarner's start in Game 4 of the 2010 World Series, against the Texas Rangers at Arlington Texas on October 31th 2010 - a game won by the Giants 4-0.

I'm using a scorecard I kept over at The Internet Baseball Scorecard Blog.

(all images are much larger on click)


The Pitching line's of Starter Madison Bumgarner - World Series Game 4
(and closer Brian Wilson - 3 outs)

Screen shot from The Internet Baseball Scorecard


Texas Rangers face Madison Bumgarner in World Series Game 4

Screen shot from The Internet Baseball Scorecard

This is a line drawing I made in Microsoft Paint where I've coloured in active at-bat boxes; it shows batters faced per inning:

Here's the same drawing with the scorecard elements removed so you can see the pattern better.

There are six other posts in The Symmetry Series.



mh

The Symmetry of Cole Lewis' World Series Game 3 Start

Here's another installment of The Symmetry Series of posts here at Baseball Blogs, where I illuminate the patterns that can be seen in scorecards of great pitching performances.

This one documents the Texas Rangers' Coby Lewis start in Game 3 of the 2010 World Series, against the San Francisco Giants at Arlington Texas on October 30th 2010 - a game won by the Rangers 2-4.

I'm using a scorecard I kept over at The Internet Baseball Scorecard Blog.

(all images are much larger on click)


The Pitching line's of Starter Colby Lewis - World Series Game 3
(and relievers Darren O'Day and Neftali Feliz - 4 outs)

Screen shot from The Internet Baseball Scorecard

San Francisco Giants face Colby Lewis in World Series Game 3

Screen shot from The Internet Baseball Scorecard

This is a line drawing I made in Microsoft Paint where I've coloured in active at-bat boxes; it shows batters faced per inning:

Here's the same drawing with the scorecard elements removed so you can see the pattern better.

There are five other posts in The Symmetry Series.



mh

Bigger Bullpen in Boston centre of off-season Bull session in Boston Media

The Boston's are thinking of widening their bull pens in right. And reducing the distance from the plate to a Home Run. Theo Epstein says it's his number one priority. That and finding a job after they fire him for saying things that make him sound like a moron.

That and letting the Blue Jays steal their pitching coach John Farrell, who will manage the Jays next year (that's a compliment).

Story via Joy of Sox, where folks were discussing how many extra homies would result...

David Ortiz spray chart. 'Fly Outs' 2010 shows 2 extra HR with new bullpen in right.

mh

2011 Scorecard: Bigger! Better!

Blogger code to widen your Blog, and code for the new easier to use 2011 Scorecard


Below in the scroll box is code for the brand new 2011 Internet Baseball Scorecard.

You can see an example of the new scorecard at The Internet Baseball Scorecard Blog. Also, I've kept score of all the games of both the NLCS and the ALCS, with the new scorecard. A page I've created has all those games, and the division series scorcards, linked in an easy to read "Play Down Tree": Road to the World Series - in Scorecards.

The code for the new scorecard has been Validated at W3C as a "HTML 4.01 Transitional" document. I've published it in a Google document at this link, where you can read it in a full page format, and below in the scrolling window from which you can copy and paste it into a notepad - or take it over to W3C and put it to the test.



As a result of the changes I've made, the scorecard is now almost 4800 pixels wide (Blogger default is 660px) - you may need to adjust your "View" settings. Firefox's zoom in or out feature: hold down 'Ctrl' and press '+' or '-'. Another browser? Your on your own. :)

I've made the Batter Line-up boxes and the "At-bat Boxes" 8 lines high and much wider, room for 26 lower case inputs. The pitch boxes beside each AB box can hold 32 key strokes of pitching notation. As well the "Batter Totals" boxes to the right of the AB rows can now accommodate at-bat data for 8 substitutions. This provides enough room for all the data - in it's proper placement - with-in the "Project Scoresheet Standards", outlined in Baseball Hacks by Joseph Adler (Google Books)

The next step in this project is to develop a method to "scrape" play-by-play data out of these score sheets - and transversely - create a way to digitally "lay in" data from any game that there is data for - according to the standard created by retrosheet.org - and available there at their "Play-by-Play Data Files" page. So far Retrosheet has play-by-play data files dating back to 1950 and new games update hourly. I'd like to build a way to populate the Internet Baseball Scorecard automatically with data from any game any time. For example, I think it would be neat to produce all the scorecards of every one of the 56 consecutive games in 1941 that Joe DiMaggio hit safely in. I expect that in the time it will take me to learn all that I need to know to make this functionality happen, Retrosheet and the rest of the "Sabermetricians" will have compiled data back to the war years - if it's possible.

Blogger Code to make your Blog Wider

Cut and Paste the code - from the scrolling box above or at this link - into your Blogger.com blog at the "Design" window in the "edit HTML" tab. This slightly edited blogger code makes the blogger window wide enough to handle the width of the score card. I've changed the sizes in "Blog Title Font" and the "Blog Description Font" and under 'posts' the h3 setting to 200% (that's the Post Title size, separate to the blogs font size).

I've also set everything that by default was set 'float: center;' to, 'float: left;'.

In the "Header" section I've imported a photo that I a re-sized for the Blogs Title Header Image and changed the header wrapper parameters to 1632 pixels (that wraps around the new pic).

You might want to adjust the following to create your blog's unique aesthetic: in "Variable definitions" section you can change "Blog Title Color" and "Blog Description Color".

Make your scorecard refresh automatically

You'll notice in the Google Document I've high-lighted some code - about 4/5ths of the way down. It's a "Refresh" feature for 'Live Blogging'. It can be set to any refresh rate you wish, currently it is set to refresh every thirty seconds (30000), so as I publish after each at-bat, the page people are viewing will up-date automatically. You can re-set the rate, for example '60000' is one minute. It is in the OFF position as it is.

To make your blog refresh, move the "-->" tag from the bottom of the highlighted code and paste it just after where it says STOP REFRESH . To turn OFF the refresh feature, just highlight and cut the "-->" tag and paste it back down at the bottom of the highlighted code (memorize where the tag was before you turn it ON!).

The Scorecard Code

Expand the scorecard for Extra innings

The code in the scrolling box at the top of this post produces a "Box Score" table along the top of the scorecard; a nine batter scorecard, 9 innings wide with "Batters Totals" boxes at the end of each batter's row, an "Innings Totals" row, and a "Pitcher Totals" table. (See an Entire two team scorecard here.)

All of these elements can be expanded for extra innings play though a simple copy and paste technique:

Add extra batters boxes

In Compose mode, high light an AB box and it's associated pitch notation box (four boxes - one on top of the other to the left of the AB box), left click and copy - then point with your cursor right beside the last batters box in the lead off batters row of AB boxes, and click. A prompt line should appear about have way down the box, right beside the box - with no space in-between - then just right click your mouse, and paste. A 10th inning batters box should appear in the lead off batters row. The extra inning AB box code is still in your mouse, so now continue down the column as before, clicking right next to the box, and paste for all 18 batter's rows. To complete the new inning add a number lable at the top of each teams scorecard. In the same place the '9' appears relative to the column of other AB boxes, type in the new inning number. Now your ready to score the next inning.

Add innings to the Box Score

To add boxes to the Box score table at the top, just under the Title of your post, or to the "Innings Totals" boxes along the bottom of each score card, use the same technique.

Add another pitcher

The same goes for the Pitchers Line table, just high-light one row, copy, and then point your cursor on the far left, just under the box with the last pitchers name in it click, a prompt will appear, outside of the last box - and paste.


Note: if you have a feeling the games going to go on, and on, and on, you can copy as many elements as you wish (as long as you copy horizontally) and paste them as before. The blog parameters are designed to accommodate an 18 inning scorecard. You can add nine innings to a batters row with one click of your mouse if you like. Just keep a copy of the scorecard in draft at your blog, go copy 9 batters boxes onto your mouse and Voila! 18 inning rows.

Trouble shooting the Scorecard

After you've pasted the scorecard table into your New Post window - twice, once for home team, once for visitors - then just switch over to "Compose" mode and start importing data.

Cut and Paste gremlins

Some boxes don't like cut and paste. Some of them decide to disappear when you try to cut and paste a players name into them! If this happens - Don't Worry - just stop what your doing and click 'edit' at the top of your browser window, then click 'undo' - the box will reappear. Then type the player name in - or - what I do is type three letters into the box, highlight them, then paste in the player's name. The same goes when cut and pasting team names, pitcher names, stats etc..

Another 'out' or 'fail safe' is to right click on the Firefox back button and choose and earlier "Edit Post" or "Publish Status" window. Amazingly, (to me) all your edits are saved in your browser for as long as the browser tab remains open.


Happy scorecarding. Any questions, suggestions, feel free in comments or email (top-sidebar).



mh

Did the Yankees Throw Game 6 of the ALCS?

After the Tiexiera injury in game 4 I saw a most dejected team.

Like there was now no point in contesting the rest of the game... the rest of the innings passing like the last hour of work on a Friday, just going through the motions, back at the real thing on Monday.

Then in game 5, as expected, they come back to life. the last game in New York, and with the veteran CC Sabathia on the mound - pulling every trick out from under his cap, his years baseball experience to find one last trick to fool just one more hitter - to find a way sans his 'A' game to keep the run happy Rangers at bay.

Then in game 6, after the 4 run 5th, the Yankees went back into their shell.

"Oh pitiful me! Oh, from want of will to live."

How fragile the Emperors, all the power but a mystique, a magic the court astrologers concocted that fooled us every time.

And now the team who play little ball quite well - from Texas, the biggest state in the Union - the unsophisticates, the know-nothings - they go right in and point it out to everybody, just like that. How regional, how provincial.


Can it be that simple? Some old myth repeated again, as just as they persist they must have some truth? That with out the spark plug Jeter, they are nothing?

Derek Jeter's Batting Line ALCS Game 6

Robinson Cano's Batting Line ALCS Game 6

So close to being normal, mere man-gods, that Tiexiera's being carried off the field on his shield destroys it all? What happened to these centurions? This mighty unstoppable army? The Empire at an end? Corruption eating at the core of the thing - the Senate fundamentally corrupted?

Surely there must be other logic; it must be 9 men out... the starting pitchers the key... then just a few at the top of the line-up... . The odds beyond cognition, the stake beyond dreaming.

Phil Hughes' Pitching Line ALCS Game 6

Did the Yankees throw the ALCS?

Or did the myth run out of magic. Did the chicken come home to roost? The ugly bleacher creatures and their homophobic delights too late to repent; the cock-sure interfere-rs too many; the Rodriguez cheats over years; the unabashed spending that has dwarfed any in either league - for so long.

Has the crash finally come? Have the Barbarians arrived at the gates? Has Faust come to account?


Or did they just do us one better? I'm wondering if the Yankees' threw the series.



mh

2010 MLB Postseason: Links to all the NLCS/ALCS Baseball Scorecards

MLB 2010 Championship Series Scorecard links
(all links open in a new tab)

NLCS

NLCS Philadelphia Phillies @ San Francisco Giants - Game 4

NLCS Philadelphia Phillies @ San Francisco Giants - Game 3

NLCS San Francisco Giants @ Philadelphia Phillies - Game 2

NLCS San Francisco Giants @ Philadelphia Phillies - Game 1

ALCS

ALCS Texas Rangers @ New York Yankees - Game 5

ALCS Texas Rangers @ New York Yankees - Game 4

ALCS Texas Rangers @ New York Yankees - Game 3

ALCS New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers - Game 2

ALCS New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers - Game 1



Also, I've built a Postseason 'Tree' with links to all the scorecards:

Scorecard Road to the World Series

A 2010 MLB Postseason 'Play Down Tree'
A Link List to all The Internet Baseball Scorecard's 2010 MLB Postseason Scorecards

mh

Copy and Paste an extra inning onto the HTML Scorecard

If you've been following the progress of the development of the HTML Scorecard here at Baseball Blogs you know I've been working on a way to add extra innings to the scorecard 'in-game', quickly - so at the end of the ninth inning, heading into the tenth, one can add an inning in the time it takes for the networks to come back from the commercial break.

SUCCESS!

Here's two screen shots of the same scorecard BEFORE and AFTER:

BEFORE

AFTER

All the data from the first nine inning remains intact, you just copy an empty AB box from some where in the table and paste one (or two or three...) onto the end of each Batter row while in Compose mode in your New Post window. Through the entire process you need not read a single line of code.

I'm about to score the ALCS Texas Rangers @ New York Yankees  - Game 5 (4:07 PM EDT) at The Internet Baseball Scorecard; I'll use the new scorecard. I hope it goes into extra innings as the Texans eliminate the hapless Yanks from the 2010 Postseason.

:)



mh