Advice for a Saberizing a Mac

by hazel on May 31, 2009 3:06 PM EDT

I'm really interested in statistical analysis, but all of the advice I find is for windows machines. For instance, the Building a Sabermetrician's Workbench series (Colin Wyers) that details use of MySQL and such loses me just a few steps in because while Macs can run the MySQL program, I don't have the skills to use it in the raw form and programs to help that the series details are windows programs (SQLyog). There is a popular Mac program but by all accounts it sucks. Also you can apparently use SQLyog on a mac if you go a few steps further and install some more stuff, I'm just not sure if this is the best way to proceed and I'm wondering if anyone here uses a Mac and what programs they are using.

Right now there's always Excel, but I'd love to know some good Mac programs for the various fields (PfX, SQL, etc.). I am not entirely opposed to buying things but I'd prefer free.

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I would also be very interested in this

St. Louis Cardinals... defying win expectancy since 2008

by vivaelpujols on May 31, 2009 3:18 PM EDT reply actions

I use a Mac and would also love to work through this.

Maybe if we get enough people we could figure it out together, without someone holding our hands all the way through the process.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on May 31, 2009 3:20 PM EDT reply actions

I'm down.

We could start with MySQL and maybe just do something along the lines of Building a Sabermetrician’s Workbench part 1 except on a Mac.

Steps would entail
1. Download MySQL (already Mac-ready)
2. Install it, basically the same.
3. Find something to make it graphical; SQLyog works for windows and Linux.
There are things like Wine that can make it work with a few extra steps, or there are alternatives such as Razor which I heard is not very good.

4. Getting data (should be straightforward but who knows).
5. Start doing things.

I’ve already started this, so I can let you know if it works or not. Anyone care to do the same for a decent PfX data application?

Space.

It's a problem we face.

So we never go anywhere.

We just stay in one place.

by hazel on May 31, 2009 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Sounds like a plan.

I’m pretty busy today, but tomorrow sometime I’ll make a call for wider participating and start leading the charge. Is it better for the blink to lead the blind or for the blind all to wander around individually? Guess we’ll find out.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Jun 1, 2009 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions

I'd love to get involved with this

Only 2 more days until finals are over, then I can start to Saberize!

St. Louis Cardinals... defying win expectancy since 2008

by vivaelpujols on Jun 2, 2009 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions

If someone wants to buy me a Mac I'll help

by Dan Turkenkopf on May 31, 2009 4:10 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

heh

St. Louis Cardinals... defying win expectancy since 2008

by vivaelpujols on May 31, 2009 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions

for advanced analysis...

… R is a free statistical program that gives you a lot of freedom. its intuition comes from matrix algebra. kind of hard to get used to using it if you don’t do any computer programming, but worth it if you really plan to spend a lot of time on this stuff.

Stata is a broadly used program with a Mac version. more user-friendly, but not free.

by kindred on Jun 2, 2009 5:27 PM EDT reply actions

What languages does you have to be familiar with?

Decrease runs scored?
Maybe.

Decrease winning? Never seen that proven.
-SFTU

by hazel on Jun 3, 2009 12:56 AM EDT up reply actions

the language is 'R'...

… it’s a variant of ‘S’. pretty similar to C and C++, as i understand it, although i only know how to use R (and not even that super well).

but it’s an amazingly powerful program, and it’s free. if you know what you’re doing, it’s fairly easy to write your own code to make it do whatever you like.

by kindred on Jun 3, 2009 7:47 PM EDT up reply actions