Thanks. I actually wrote a few functions as part of a php library to
handle the data. One is a method of determining primary position and
another is a list of positions played by the player in at least a
variable percentage of their innings. I also have a determinant of SP
vs RP vs CL. I have other functions as well such as
ReturnAgeAtSeasonStart, returnarrayofteamsplayedfor and a whole lot
more.


The only thing I want to add is a method of weighting more recent data
and possibly degrading data over a fixed/variable amount of years
(depending on age,position,etc.) for the data to make more accurate
determinations.

I think it's better to make a determination "on the fly" as opposed
to using a fixed database especially if data is being updated at some
point. A static database of player-position can get stale, especially
if the user forgets to include this years and used 2007's by accident.

I'm definitely interested in discussing further, especially if I
missed the point entirely - which is something I tend to do since I
try to think abstractly.

Matthew Gargano



On Sep 3, 2009, at 5:31 AM, "sgtmac5660@..." <sgtmac5660@...>
wrote:

> Matthew;
> If you feel that Tom's primpos.mdb is something you might be
> interested in using, just be aware you need to make some changes to
> use it with later versions of the Lahman Access database. Feel free
> to contact me if you need any assistance.
> Mac
>
> --- In baseball-databank@yahoogroups.com, Matthew Gargano
> <mgargano@...> wrote:
>>
>> pardon my ignorance, but what is the primpos.mdb database?
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> http://www.baseball-databank.org/Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>