The WiffleBall Stat-Tracker
About The Tracker
In the summer of 2004, we decided that we should keep track of our statistics so that we could analyze our games (read: brag and rip on each other). At the time I was working at BAE Systems in Nashua, NH developing applications in Microsoft Excel. Excel seemed like a pretty logical solution to tracking our statistics. It was portable (didn't need an internet connection), self-contained (no need to set up servers or install SQL), and easy to develop an interface for.
The tracker was done in VBA (Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications) over the course of that summer, and rolled out in the summer of 2005. It's worked out magnificently, tracking batting averages, slugging percentages, OPS, ERA, whatever you can think of. The only drawback is that without some OO language, it's tough to store the state of the game at the time of some occurence. For example, it's hard to store the fact that some hit took place with men on first and third, with one out in the 4th inning. That might not seem like a big deal, but it would be useful to track trends and stats like BA w/ RISP, saves, quality starts, etc. When I finally get around to redoing the tracker in Java or C++ during the off-season, that will be one of the big requirements.
Dowloading The Tracker
Using the Tracker
Like I said, the tracker runs in the background of Excel. To activate it, open up the Excel Workbook you downloaded and press Alt+F11. Didn't know that was there did ya? From here you can tell Excel to do all sorts of crazy stuff from automating your taxes to tracking wiffleball games. Before you can track a game, you must add the players that will participate in it. On the left hand side of the screen, there should be a folder that says "VBAProject." Expand it and expand the 'Forms' folder. Double-click on the 'frmNewPlayer' form. On the right hand side of the screen, you should now see a window. Press F5 and it will appear. Enter the name of the first player and click the 'Add' button. A sheet has been created that will track that players stats from now on. Repeat, adding all of the players in your league. To start tracking the game, click on the 'frmStart' form. It's in the same place as the 'frmNewPlayer' form from before. Press F5 again, and the Start Game dialog will appear. In each of the drop down boxes, select the player for the home team and the away team. Once you select it, make sure both names are highlighted in their box by clicking over them. They should both be highlighted blue before you continue. After adding the players, choose whether or not each batter should bat left or right to start the game, then click, 'Play Ball.' After every pitch, simply enter what happened, and the stat tracker will do the rest. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at mahbles@gmail.com