Graphs of the Day: How Did They Get There?

by ClayMC on Jan 25, 2011 9:49 PM EST

Thanks to Slyde for inspiration and my lack of anything productive to do this last Saturday, provided are links to roster maps for each team in the NL Central.

It's important to note that while the Reds 40-man roster appears set, other rosters are not so. I have simply taken the provided rosters within SBNation. Chicago only has 38 men listed in their current roster, while Houston and Pittsburgh have 42 each. Although they're not final rosters, it's still interesting to see which method of acquisition each team relies on most.

I apologize in advance for the less-than-stellar quality. I worked in Excel, and given the tools available (print, scan, convert, upload), this is what I was left with. If anyone has any advice for converting an Excel spreadsheet to an image, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy (just try not to call too much attention to the new guy's apparent abundance of free time!)

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rec'd

Very cool.

The Cubs and Astros aren’t much for rolling their own, while the Cards are mostly homegrown.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Jan 25, 2011 10:59 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Awesome

Great job! I love seeing things like this.

Rec’d

"People don't kill people. Burning oreo packages kill people."

by crolfer on Jan 26, 2011 12:05 AM EST reply actions

Awesome!

Great work!

Follow on Twitter: @redreporter. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!

by Slyde on Jan 26, 2011 7:28 AM EST reply actions

Awesome.

Great job.

"I bet that sex Bengals fan is really pissed now." -DT3428

by sexsalad on Jan 26, 2011 7:37 AM EST reply actions

This is not my beautiful house

This is not my beautiful wife.

"College actually kind of beat that out of me, making me more, well, of an asshole."

by Cy Schourek on Jan 26, 2011 7:52 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

I just heard that song on the radio 20 minutes ago.

"People don't kill people. Burning oreo packages kill people."

by crolfer on Jan 26, 2011 9:24 AM EST up reply actions

Great job man!

"He’s like if Ron Gant and Eric Davis had a white baby." -- GlennBraggsSwingAndMissBrokenBat on Drew Stubbs

by jch24 on Jan 26, 2011 8:17 AM EST reply actions

Goodness this is cool!

Ok, now I want your pie graphs weighted by expected WAR each season! :)

Seriously, very cool work. I like this approach much better than the pedigree chart-based approach. Far more intuitive.
-j

I write at:
Beyond the Boxscore | Red Reporter | Basement-Dwellers.com | Twitter: @jinazreds

by JinAZ on Jan 26, 2011 8:47 AM EST reply actions

what is the pedigree chart-based approach?

Not sure what you mean by that.

Follow on Twitter: @redreporter. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!

by Slyde on Jan 26, 2011 9:15 AM EST up reply actions

What you did the other day, and what the other site does.

It’s inspired by pedigree charts used in biology. Or, at least, it’s convergent on the idea:
http://webhome.broward.edu/~fsearcy/pedigree.html
I spend so much time teaching those damn things it actually somehow makes it hard for me to interpret the trade charts.
-j

I write at:
Beyond the Boxscore | Red Reporter | Basement-Dwellers.com | Twitter: @jinazreds

by JinAZ on Jan 26, 2011 9:36 AM EST up reply actions

In the business world they're called Org Charts

Though I guess technically they are more of pedigree charts.

I agree that this format is better, if you are focused on the end point. However, if you are looking at the group as a whole, I think the pedigree chart is fine, especially since they are much easier to make.

Though I will say that I really dig the timeline on these charts. Gives a little more perspective. And I agree that the color coding on the last column really helps solidify the meaning.

Follow on Twitter: @redreporter. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!

by Slyde on Jan 26, 2011 9:41 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah, I think the time axis adds tremendously.

I write at:
Beyond the Boxscore | Red Reporter | Basement-Dwellers.com | Twitter: @jinazreds

by JinAZ on Jan 26, 2011 2:34 PM EST up reply actions

This is great work.

When Slyde initially made his it was great work as well, but you corrected the one thing is work was lacking.

I really like having the color coding of the players and how they joined the team. Helps one quickly glance at a player and figure out how they got there.

And the pie chart puts it over the top.

6-2, 185

by brown11b on Jan 26, 2011 9:05 AM EST reply actions

nice work!

by GrooveLeg on Jan 26, 2011 10:15 AM EST reply actions

One way to convert an Excel spreadsheet to an image file

is to copy and paste UR data to a Powerpoint Slide, doctor it up further as you want, then save the file as a Jpeg.

That was one nice achievement of public service you just performed. Appreciate it.

Rollin' in the left lane.

by Red Joker on Jan 26, 2011 10:15 AM EST reply actions

You can also just hit the PrtScr button on your keyborad, and then paste into the graphics program of your choice.

It will give you a screen grab of whatever it is that’s on your screen.

I write at:
Beyond the Boxscore | Red Reporter | Basement-Dwellers.com | Twitter: @jinazreds

by JinAZ on Jan 26, 2011 2:39 PM EST up reply actions

That image is definitely bigger than a normal screen

you’d have to be able to scroll capture.

Follow on Twitter: @redreporter. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!

by Slyde on Jan 26, 2011 3:08 PM EST up reply actions

Or take several and stitch them together.

But you’re right. I just find print screening to be the easiest way to do this kind of thing for most purposes, and a lot of people don’t know about it. Maybe it wouldn’t work as well in this case.
-j

I write at:
Beyond the Boxscore | Red Reporter | Basement-Dwellers.com | Twitter: @jinazreds

by JinAZ on Jan 27, 2011 11:36 AM EST up reply actions

Great work.

Thanks for this.

"Don't turn off the TV if we've still got bats in our hands." - Dusty Baker

by PeteyHendrix on Jan 26, 2011 1:59 PM EST reply actions

Wanted to add a link to Slyde's original piece

http://www.redreporter.com/2011/1/20/1946561/graph-of-the-day-the-40-man-roster-howd-we-get-here
In case there are others, like me, that somehow (though I have no idea how) missed his original graph of this type. I swear I’m on this site every day, and yet I do somehow miss posts. And they always seem to be extremely important posts when I miss them. Reminds me of when I was doing bullpen stuff last year, and totally missed Slyde’s leverage index post earlier in the year…and so I ended up almost exactly re-inventing what he’d already done graphically. Bah!
-j

I write at:
Beyond the Boxscore | Red Reporter | Basement-Dwellers.com | Twitter: @jinazreds

by JinAZ on Jan 30, 2011 10:27 PM EST reply actions