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Daily Baseball Data Site Overview
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 (by Alex)

For those of you visiting Daily Baseball Data during the offseason, and wondering what the site is all about, here's an overview of some of the highlights of what's available here:

1. Downloadable Excel spreadsheet with 2010 MLB schedules (available now).
2. Batter vs. Pitcher matchup history for each day's games (available during season).
3. MLB hour by hour weather forecast all on one screen (available during season).
4. Bullpen usage reports showing pitch counts, innings pitched, and performance data for all relievers for the past week.
5. Sortable stats for various daily transactions games and contests.

If any of that sounds useful, bookmark us, and come back and visit during the 2010 baseball season.

Also, we're always interested in adding more great features to the site. If you have any suggestions, send us an email (addresses available in the Other Links|About This Site/Contact Us menu choice).

Quick Thoughts On Some Daily Fantasy Sports Sites
Sat, 26 Dec 2009 (by Alex)

Once the 2010 baseball season starts, we're planning to have full reviews of all of the daily fantasy sports sites here at DailyBaseballData.com. Those reviews will include a lot on each specific format. In the meantime, I've been playing other sports (primarily football) at some of the sites, and thought I would share some quick thoughts on a few of them.

Snapdraft - I love the large multi-player contests. At low buy-ins, it's possible to enter many contests ranging from 10 players up to 101 players. I hate the fact that player prices haven't been updated all season, leading to huge overlap in lineups between teams. I'm also not a big fan of the 20% rake.

Fanduel - Much better player pricing than Snapdraft, and lower rake. I love being able to deposit and withdraw using Paypal. Site operators are responsive and interested in discussing player opinions. Currently only has heads up contests, but they've indicated that multiplayer contests are coming in 2010.

Fantasysportslive - I actually haven't played here in a while. I'm going to soon. Good mix of traffic for contests up to ten players, and they've got the lowest rake of the major sites (especially at higher buy-ins).

Daily Fantasy Contest Breakeven Points
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 (by Alex)

I've heard a few people say that it's really tough to come out ahead in daily fantasy contests because of the high 'rake' that the sites take. Specifically, several experienced players have said that since most sites take out 10% of the entry fees before paying out prizes, you need to have a 60% winning percentage to break even. This is wrong.

My initial thought was something along the lines of this: It's widely know that if you're betting against the spread in sports, and you're getting -110, then you need to win 52.38% of the time to break even...so there's the breakeven point for daily fantasy contests. This is wrong too!

Doing a little math showed that the rake isn't actually 10% in many of the common prize/fee structures used in daily contests and sports betting. -110 is not the same as a $10+$1 heads up contest and both are different than a $10 heads up contest with $18 prize.

A -110 line actually means that you're betting $11 to $21. Much less than 10% is being taken out in rake. In a $10+$1, you're betting $11 to win $20. And in a $10 heads up contest that pays $18 to the winner, you're doing the equivalent of betting $11 to win $19.80. The winning percentages you need to achieve to come out ahead are different in each case, although all substantially below the 60% that I've heard several experienced players mention.

For -110, the breakeven win rate is 52.38%. For a $10+$1 contest, it's 55%. And for a $10 to win $18 ccontest, it's 55.56%.

2010 MLB Schedule Spreadsheet
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 (by RotoGuru)

The 2010 MLB schedule is out, and if you're looking to do some preseason analysis or setup work, you might want it in the form of an Excel spreadsheet.

Here it is!

The data in the XLS file is laid out in both columns and rows (dates in rows, teams in columns - and vice versa), so choose your preferred format and have at it! Categories: schedule spreadsheet xls

Update
Sun, 01 Nov 2009 (by Alex)

I figured it's time to update everyone on where we are with the site. Obviously this is the slow season for us, and it's about to get even slower. Now that Draftbug isn't running any more, we'll probably be transforming ourselves into a more general daily fantasy baseball site for 2010. You can expect some strategy articles, site reviews, and hopefully we'll have time to create even more tools for analysis.

Looking for a C#/.NET Programmer
Sat, 29 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

I'm looking for an entrepreneurial C#/.NET programmer interested in partnering on a fantasy sports/sports betting related project. If you're interested (or know someone who would be), send me an email. I'm looking for someone able to spend 10-20 hours per week in return for a substantial amount of equity in an online business. Categories: c# .net programmer equity

Scattered Thunderstorms
Thu, 20 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

Taking a look at the MLB Weather Forecast for today (8/20/09), more than half of today's games have between a 40% and 60% chance of rain, with the description for most being "scattered thunderstorms". Check back later as the exact timing of the storms becomes more precise in the forecasts.

Weather For Today's Games (8/18/09)
Tue, 18 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

Many of today's games have a chance of rain, ranging as high as 50% for the San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies at Washington Nationals. As the games approach, check out the forecast for all games at baseball weather forecast data.

Closers In Waiting
Fri, 14 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

Take a look at the innings pitched and pitch counts in the Bullpen Usage Report to see which closer threw 35 pitches in a two inning outing yesterday, and may need to be rested today. This kind of insight can be key to identifying which closers in waiting are in line to pick up a spot save each day.

Check Weather In Atlanta, Baltimore, New York, Florida, and Boston
Tue, 11 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

Today is a good day to check the weather forecast for fantasy baseball or the weather report for sports betting. The games in Atlanta, Baltimore, New York, Florida, and Boston all are currently (at 5:42am Eastern) listed as having a 30% to 40% chance of rain at gametime. Typically as the games approach, some of those go down to 10% or less, while any that are at serious risk of postponement will go up to 60% of more.

Bullpen Fatigue
Sat, 08 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

There's a team where the closer and another reliever have each pitched the past three days, and presumably will be unavailable today due to fatigue. Check out bullpen pitch counts to figure out which team it is and to see what impact on the Yankees - Red Six marathon yesterday (8/7/09) had on the relievers on those teams.

Howie Kendrick
Fri, 07 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

There's a new post up in our blog section (by Matt) making a strong argument that using Howie Kendrick on their fantasy baseball team is making a mistake.

Facebook Salary Cap Fantasy Baseball: Lineup Analysis (8/4/09)
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

Visit our blog section for my thoughts on today's (8/4/09) lineup selections by one of our readers for the Facebook Salary Cap Fantasy Baseball Challenge.

Jose Valverde Unavailable To Close 8/3/09?
Mon, 03 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

Jose Valerde threw 31 piches yesterday and 17 the day before. That's a heavy enough recent workload that he may be unavailable to close today (8/3/09), so plan your 'lineup' for any daily transactions leagues accordingly.

Daily Baseball Data Blog
Sat, 01 Aug 2009 (by Alex)

Resources available at Daily Baseball Data include
batter vs. pitcher matchup history, MLB Weather Dashboard, and the Bullpen Usage Report.

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