Neutralized Database

[gglennwill]

I'm not really a newbie, but this is a newbie question evidently as everyone else seems to know the answer but me! I understand there is a era "neutralized" database. Where is it and how do I create a historical season with it?

[SteveP]

There is a neutralized DB that comes with the game. When you first create a league, on the first window there is an option to have the players and player ratings based on real stats or neutralized stats. It is as simple as that.

There is at least one other neutralized DB (Gambo's) that you could also use, but that takes a little more setup effort.

[silentrob]

Originally Posted by gglennwill

I'm not really a newbie, but this is a newbie question evidently as everyone else seems to know the answer but me! I understand there is a era "neutralized" database. Where is it and how do I create a historical season with it?

If I am reading this correctly, you are asking about a DB where all the player ratings and talents are normalized so that the best players from an era will have high ratings regardless of how frequently the event happened in an era? (Example being, say, the 1920s when there were almost no strikeout pitchers, pitchers who led the league in Ks would get a 7, 8, or 9 rating [out of 10] even though their overall strikeout totals were modest by today's standards.)

If this is what you are looking for, it doesn't exist that I know of, but should. And if it does exist, I'd love to know where to find it. If the previous post about neutralizing the stats is what you were referring to, then those instructions are right on, and sorry for complicating the discussion.

[gglennwill]

Originally Posted by SteveP

There is a neutralized DB that comes with the game. When you first create a league, on the first window there is an option to have the players and player ratings based on real stats or neutralized stats. It is as simple as that.

There is at least one other neutralized DB (Gambo's) that you could also use, but that takes a little more setup effort.

Thanks for the reply Steve. So do I need to know the name of that database? Or it will just ask me directly if I want a neutralized database or not?

[gglennwill]

Originally Posted by silentrob

If I am reading this correctly, you are asking about a DB where all the player ratings and talents are normalized so that the best players from an era will have high ratings regardless of how frequently the event happened in an era? (Example being, say, the 1920s when there were almost no strikeout pitchers, pitchers who led the league in Ks would get a 7, 8, or 9 rating [out of 10] even though their overall strikeout totals were modest by today's standards.)

If this is what you are looking for, it doesn't exist that I know of, but should. And if it does exist, I'd love to know where to find it. If the previous post about neutralizing the stats is what you were referring to, then those instructions are right on, and sorry for complicating the discussion.

I guess I'm not sure what you mean. I assume the neutralized database that comes with the game has some sort of formula to "guess" what a players ratings would be in a certain year, for instance how Ty Cobb would bat in 1950 or whatever the chosen year is. Is that what you mean?

[NYY #23]

If you are importing a team you would use the historical_database.odb in the stats folder, and there is a drop down to base current ratings on real stats or neutralized stats, and that should do the trick as far as I know.

[silentrob]

Originally Posted by gglennwill

I guess I'm not sure what you mean. I assume the neutralized database that comes with the game has some sort of formula to "guess" what a players ratings would be in a certain year, for instance how Ty Cobb would bat in 1950 or whatever the chosen year is. Is that what you mean?

What I mean is that ratings/talents would be based on how the guy did relative to other players in the league at the same time he played. So a guy who hit 15 HR in 1915, which was a lot, would have a high power rating if imported to the year 2005, rather than a medium-to-below-average power rating because 15 HR wasn't all that great in 2005.

Again, I am not aware of a DB that does this. I very much wish there was one. Or if it does exist, I'd love to know where to find it.

I admit my other post could have been written more clearly. Sorry about that.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by gglennwill

Thanks for the reply Steve. So do I need to know the name of that database? Or it will just ask me directly if I want a neutralized database or not?

I didn't mean my side note about the Gambo DB to confuse things. To get a league based on the included neutralized stats DB, you just need to choose "Neutralized stats" in the first window of the league setup process, instead of "Real stats" (I'm working off memory here). It's just another one of the drop-down box type options.

[SteveP]

As far as what "neutralized" means in these DBs, I can't speak with complete authority, but I believe that in simplest terms, these DBs neutralize based on equalizing ballpark factors for the seasons and teams that the players were in the game. These DBs also do something else, which IMHO can have some doubtful benefits, which is to sort of equalize (my term) ABs for players who had very low, or no, ABs in a particular season. They also do something similar in both cases for pitchers. AFAIK, there is no attempt to somehow create stats that are neutralized across all the eras of baseball.

[silentrob]

Originally Posted by SteveP

AFAIK, there is no attempt to somehow create stats that are neutralized across all the eras of baseball.

This is my experience as well, I don't know of any such thing. It would really be nice for people who like historical league play, because then the transitions in eras would not skew who the best players are. You would think that with as many options as this game has for setting things up how you want them, this would be one of those options. Someday, perhaps.

[Spritze]

In simple terms........

The neutered stats are based on 750 runs per team/league/year. Some years get a bump, some years get a squish.

GOTO BBREF.com for a much more detailed explanation of the stats neutrification processes and the results the processes produce.

So yes these stats ARE neutralized across all eras. Makes them a great tool for across era play.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by Spritze

In simple terms........

The neutered stats are based on 750 runs per team/league/year. Some years get a bump, some years get a squish.

GOTO BBREF.com for a much more detailed explanation of the stats neutrification processes and the results the processes produce.

So yes these stats ARE neutralized across all eras. Makes them a great tool for across era play.

See, I knew if I went out on a limb one of the experts would come along to set things straight. Not only that, all the words in this quote from Spritze were recognizable English. That's how we make progress around here ...