The Baseball Cube

Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms

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Glossary of Terms
Player Elements

Proper Name  --  Given name, if available.
Ht  --  Height of player.
Wt  --  Weight of player. At time player entered the system. Sometimes updated as they age and progress through minors to MLB.
Bats  --  Batting side (left/right/both)
Throws  --  Pitching arm (Left/right/rarely both)
Positions  --  Can be listed as all positions played during career, as his current positions, the position for the selected season or as the dominant position of his career. Depending on the context of the page.
Born  --  Date of birth, if available. Sometimes expressed as a year based on logical guess.
Place  --  Place of birth or hometown. The aim is birth location but sources vary in their interpretation of this attribute. Might change over time for some players based on new information provided.
High School  --  Graduating high school attended. Players can only have 1 school listed
College(s)  --  All colleges attended. Intended to reflect schools where they played baseball (or another sport). Post-career education is not considered relevant.
Drafted  --  Latest draft instance for player, whether signed or not. All draft instances for a player are listed on their player page under the "Draft" tab. 
High Level  --  Highest level reached in baseball with MLB as the highest and Minor League Levels next (AAA,AA,A+,A,A-,Rk). Next is Indy (Independent Leagues) and then College
MLB Years  --  Range of years played in the Major Leagues. Might include years in between with no appearances. (Injured, in minors or out of baseball)
Stat Years  --  Range of years with stats available in The Baseball Cube system.
Current Status  --  Current Team/level and roster status for player.
MLB Debut  --  Date of Major League Baseball debut linked to boxscore
TBC ID  --  Internal Player ID# assigned by The Baseball cube
MLBAM ID  --  Major League Baseball Advanced Media ID#
Retrosheet  --  Retrosheet.org ID# used for boxscore-level data.
MLB teams  --  List of all MLB organizations with (# of seasons), sorted descending by # of seasons.

Batting Statistics

G  --  Games played
AB  --  At Bats. Plate appearances without walks, hit by pitch and sacrifices.
R  --  Runs scored
H  --  Hits
2B  --  Doubles (sometimes listed as dbl)
3B  --  Triples (sometimes listed as tpl)
HR  --  Home Runs
RBI  --  Runs Batted In
SB  --  Stolen Bases
CS  --  Caught stealing
BB  --  Base on Balls (walks)
SO  --  Strikeouts
HBP/HP  --  Hit by Pitch
SH  --  Sacrifice hits. Deliberately gave up at bat to move a runner.
SF  --  Sacrifice flies. Runner scored on a fly ball. Not an at bat.
IBB  --  Intentional Walks. Put on base by pitcher deliberately.
GDP  --  Grounded into double play.
PA  --  Plate apperances. All times going to bat.
TB  --  total bases. (Aggreate number of bases for hits. (1 for single...2 for double etc)
XB  --  Extra base hits (2b+3b+hr)
1B  --  Singles (sometimes listed sa sgl)
BAVG  --  Batting Average (h/ab) (sometimes listed as avg)
OBP  --  On Base Percentage (h+bb+hbp)/(ab+bb+hbp+sf)
SLG  --  Slugging Percentage (tb/ab)
OPS  --  On Base Plus Slugging (obp + slg)
SECA  --  Secondary Average (bb+tb-h+sb-cs)/ab
ISO  --  Isolated power (slg-bavg)
BABIP  --  Batting average on balls put in play (h-hr)/(ab-hr-so+sf)
BB%  --  Walk percentage (bb/pa)
SO%  --  Strikeout percentage (so/pa)
SO/BB  --  Strikeout to walk ratio (so/bb)
AB/HR  --  Average At bats between home runs (ab/hr)

Pitching Statistics

W  --  Wins
L  --  losses
G  --  Games pitched
GS  --  Games started
CG  --  Completed Games. Pitched full game, regardless of number of innings.
SHO  --  Shutouts. With complete game.
GR  --  Games relieved. (g-gs)
GF  --  Games finished. Last pitcher of the game.
SV  --  Saves. last relief pitcher in close game.
IP  --  Innings pitched (with thirds. example: 5.0, 5.1 or 5.2)
H  --  Hits allowed
R  --  Runs Allowed
ER  --  Earned runs allowed. All runs minus runs deemed to not be pitcher's fault.
HR  --  Home runs allowed
BB  --  walks allowed
SO  --  Strikeouts
WP  --  Wild pitches. Pitches allowing baserunners to advance a base. (Pitcher's fault)
BK  --  Balks. Illegal movements as pitcher
HB  --  Hit batsmen
ERA  --  Earned run average (9/ip)*er
WHIP  --  Walks/hits per 9 innings pitched. (bb+h)/ip
H9  --  Hits per 9 innings (9/ip)*h
HR9  --  Homers per 9 innings (9/ip)*hr
BB9  --  Walks per 9 innings (9/ip)*bb
SO9  --  Strikeouts per 9 innings (9/ip)*so
R9  --  Runs allowed per 9 innings (9/ip)*r
SO/BB  --  Strikeout to walk ratio (so/bb)

Fielding Statistics

Expressed per position played
G  --  Games played at position
GS  --  Games started at position (MLB only)
Inn  --  Innings played at position (MLB only)
PO  --  Putouts. Credited with out. Examples. Catching ball in air. tagging runner. Stepping on base
A  --  Assists. Threw ball to fielder who recorded the Putout.
E  --  Error. Player miscue results in extra bases for runners. At official scorer's discretion
DP  --  Double plays. participation
TC  --  Total chances (po+a+e)
TSC  --  Total successful chances (po+a)
SB  --  Stolen bases against as catcher or Pitcher
CS  --  Caught stealings as catcher or pitcher
FPCT  --  Fielding Percentage. (tsc/tc)
RFG  --  Range factor per game. (tsc/g)
RFI  --  Range factor per innings (tsc/inn) (MLB only)
RF9I  --  Range factor per 9 innings (tsc/inn)*9 (MLB only)
TM SHR  --  Team share at position. g/team games
PL SHR  --  Player share at selected position of player's games. games at position / total games for player
TM RK  --  Team rank in games at selected position

College Baseball Data Elements

College Long Name  --  Full name of college, usually including "University of" or "college"/"Junior College"
College Short Name  --  Core words of school. Example, "Vanderbilt" instead of "Vanderbilt University". names can change over time.
Nickname  --  Collected by year. Schools changing nicknames will be reflected.
Conference  --  College league. Usually based on Geography/School Size/Calibre.
Division  --  Refers mostly to the division within the conference. (example: north/south)
College Division (or Level)  --  Level of play. NCAA I is the highest. Full list: (NCAA 1,NCAA 2,NCAA 3,NAIA,JrCollege)
RPI  --  Ratings Percentage Index. Algorithmic ranking of schools based on strength of schedule and their opponents strength of schedule. 
Conference Record  --  Win/Loss/Tie record for conference play. (Games against schools in conference during "regular season")
Overall Record  --  Win/Loss/Tie record for all games during the spring season including end-of-season tournaments.
RF  --  Runs for. Note that this is based on available player stats
RA  --  Runs against. Based on available player stats.
DIFF  --  Run differential. (rf-ra)
Head Coach  --  Main coach for college. Coaching staffs for D1 schools are also available. Head Coach is available for all college divisions.
Ballpark  --  Main venue for home games.
Tournament Info  --  Yearly tournament seeds and rankings are available for D1 schools where tournament existed. (Not all D1 conferences play a tournament)
CWS_?  --  Participation in regionals (cws reg), super-regionals (cws_sup) and College World Series (cws_final). These are stages of the NCAA D1 Tournament and participation is expressed as the host location of the phase. 
Rank  --  Can refer to the rank within a conference or the rank within a round at the NCAA Tournament. 

High School Data Elements

High School Name  --  Name of high school. Sometimes a variation of actual high school name.
High School Location  --  City/State of high school. Sometimes debatable.
Nickname  --  Current nickname of high school. Possibly out of date. Let us know if this is the case.
Colors  --  2 or 3 colors per school collected.
League  --  Conference or league high school plays in. Sometimes named with descriptive words and sometimes numeric/coded.
Head Coach  --  Coach of school for given season. Only head coach captured.
Record  --  Overall record for school/season. Accuracy will always be debatable depending on reliabliity of source.
Quality Score  --  Overall quality of the High School program algorithmically calculated using available releative success of baseball careers of known alumni. The rankings can change often. The scores are distributed evenly as if centiled.

Draft Data Elements

Draft Year  --  Year of phase of draft.
Phase  --  The name of the phase. Currently, only June-Regular phase exists. In the past, there were phases in January and August as well. "Signed" also appears as a phase and refers to Undrafted Free Agent signings.
Round  --  Draft round. Teams typically get 1 pick per rounds, though there are exceptions.
Overall  --  nth pick of the phase of the draft.
Team  --  Drafting MLB organization.
Signed  --  Yes/No. Player signed a contract with drafting team.
Source  --  Drafted out of High School, College or as a Free Agent (Unaffiliated to a school). UDFAs can be drafted as International players.
School  --  Name of the High School or College from where player was drafted
Bonus  --  Signing bonus.
Scouts  --  Names of the MLB scouts that scouted and signed the player (System supports maximum of 3 names per player)
Sign Date  --  The date player signed with MLB team. These dates can be misleading as it is not always known whether the player actually signed on that date or this was when it was reported.
Draft Region  --  State, Province or Country from where player was selected/signed
Draft Pos  --  Draft defensive position. At time of draft, the player's listed position.
Bonus  --  Amount of signing bonus given to player by team. 
Slot Value  --  Recommended signing bonus for player at overall slot#. Teams are still allowed to offer the bonus value they want.
School Level  --  Similar to College Division or "HS" for high school
School Type  --  4-year college, 2-year junior college or high school
Player class  --  For college players, Fr,So,Jr,Sr or 5th year senior
Draft notes  --  Additional information related to the draft pick. (Competitive balance, compensation, first pick from school etc)

For Rule 5

Pick  --  Pick Number. teams draft in reverse order from prior year standings. 
from team  --  Original team of drafted player
to team  --  New team of drafted player

Transaction/Roster Data Elements

Tranx_date  --  Transaction date. Normally accurate, if not, its close to the actual date of the transaction.
40man  --  Indicates whether a player is MLB organization 40-man roster
Status  --  Current roster status of player. Examples included Active, Injured, in minors, free agent or on a specialty list.
Active Record  --  Indicates transaction record is player's most recent transaction record.
Transaction Notes  --  Description of transaction. Contract details, injury description and cause, assignment team etc.


Extended Batting Stats

games
G  --  Games Played
GS  --  Games Started. (in starting lineup)
CG  --  Complete games. Played full game
GF  --  Games finished. Not necessarily started
PH  --  Pinch-hit appearances
PR  --  Pinch-run appearances
DR  --  Defensive replacement
GS%  --  Games Started Percentage
CG%  --  Complete Game Percentage
exit PH  --  Exited game for a pinch hitter
exit PR  --  Exited game for a pinch runner
exit DR  --  Exited game for a defensive replacement
ln 1-9  --  #of games per Lineup slot
p..c..1b..  --  # of games per position. Possibly > games played since player can play multiple positions per game

On Base
ONBS  --  Standard on base (h+bb+hbp)
ONBS2  --  All times on base including h+bb+hbp+roe+fc+fo
OBP2  --  Secondary on base percentage including all times on base.
ROE  --  Reached on error
FC  --  Fielder's Choice. Reached base when would likely have been out had fielder made different decision.
FO  --  Forceout. Runner ahead of him out instead of batter.
CI  --  Catcher's interference.
1B  --  Singles
IFH  --  Infield Hits
BNT  --  Bunts
B-H  --  Bunt hits
PH-H  --  Pinch hit hits
PH-HR  --  Pinch hit home runs
HR1  --  Solo home runs
HR2  --  2-run home runs
HR3  --  3-run home runs
HR4  --  Grand-slam home runs (Bases loaded)
IPHR  --  Inside the park home runs
HRRBI  --  RBIs on home runs
%  --  Percentage related to adjacent fields
RBI2  --  2-out rbis
BB4  --  Walked on 4 pitches
BB1OP  --  Walked with first base open and other baserunners
RON  --  Plate appearances with runners on
BR  --  Total Baserunners while batting
RBI%  --  % of runners driven in
OPP  --  Baserunner score (1 for 3b, 2 for 2b, 3 for 1b)
CONV  --  Baserunners converted (Sum of scores)
CONV%  --  Conversion %. Measure of ability to drive in runs as a function of opportunity.
LDOF  --  Leadoff plate appearances
OB  --  Leadoff reached base
LAST  --  Last batter in a game
WOH  --  Walk-off hit
WOHR  --  Walk-off home run

outs
OUTS  --  Plate appearances resulting in out
GO  --  Ground outs
AO  --  Air outs
RATIO  --  Groundout/Airout ratio
FLY  --  Fly outs
LINE  --  Lineouts
POP  --  Popouts
IF  --  Infield Outs
OF  --  Outfield Outs
PRD  --  Productive Outs. Batter out but at least 1 runner advanced
RBI  --  RBIs on outs
SO  --  Strikeouts
SO%  --  Strikeout percentage (so/pa)
SO3  --  Struck out on 3 pitches
SW  --  Swinging strikeouts
CAL  --  Strikeouts looking
FC  --  Fielders choice
FO  --  Forceouts
DP  --  Grounded into double play
OPP  --  Opportunities to ground into a double play
GDP%  --  dp/opp
LOCx  --  Location of out in terms of position number.

Baserunning
SB  --  Total stolen bases
SB2  --  Steals of second base
SB3  --  Steals of third base
SBH  --  Steals of home
DI  --  Advanced a base on defensive indifference. 
CS  --  Total caught stealings
CS2  --  Caught stealing second base
CS3  --  Caught stealing third base
CSH  --  Caught stealing home
S12  --  Advanced to 2b from 1b on single
S13  --  Advanced to 3b from 1b on single
S23  --  Advanced to 3b from 2b on single
S2H  --  Scored from 2b on single
D13  --  Advanced to 3b from 1b on double
D1H  --  Scored from 1b on double
ADVXB  --  Advanced extra base
ADVOPP  --  Opportunities for advancement
ADV%  --  Extra base advancement %
PTHR  --  Pickoff throws while baserunner
PCKFF  --  Picked off
WPPB  --  Advanced on wild pitch/passed ball
ADVOUT  --  Advanced on an out
OOB  --  Out on bases while runner (not batter)
R  --  Runs scored
ONBS  --  Standard on base (h+bb+hbp)
run%  --  r/onbs

Pitches
PIT  --  Pitches seen
STR  --  Strikes
BAL  --  Balls
FOU  --  Fouls
SW  --  Swinging strikes
CAL  --  Called strikes
PLAY  --  Balls put in Play
SWING  --  Total Swings (fou+sw+play)
CONT  --  Total contacts (fou+play)
P/PA  --  Pitches per plate appearance
STR%  --  Strike percentage
BAL%  --  Ball Percenatage
SWNG%  --  Swing percentage. swing/pit
CONT%  --  Contact percentage (cont/swing)
FOU%  --  Foul ball Percentage (foul/pit)
PLAY%  --  In Play % (play/pit)
FPS  --  First pitch strikes
FPSW  --  First pitch swings
FPSW%  --  First pitch swing percentage (fpsw/pa)
FPIP  --  First pitch in play 
FPIP%  --  First pitch in play % (fpip/pa)
RUNGO  --  Runners going while batting
HITRUN  --  Hit and run plays while batting (ball put in play)
GB  --  Ground balls
AIR  --  Air balls
RATIO  --  gb/air

pitching

W  --  Wins
L  --  Losses
WPCT  --  Win percentage
TM-W  --  Team wins when pitching
TM-L  --  Team losses when pitching
TM-W%  --  Team win% in games he pitched
HOLDS  --  Held team lead in close game as reliever
SV  --  Saves
BLSV  --  Blown saves. Entered in save situation but left with game tied or losing.
INN1-9  --  Pitched in inning# of game.
INNx  --  Pitched in extra innings
IP-S  --  Innings pitched as starter
IP-R  --  Innings pitched as releiver
AVG ST  --  Average innings per start
AVG Rel  --  Average innings as releiver
LMI  --  Left game mid-inning
EMI  --  Entered game mid-inning
GSC1  --  Game Score using Bill James formula. MLB.Com Reference page
GSC2  --  Game Score using Tom Tango formula. MLB.Com Reference page

Talent Ratings

Talent ratings are algorithmic scouting grades based on a player's statistics as related to his peers. Talent ratings are always relative and therefore it is not possible to declare a college player with a higher power rating than a Major Leaguers as a better power hitter. It simply means his power is high relative to the players in the leagues for which he has played.

The algorithm weights recent seasons higher for active players and takes the career as a whole for inactive players.

Batters
Speed  --  Considers stolen bases compared to perceived opportunities. 
Power  --  Extra base hits (homers weighted higher) compared to balls put in play.
Contact  --  Ability to avoid striking out
Extra Base Hits (XBH)  --  Tendency to hit for extra bases, as related to hits
RBIs  --  Tendency to drive in runs, indepedent of opportunity. Note that a higher RBI score likely means player was put in an RBI position more often.
Runs  --  Ability to score a run once on base.
Hitting  --  Ability to get hits
Durability  --  Player's propensity to stay healthy as measured by games played relative to his team's games. This measure will actually measure both durability and useability.
Team Success  --  Winning Percentage for the player's teams.

Pitchers
Strikeouts  --  Based on strikeouts per batter faced.
Walks  --  Based on walks per batter faced
Hittable  --  Based on # of hits given up per inning pitched
SO/BB  --  Based on the strikeout to walk ratio.
vs Power  --  Based on abliity to prevent home runs (Per inning pitched).
Hitting  --  Pitcher's hitting ability


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