Owing to the width of most of the many data tables on this site, it is best viewed from a desktop computer. If you are on a mobile device (phone or tablet), you will obtain a better viewing experience by rotating your device a quarter-turn (to get the so-called “panorama” screen view).
The Owlcroft Baseball-Analysis Site
Baseball team and player performance examined realistically and accurately.
This site is temporarily unavailable, owing to the need to re-do the custom software that obtains the
raw data we need to produce our results. We are working on it, but it may take some days yet, as the
software is complex. Please bear with us. We thank you for your interest in the site.
“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves,
or we know where we can find information upon it.”
– Boswell’s
Life of Samuel Johnson, Volume 2
Samuel Johnson
Leagues & Organizations
(See also the Wikipedia article List of organized baseball leagues.)
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Stats and News
(The Batter’s Box site has a very helpful mini-review of baseball-stat sites available; now a good many years old, but still useful).
Primary Stats and News Sources
There are numerous sources for baseball stats, but for both quality and quantity three stand out. They are:
All of them also offer a very great deal more than just stats.
For minor-league stats and news, there’s MiLB.com; one hopes that the recent coup by MLB, wiping out numerous minor-league teams, will not cause this source to dry up (that is, one hopes that MiLB will continue to exist, something that at present is open to question). But note that Baseball-Reference also carries minor-league (and other league) stats.
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Other Current-Stats and News Sources
Statistics & Other Data
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MLB News & Rumors
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Specialized or Historical Sources
Historical Stats
There are some awfully nice and very useful sites here.
Sean Lahman’s Database: “complete batting and pitching statistics from 1871 to 2023, plus fielding statistics, standings, team stats, managerial records, post-season data, and more”, from (of course) Sean Lahman.
Retrosheet: “Retrosheet's goal today is to provide as much information as possible about every baseball game played in major-league history.”
The Baseball Cube: “collects and organizes historical baseball statistics and data elements for all major levels of baseball. ”
The Baseball Almanac: their Statmaster, “Major League Baseball Stats Your Way.”
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Umpire Ratings
See if the data support your eyeballs.
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Other Interesting Baseball Sites
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Baseball-Analysis Theory
Active Sites
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Sites No Longer Actively Maintained (But Still Interesting)
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Discussion Forums
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Game Coverage
Nowadays, more and more people want to watch ballgames—or at least get pitch-by-pitch live recountings—than ever before. That accompanies a dramatic rise in the download speed available to most people now, and a plethora of resources for live coverage is now available.
Viewing Games
Note that there are numerous online sources that purport to offer free live streaming of baseball (and most other sports) games. Most or all offer links to streams from overseas that are carrying U.S.-based sources; that is probably illegal copyright violation, and we do not list any of them here.
MLB TV: available as standard or premium (a bit more expensive); prices vary yearly, and usually drop mid-season; note that “blackout and other restrictions apply”, meaning that their “every game” claim is tainted (surprise, surprise). Note also that you can get around those blackouts by subscribing to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) service—a few dollars a month—which makes it look to the servers as if you’re somewhere other than where you physically are. Also note that MLBPA (the MLB Players Alumni Association), which is open to anyone—repeat, anyone—who wants to pay their modest $25 “Home Run Fan”annual dues, can get MLBTV for half price (a feature not listed on the linked page).
DirecTV “Extra Innings” package: if you have DirecTV satellite service, this package, is (when last checked) $150 a year for a full MLB season; but it also includes the MLB.TV service described just above.
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On-Line Scoreboards (Free)
In addition, FanGraphs has interesting in-game analytic statistics and graphs; it’s well worth a look.
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