Baseball Players' Rating System

Abstract

A system for real-time rating and rankings of baseball players, which includes a server, one or more databases, and a ranking processing engine with a machine learning module. The system is accessible via a network by a plurality of clients, each of which includes a software application for displaying the ratings and statistics of baseball players. The system uses a plurality of performance parameters and a plurality of weighting factors for weighting the performance parameters. A machine learning algorithm is used for supervising the weighting factors for creating ratings of baseball players. The system provides the rankings to the clients via the software application, enabling fans, baseball organizations, media outlets, and other interested parties to track the performance of players in a more accurate and comprehensive manner. The system will create a unified world baseball ranking and assist in predicting the outcome of an individual or team match up.

Claims

1. A baseball players' rating system comprising: a computer device, wherein said computer device having a processing unit, a memory, a communication interface, an input device, an output device, and a display; an application having a plurality of performance parameters for compiling a baseball player's rating; a plurality of weighting factors for weighting said plurality of performance parameters; a ranking database coupled to a ranking processing engine configured for receiving and storing said plurality of performance parameters and said baseball player's rating; wherein said plurality of performance parameters are selected from a group consisting of a Batting Average (AVG), On-base Percentage (OBP), Slugging Percentage (SLG), On-base plus Slugging (OPS), Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), Wins Above Replacement (WAR), and Earned Run Average (ERA); and further wherein said plurality of weighting factors are selected from a group consisting of a body of work, a results for performance, a game situation, and a geographical location.

2. The baseball players' rating system of claim 1, wherein at least two of said plurality of weighting factors are applied to each of said plurality of performance parameters.

3. The baseball players' rating system of claim 1, wherein at least three of said plurality of weighting factors are applied to each of said plurality of performance parameters.

4. The baseball players' rating system of claim 1, wherein at least four of said plurality of weighting factors are applied to each of said plurality of performance parameters.

5. The baseball players' rating system of claim 1, wherein said display displays said plurality of performance parameters and said ratings of said baseball players.

6. The baseball players' rating system of claim 3, wherein said ranking database stores real time ratings of the players and are provided to the users on said application.

7. The baseball players' rating system of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of performance parameters is normalized using an average of each respective said plurality of performance parameters of the baseball player divided by an average of a multitude of other players' respective said plurality of performance parameters.

8. The baseball players' rating system of claim 7, wherein said game situation is a specific circumstance of each game selected from a group consisting of a score, an inning, a number of outs, and a baserunner situation.

9. The baseball players' rating system of claim 8, wherein said plurality of performance parameters further having a player's physical attributes and past injuries.

10. The baseball players' rating system of claim 8, wherein said geographical location is an environmental factor selected from a group consisting of a geographic location of a game, a home game, an away game, a hitter-friendly ballpark, a pitcher-friendly ballpark, a climate condition, an altitude, and a humidity level.

11. The baseball players' rating system of claim 8, wherein said plurality of performance parameters are further selected from a group consisting of a number of hits, a number of at-bats, a number of walks, a number of hit-by-pitches, a number of bases, a number of home runs, a number of strikeouts, a number of batting runs, a number of running runs, a number of fielding runs, and a number of replacement runs.

12. A baseball players' rating system comprising: a computer device; an application having a plurality of performance parameters for compiling a baseball player's rating; a plurality of weighting factors for weighting said plurality of performance parameters, wherein said computer device having a processing unit, a memory, a communication interface, an input device, an output device, and a display; a ranking database coupled to a ranking processing engine configured for receiving and storing said plurality of performance parameters and said baseball player's rating; wherein said plurality of performance parameters are selected from a group consisting of a Batting Average (AVG), On-base Percentage (OBP), Slugging Percentage (SLG), On-base plus Slugging (OPS), Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), Wins Above Replacement (WAR), and Earned Run Average (ERA); wherein said plurality of weighting factors are selected from a group consisting of a body of work, a results for performance, a game situation, and a geographical location; wherein at least two of said plurality of weighting factors are applied to each of said plurality of performance parameters; and further wherein each of said plurality of performance parameters is normalized using an average of each respective said plurality of performance parameters of the baseball player divided by an average of a multitude of other players' respective said plurality of performance parameters.

13. The baseball players' rating system of claim 12, wherein at least four of said plurality of weighting factors are applied to each of said plurality of performance parameters.

14. The baseball players' rating system of claim 13, wherein said game situation is a specific circumstance of each game selected from a group consisting of a score, an inning, a number of outs, and a baserunner situation.

15. The baseball players' rating system of claim 14, wherein said plurality of performance parameters further having a player's physical attributes and past injuries.

16. The baseball players' rating system of claim 15, wherein said geographical location is an environmental factor selected from a group consisting of a geographic location of a game, a home game, an away game, a hitter-friendly ballpark, a pitcher-friendly ballpark, a climate condition, an altitude, and a humidity level.

17. The baseball players' rating system of claim 16, wherein said plurality of performance parameters are further selected from a group consisting of a number of hits, a number of at-bats, a number of walks, a number of hit-by-pitches, a number of bases, a number of home runs, a number of strikeouts, a number of batting runs, a number of running runs, a number of fielding runs, and a number of replacement runs.

18. A method of rating a baseball player, the method comprising the steps of: providing a computer device and an application having a plurality of performance parameters for compiling a baseball player's rating, wherein said computer device having a processing unit, a memory, a communication interface, an input device, an output device, and a display; receiving and storing said plurality of performance parameters and said baseball player's rating in a ranking database coupled to a ranking processing engine, wherein said plurality of performance parameters are selected from a group consisting of a Batting Average (AVG), On-base Percentage (OBP), Slugging Percentage (SLG), On-base plus Slugging (OPS), Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), Wins Above Replacement (WAR), and Earned Run Average (ERA); weighting said plurality of performance parameters with a plurality of weighting factors, wherein said plurality of weighting factors are selected from a group consisting of a body of work, a results for performance, a game situation, and a geographical location; and applying at least two of said plurality of weighting factors to each of said plurality of performance parameters, wherein a weight of said body of work is from 0.20 to 0.40, a weight of said results for performance is from 0.20 to 0.40, a weight of said game situation is from 0.20 to 0.35, and a weight of said geographical location is from 0.10 to 0.20.

19. The method of rating a baseball player of claim 18 further comprising a step of normalizing each of said plurality of performance parameters using an average of each respective said plurality of performance parameters of the baseball player divided by an average of a multitude of other players' respective said plurality of performance parameters.

20. The method of rating a baseball player of claim 19 further comprising a step of applying at least three of said plurality of weighting factors to each of said plurality of performance parameters.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The description refers to provided drawings in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the different views, and in which:

[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates a client and server system for providing rankings and rating levels of baseball players in accordance with the disclosed architecture;

[0019] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart depicting a process of generating a baseball player's ranking by the baseball players' ranking system of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture;

[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user interface displayed by an application for displaying the ranking of baseball players generated by the baseball players' ranking system of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture;

[0021] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating various steps of a method of determining at least one baseball player rating according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

[0022] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating a process of predicting game results based on the rating of players by the system of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0023] The innovation is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the innovation can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof. Various embodiments are discussed hereinafter. It should be noted that the figures are described only to facilitate the description of the embodiments. They are not intended as an exhaustive description of the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention. Additionally, an illustrated embodiment need not have all the aspects or advantages shown. Thus, in other embodiments, any of the features described herein from different embodiments may be combined.

[0024] As noted above, there is a long felt need in the art for an improved baseball players' ranking system. There is also a long felt need in the art for a baseball players' ranking system that includes additional parameters for rating and ranking baseball players. Additionally, there is a long felt need in the art for baseball players' rating system that enhances use of statistics for a more objective and correct ranking of baseball players. Moreover, there is a long felt need in the art for a baseball players' ranking system that uses body of work, results for performance, various game situations, geographical location, and more for rating players. Further, there is a long felt need in the art for players' rating system that enables individuals to identify the best player. Finally, there is a long felt need in the art for a baseball players' rating system that reduces the effect of a personal opinion on the No. 1 baseball player in the world and improves the use of statistics to make an objective determination.

[0025] The present invention, in one exemplary embodiment, is a baseball player ranking system. The system includes a plurality of clients, each of the clients including a software application for displaying ratings and other statistics of baseball players, a server, one or more databases for storing a plurality of information, the information received from a plurality of third-party sources, the one or more databases for storing the plurality of information, a ranking processing engine configured for generating real-time rating and rankings of baseball players, the ranking processing engine including a machine learning module configured to apply a plurality of supervised weighting factors to generate the real-time ratings, and a rating database for storing the real-time ratings and rankings of the players and providing the rankings to the clients via the software application.

[0026] Referring initially to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a client and server system for providing rankings and rating levels of baseball players in accordance with the disclosed architecture. The baseball players' ranking system 100 is designed to determine worldwide professional baseball players (or potential professional baseball players) rankings and rating levels using a plurality of statistics, or a plurality of performance parameters, that reduces the effect of a personal opinion on the No. 1 baseball player in the world, thus, improving the use of statistics to make an objective determination. Generally, in the ranking system 100, a plurality of clients 102, 104, 106 access a server 108. The server 108 and clients 102, 104, 106 of the present invention can include any one of various types of computer devices, having, e.g., a processing unit, a memory, and a communication interface, as well as other conventional computer components (e.g., input device, such as a keyboard and mouse, output device, such as display). For example, the client 106 can include a desktop computer, laptop computer, mobile device such as a mobile phone, web-enabled phone, smart phone, and the like.

[0027] Each client of the clients 102, 104, 106 includes a software application 110 for displaying rankings and other statistics of baseball players. The software application 110 can be designed to be installed in different types of clients and different types of operating systems. The software application 110 allows users to access the functionalities offered by the server 108. The clients 102, 104, 106 can communicate with the server 108 using suitable communication interfaces via a network 112, such as the Internet. The clients 102, 104, 106 and the server 108 can communicate, in part or in whole, via wireless or hardwired communications, such as Ethernet, IEEE 802.11x wireless, Zigbee, or the like.

[0028] The server 108 can utilize various Web data interface techniques such as the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) protocol and associated applications (or “scripts”), Java™ “servlets”, i.e., Java™ applications running on the Web server, or the like to present information and receive input from the clients 102, 104, 106 via the application 110. The server 108 is coupled to one or more databases 114, 116 for storing a plurality of information 118 including but not limited to baseball player's personal information, result of performance, geography locations, strength of schedule and more. The stored information 118 is received from a plurality of third-party sources 120 including baseball organizations, fans communities, media outlets and more.

[0029] The databases 114, 116 are coupled to a ranking processing engine 122 configured for receiving the stored information 118 and processing to generate real time rankings for the players. The ranking processing engine 122 includes a machine learning module 124 for applying a plurality of supervised weighting factors for generating rankings for the players as described later in the disclosure. A ranking database 126 stores the real time rankings of the players and are provided to the users on the application 110.

[0030] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart depicting a process of generating baseball players ranking by the baseball players' ranking system 100 of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture. Initially, relevant data about the players is gathered from the third-party sources (Step 202). The information can include player's physical attributes, past injuries, performance in different game situations, and more. Then, the information is preprocessed and formatted in an appropriate format for storage in the databases 114, 116 (Step 204). This process can include removing irrelevant or incomplete data, encoding data into different categories, and normalizing numerical data for storage and processing by machine learning module 124.

[0031] Thereafter, in the next step 206, additional features including statistics as illustrated in FIG. 4 and Tables 1-3, from the stored information are calculated for machine learning module 124. The additional features can include a player's batting average or earned run average based on their past performance, a player's geographical location to create a feature that reflects their home field advantage and more. The additional features can also be stored in the databases 114, 116. Then, the machine learning module 124 applies ranking parameters and algorithm for generating a rating of the players based on the stored information and statistics (Step 208). Finally, the rankings of the worldwide baseball players are broadcasted and displayed on the user interfaces provided by the application (Step 210).

[0032] The system 100 continuously updates the rankings of the players based on new data of the players as it becomes available in the databases 114, 116, such as the results of new games and updated player information. This helps ensuring that the rankings remain up-to-date and accurate over time.

[0033] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user interface displayed by the application 110 for displaying the ranking of baseball players generated by the baseball players' ranking system 100 of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture. The user interface 300 displays a search bar 302 for enabling a user to search for a specific player in the application 110. The search bar 302 can take any combination of alphabets as an input for displaying the search results. The user interface 300 is also configured to display Name of the player 304 along with ranking 306, wherein the ranking 306 is a real-time ranking generated by the system 100.

[0034] More information such as batting average, wins above replacement, on-base percentage, earned run average and more are displayed using the “More Information” tab 308. It should be noted that the user interface 300 can display information for a plurality of baseball players simultaneously.

[0035] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating various steps of a method of determining at least one baseball player rating according to one embodiment of the present invention. Initially, performance data of a player is received by the system (Step 402). The data can include number of hits, number of at-bats, number of walks, number of hit-by-pitches, number of bases, home runs, strikeouts, batting runs, running runs, fielding runs, replacement runs, and more. Then, a plurality of different performance parameters as illustrated in Table 1 are calculated by the system 100 that are used for generation of the ranking of the players (Step 404).

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Performance Parameters Calculation formula Batting Average (AVG) (Total hits/total at-bats) On-base Percentage (OBP) (Hits + Walks + Hit by Pitch)/(At Bats + Walks + Hit by Pitch + Sacrifice Flies) Slugging Percentage (SLG) (Total Bases/At Bats) On-base plus Slugging (OPS) OBP + SLG Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) (13 * total home runs allowed + 3 * (total walks + total hit-by-pitches) − 2 * total strikeouts)/total innings pitched + league FIP constant Wins Above Replacement (WAR) (Batting runs + Base Running runs + Fielding runs + Positional adjustment + League adjustment + Replacement runs)/ (Runs per win) Earned Run Average (ERA) (Total earned runs/total innings pitched) * league ERA constant

[0036] Based on at least body of work of a player, results for performance of a player, player's performance in different game situations and geographical location of the fields/stadiums, a weighting factor is dynamically generated for each performance parameter (Step 406). Body of work refers to a player's overall performance over a longer period of time, such as a season or multiple seasons. The parameter takes into account the player's consistency and durability, as well as their ability to perform well against a variety of opponents and in different situations. Results of performance refers to a player's performance in individual games or events. It can include factors such as the player's statistical performance, their impact on the outcome of the game, and their ability to perform under pressure (e.g. hitting in clutch situations).

[0037] Game situation refers to the specific circumstances of each game or event, such as the score, inning, outs, and baserunner situations. It considers how well the player performs in different situations, such as hitting with runners in scoring position or pitching in high-pressure situations. Geographical location refers to the location of the game or event, such as whether it was played at home or on the road, in a hitter-friendly or pitcher-friendly ballpark, or in a region with different weather or climate conditions. It takes into account how well the player performs in different environments, and whether their performance is affected by external or environmental factors such as altitude or humidity.

[0038] The weighting factors are dynamic in nature and can vary among the players and can also vary for the same player and over the course of time. Table 2 provides exemplary weighting or scaling factors provided to the performance parameters in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Performance Parameters Weighting factors Batting Average (AVG) (0.4 * Body of Work) + (0.3 * Results for Performance) + (0.2 * Various Game Situations) + (0.1 * Geographical Location) On-base Percentage (OBP) (0.3 * Body of Work) + (0.4 * Results for Performance) + (0.2 * Various Game Situations) + (0.1 * Geographical Location) Slugging Percentage (SLG) (0.3 * Body of Work) + (0.3 * Results for Performance) + (0.3 * Various Game Situations) + (0.1 * Geographical Location) On-base plus Slugging (OPS) (0.25 * Body of Work) + (0.35 * Results for Performance) + (0.3 * Various Game Situations) + (0.1 * Geographical Location) Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) (0.2 * Body of Work) + (0.3 * Results for Performance) + (0.35 * Various Game Situations) + (0.15 * Geographical Location) Wins Above Replacement (WAR) (0.2 * Body of Work) + (0.4 * Results for Performance) + (0.2 * Various Game Situations) + (0.2 * Geographical Location) Earned Run Average (ERA) (0.4 * Body of Work) + (0.2 * Results for Performance) + (0.3 * Various Game Situations) + (0.1 * Geographical Location)

[0039] Then, in the next step, each parameter score is normalized using an average of the particular parameter across all or some of the baseball players (Step 408). It should be noted that Step 406 and Step 408 can be interchanged during the execution for generating a normalized score for each player. For normalization, below table shows the formula used.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Performance Parameters Normalization Batting Average (AVG) (player AVG/total players AVG) On-base Percentage (OBP) (player OBP/total players OBP) Slugging Percentage (SLG) (player SLG/total players SLG) On-base plus Slugging (OPS) (player OPS/total players OPS) Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) (player FIP/total players FIP) Wins Above Replacement (WAR) (player WAR/total players WAR) Earned Run Average (ERA) (player ERA/total players ERA)

[0040] Then, a K-vector or any other similar machine learning model is used for calculating a player's overall rating and ranking (Step 410). Overall rating is calculated using the formula:

Overall rating: f(w1x1+w2x2+ . . . +wn*xn); [0041] x1, x2, . . . , xn are the normalized scores for performance parameters; [0042] w1, w2, . . . , wn are the corresponding adjusted weights assigned by the K-vector based on the weighting factors of Table 2;
The “f” is a function that maps the weighted sum of parameter scores to an overall rating on a predetermined scale, such as 0 to 100 or 0 to 1. The K-vector learns the optimal values for adjusting the weights based on historical player performance data and would be updated periodically to incorporate new performance trends.

[0043] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating a process of predicting game results based on the rating of players by the system 100 of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture. Initially, the rating of each of the player participating in a baseball game is taken as an input in the machine learning module of the system (Step 502). Then, other parameters such as field/stadium/ballpark location, field size, altitude of the field/stadium/ballpark and more are considered for parameter tuning for prediction of the game result (Step 504). For example, the players playing in their home field/stadium/ballpark can be given more weightage for influencing the prediction of the game result. During parameters tuning by the machine learning module, the number of layers in a neural network or the number of trees in a random forest are updated to optimize the performance data of the players for predicting the game result (Step 506). Finally, the game result prediction is broadcasted and displayed in the software application 110 (Step 508).

[0044] Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular features or components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, different persons may refer to the same feature or component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components or features that differ in name but not structure or function. As used herein “baseball players' ranking system”, “ranking system”, and “system” are interchangeable and refer to the world baseball rating system 100 of the present invention.

[0045] In this regard, FIGS. 1-5 are block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, systems and program products according to the invention. It will be understood that each block or step of the block diagram, flowchart and control flow illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagram, flowchart, and control flow illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the block diagram, flowchart or control flow block(s) or step(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the block diagram, flowchart or control flow block(s) or step(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the block diagram, flowchart or control flow block(s) or step(s).

[0046] Notwithstanding the forgoing, the world baseball rating system 100 of the present invention can be of any suitable configuration as is known in the art without affecting the overall concept of the invention, provided that it accomplishes the above stated objectives. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the world baseball rating system 100 as shown in the FIGS. are for illustrative purposes only, and that many other configuration and design of the world baseball rating system 100 are well within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0047] Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplary embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the present invention. While the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combinations of features and embodiments that do not include all of the described features. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the scope of the claims, together with all equivalents thereof.

[0048] What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the claimed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.