BASEBALL

I need to thank Colin Wyers at  The Hardball Times for writing Databases for sabermetricians, Part One. He has introduced me to databases and SQL.  I should probably understand this better so I can know how data is pulled from our College’s databases.

Using queries I researched the top paid players all-time as Detroit Tigers.  I also investigated triples for Tigers and league-wide cumulative pay and more.  The data from the Baseball Databank can be addictive.

Who are those top paid Tigers through 2008?  Well collective bargaining and inflation have obviously had a big impact.

Here are the top 20:

The 2009 database came out after I first ran the query.  There are some expected- yet still shocking given recent performance- entries into the top 20.  Willis and Robertson enter the list.  I also notice that the way the data is organized that the money paid to Sheffield by the Tigers applies to him as a Met.  I think I like that as otherwise he Sheffield would be 5th or 6th highest all-time and he only had about half a healthy and successful season as a Tiger.