BaseballChronology Help: Player, Manager or Umpire Page

We explain what each of the abbreviations found on player's pages mean below, but did you know that most of that info is already on the page? Put your mouse over this text. Notice the the tip that appears next to your mouse? We have implemented such tips all over this site. For example, here is an excerpt from one of our stats pages:
2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF XI ROE GDP

You know what HRs & RBIs are, but did you know what XI was for? Put your mouse over it to find out.

Our pages for individual players, managers or umpires start with the following pieces of biographical information:

• Full name
• Birth name if different
• Other names he may have played under
• Date and place of Birth
• Debut date (date of first appearance in a major league game)
• Date of last appearance in a major league game
• Date and place of Death
• His batting hand (right, left, both or unknown)
• His throwing hand (right, left or unknown)
• Changes in his batting hand during his career
• His height in inches
• His weight in pounds
• Any relatives who also played, managed or umpired in the major leagues
• Any major awards or honors won by the player, umpire or manager

If there was play-by-play data for any of the player's seasons, this data will be followed by a link to a page containing the player's Top Performances for those seasons.

If there was play-by-play data for any of the player's seasons and there are either batter or pitching matchup data, there will be links to a page containing the player's Pitcher Matchups and/or for those seasons.

The next section will contain his batting record. There will be a section for his regular season batting record, followed by sections for the Divisional Series, the League Championship Series, the World Series and All-Star games, if applicable. For each section, the following information will be included (if available):

G    -  Games Played
AB   -  At Bats
R    -  Runs Scored
H    -  Hits
2B   -  Doubles
3B   -  Triples
HR   -  Home Runs
RBI  -  Runs Batted In
BB   -  Bases On Balls
IBB  -  Intentional Bases On Balls
SO   -  Strikeouts
HBP  -  Hit By Pitch
SH   -  Sacrifice Hits
SF   -  Sacrifice Flies
XI   -  Reached First on Interference
ROE  -  Reached on Error (includes fielder's choices in which no out was recorded)
GDP  -  Grounded in Double Plays
SB   -  Stolen Bases
CS   -  Caught Stealing
AVG  -  Batting Average (H / AB)
OBP  -  On-Base Percentage ((H + BB + HBP) / (AB + BB + HBP + SF))
SLG  -  Slugging Percentage ((H + 2B + (2 * 3B) + (3 * HR)) / AB)
BFW  -  Batter-Fielder Wins (see below)

If any of this information is not available for a given year, blanks will be displayed.

Batter-Fielder Wins (BFW) is a metric devised by Pete Palmer that estimates the number of wins over (or under) what an average player would contribute to his team with his batting, baserunning and fielding.

Bold type indicates that the figure either led or tied for the league lead. For the average categories, a minimum of 3.1 plate appearances per scheduled games is required for inclusion.

If available, there will be links to a daily log of his batting performances for that season (look for the "Daily" link) or to a breakdown of his performance in a variety of categories (look for the "Splits" link).

If these are available for one or more seasons, there will also be a link to a breakdown of his career performance (including only those seasons for which we have seasonal split data) in a variety of categories.

If the player pitched at all during his career, the next section will contain his pitching record. Once again, there will be a section for his regular season pitching record, followed by sections for the Divisional Series, the League Championship Series, the World Series and All-Star games, if applicable. For each section, the following information will be included (if available):

G    -  Games Pitched
GS   -  Games Started
CG   -  Complete Games
SHO  -  Shutouts
GF   -  Relief Games Finished
SV   -  Saves
IP   -  Innings Pitched
H    -  Hits Allowed
BFP  -  Batters Faced Pitcher
HR   -  Home Runs Allowed
R    -  Runs Allowed
ER   -  Earned Runs Allowed
BB   -  Bases On Balls
IBB  -  Intentional Bases On Balls
SO   -  Strikeouts
SH   -  Sacrifice Hits Allowed
SF   -  Sacrifice Flies Allowed
WP   -  Wild Pitches
HBP  -  Hit By Pitch
BK   -  Balks
GDP  -  Grounded in Double Plays
W    -  Wins
L    -  Losses
ERA  -  Earned Run Average
PW   -  Pitcher Wins

If any of this information is not available for a given year, blanks will be displayed.

Pitcher Wins (PW) is a metric devised by Pete Palmer that estimates the number of wins over (or under) what an average pitcher would contribute to his team.

Bold type indicates that the figure either led or tied for the league lead. For the ERA category, a minimum of one inning pitched per scheduled game is required for inclusion.

If available, there will be links to a daily log of his pitching performances for that season (look for the "Daily" link) or to a breakdown of his performance in a variety of categories (look for the "Splits" link).

The next section will contain his fielding record. Once again, there will be a section for his regular season fielding record, followed by sections for the Divisional Series, the League Championship Series, the World Series and All-Star games, if applicable. For each section, the following information will be included (if available):

POS  -  Defensive Position
G    -  Games Played
GS   -  Games Started
CG   -  Complete Games
INN  -  Innings Played
PO   -  Putouts
A    -  Assists
E    -  Errors
DP   -  Double Plays
TP   -  Triple Plays
PB   -  Passed Balls
SB   -  Stolen Bases Allowed
CS   -  Caught Stealing
PkO  -  PickOffs
AVG  -  Fielding Average ((PO + A) / (PO + A + E))

If any of this information is not available for a given year, blanks will be displayed.

If available, there will be links to a daily log of his fielding performances for that season (look for the "Daily" link).

The following abbreviations are used for defensive positions:

P    -  Pitcher
C    -  Catcher
1B   -  First Baseman
2B   -  Second Baseman
3B   -  Third Baseman
SS   -  Shortstop
LF   -  Left Fielder
CF   -  Center Fielder
RF   -  Right Fielder
OF   -  Outfielder
DH   -  Designated Hitter
PH   -  Pinch Hitter
PR   -  Pinch Runner
H    -  Entered as PH or PR and Batted Again

Note: Defensive PB, SB, CS and PkO are kept for both pitchers and catchers.

Also note: Retrosheet's defensive stats are unofficial and the sum of a player's daily totals will in many cases not add up to his official totals.

Also note: Retrosheet's RF, CF and LF stats are unofficial and the sum of a player's totals at these three positions in many cases will not add up to his totals at OF.

If this person managed at all during his career, the next section will contain his managerial record. Once again, there will be a section for his regular season managerial record, followed by sections for the Divisional Series, the League Championship Series, the World Series and All-Star games, if applicable. For each section, the following information will be included (if available):

G     -  Games Managed
W     -  Wins
L     -  Losses
PCT   -  Winning Percentage
RS    -  Runs Scored
RA    -  Runs Allowed
START -  First Game Managed (zero if it was the first game of the season)
END   -  Last Game Managed (zero if it was the last game of the season)

STANDING indicates where the team finished the season as well as where the team was when the manager started or ended the season. For example, if a manager took over in mid-season and completed the year, there would be two numbers here: the first indicating the place the team was in when he took over and the second indicating the team's final position. A manager who started but did not finish a season would also have two numbers in this field, the first indicating the place the team was in when he left the team and the second indicating the team's final position.

If this person umpired at all during his career, the next section will contain his umpiring record. Once again, there will be a section for his regular season umpiring record, followed by sections for the Divisional Series, the League Championship Series, the World Series and All-Star games, if applicable. For each section, the following information will be included (if available):

G     -  Games Umpired
HP    -  Games Umpired at Home Plate
1B    -  Games Umpired at First Base
2B    -  Games Umpired at Second Base
3B    -  Games Umpired at Third Base
LF    -  Games Umpired in Left Field
RF    -  Games Umpired at Right Field

The last section will contain a list of the player's transactions. This only lists cases where a player changed major league organization. It does not contain information concerning a player's movement back and forth between the parent club and its minor league affiliations, nor does it track a player's movement on and off of disabled lists. In many cases, this data may be missing or incomplete.

References