UMDB Survey

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I know that many of you occassionally (or frequently) visit the Ultimate Mets Database. Somehow, I've never gotten around to asking these questions, but I'm curious, so I'll ask.

1. How many times, in an average week, do you visit the UMDB?

2. What usually prompts you to visit?

3. Which features do you find most useful?

4. Which features are you aware of that you don't find particularly useful? (Don't worry, I'm not planning on getting rid of anything.)

Thanks!

[Guest Edgy DC]

1. How many times, in an average week, do you visit the UMDB?

15

2. What usually prompts you to visit?

To find out what hap'd on this date. To figure out a guy's Mets-only stats and chart his progress up the all-time Met charts.

3. Which features do you find most useful?

Interactive statisics. Player pages. Memories of old players.

4. Which features are you aware of that you don't find particularly useful? (Don't worry, I'm not planning on getting rid of anything.)

Daily standings, I guess. Get rid of it, and I'll kill you.

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

1. How many times, in an average week, do you visit the UMDB?

Seven to nineteen.


2. What usually prompts you to visit?

Boredom. Self-loathing. An understanding that if I never do my job again, probably it will be six months before anyone notices.


3. Which features do you find most useful?
Fans' mammeries.

4. Which features are you aware of that you don't find particularly useful? (Don't worry, I'm not planning on getting rid of anything.)

I don't look at stuff I don't find particularly useful. I rarely look at the Mets'-only stats.
Thanks!

[Guest Rotblatt]

1. How many times, in an average week, do you visit the UMDB?

4 or 5.

2. What usually prompts you to visit?

Finding out more about whomever is represented at my current posting level. Other times, I might get a hankering to look at the memories or stats of a particular player.

3. Which features do you find most useful?

The memories section. I think they're really fun to read.

4. Which features are you aware of that you don't find particularly useful? (Don't worry, I'm not planning on getting rid of anything.)

I guess the Mets' only stats. I don't usually look at them too much.

[seawolf17]

1. How many times, in an average week, do you visit the UMDB?
10-20. I'm usually on there at least twice a day, sometimes more.

2. What usually prompts you to visit?
Question about a specific game or player or transaction (like "Who was in that Gary Carter trade again?"), or to check "this date in history," or to breeze through the "recently added memories."

3. Which features do you find most useful?
Interactive stats; I wish the hitting stats went down to 1 (instead of minimum 10), just for fun.

4. Which features are you aware of that you don't find particularly useful?
I can't think of anything. I happen to enjoy the Mets-only statistics; if I want total stats, I check b-r.com.


edit: I will reiterate my contention that the UMDB is the Best. Web site. Ever.

[metirish]

1. How many times, in an average week, do you visit the UMDB?

Several times a day/week, I'd say well over 10 times a week, not to blow smoke up yer arse yancy but it's a great site.

2. What usually prompts you to visit?

Like other people I'm usually prompted by a query, like today I had to go anf find out about Duffy Dyer, then I read fan memories and find myself reading them for a long time.


3. Which features do you find most useful?
Stats, fan memories, years played, things like that.



4. Which features are you aware of that you don't find particularly useful?


none that I have noticed.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

1. How many times, in an average week, do you visit the UMDB?

I'm more of an occasional user - maybe once or twice a month.


2. What usually prompts you to visit?

If I have a question about a specific player I'll look it up there.



3. Which features do you find most useful?

Being able to look up individual players


4. Which features are you aware of that you don't find particularly useful? (Don't worry, I'm not planning on getting rid of anything.)

I can't think of anything.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I go several times a week, usually just to browse. I like to start by hitting recent fan memories, then go from there.

The boxscores, game logs, transaction records and daily standings are all very useful and are what draws me there specifically.

[Theoldmole]

Irregularly, and it can be just as likely to look up something specific or just to browse. Either way, it's a satisfying experience, and I wouldn't eliminate anything.

[Guest cooby]

Yancy, I love your site and I don't think I could say exactly how often I look at it because it varies, of course.

The only suggestion I can think of (and it is mild) is not to be too hung up on whether a guy is wearing a blue hat, just put a face up there no matter what he is wearing, even if its another team's hat, and then work from there.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Well, I do put up black caps when that's all that's available, and I don't see an imminent chance for a blue cap.

I'm going to stick with the Mets-cap-only policy, though. I'd rather see Mr. Met than Larry Bowa in a Phillies or Cubs cap.

[Guest cooby]

I'd rather see Mr. Met than Larry Bowa, period :)

And some other guys, too

[soupcan]

1. How many times, in an average week, do you visit the UMDB?

At least 10.

2. What usually prompts you to visit?

Curiosity about a specific Met.

3. Which features do you find most useful?

I like the season logs. Having a vague memory of a game in the late 70's and being able to easily find it and read the boxscore is just amazin'!

4. Which features are you aware of that you don't find particularly useful?

Oddly I don't care much for the 'Mets Only' stats. I like to see a players entire career, and then if I want to see how they performed for a particular team, I'll break it down myself.

Thanks!

Thank YOU. I love your site Yancy.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

What's funny is that it was the "Mets only" stuff that prompted me to create the site in the first place, and that seems to be getting the most votes for "least useful." When the UMDB made its debut in early 1999, all it contained were Mets-only stats and the interactive page. And the mugshots, too, I guess, though they were only there for the most prominent players.

I think the first additions were the "This player also played for the following teams" info and the memories.

Some time in 2000 the game results came along, and box scores first appeared in 2002.

I don't remember when the transactions kicked in.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I recall the early days of UMDB and the discovery of an early glitch. I queried the database for info on walks, and it spit back strikeouts!

It was the greatest invention ever from the start. I wrote to the boss there and said I really liked it and had used it while preparing that other new mets site. As I recall, the response was "Really?"

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I think you were the first person I heard from after the site went up. It has probably just barely hit the search engines when you discovered it.

I created it as a fun way to expand my database development skills to web applications. I didn't really expect it to be widely discovered. When Ed Kranepool took the early lead with a total of 14 hits, I was amazed at how high that was! (His hit count is now a five-digit number.)

[seawolf17]

Any word on the cookie development? I've started printing out boxscores from games I've attended, and I'm going to start compiling my "personal" stats soon. I only wish I had more ticket stubs from the old days.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

It's probably a long way off. I don't see myself devoting any major attention to the UMDB for a while. Maybe if I end up with a period of unemployment I'll do some ambitious stuff, but otherwise I don't expect to do much more than a little tinkering, if that.

[metirish]

Here's one of the things I love about the site, I'm Duffy Dyer, fan memories is a great part of UMDB..

]Stu Paul August 3, 2004 Bob P. is absolutely right. Duffy is a Mets scout. I live and work in San Antonio, Texas (where Jerry Grote is from and where he still lives) and I am the broadcaster for the San Antonio Missions, the Mariners' Double A affiliate. In the press box, through glasses, a moustache, and gray hair, lo and behold, it was Duffy. I introduced myself to him tonight, as a matter of fact. Great guy. I reminded him of the home run he hit in one of the games of the Banner Day Doubleheader on August 17, 1969 against the Padres at Shea. He just got recalled from Triple A Tidewater and was sent up to pinch hit. He hit a three-run homer to help the Mets win. He remembers that home run well. He still wears his World Series ring. Still looks great for a man soon to be 59 (next month on August 15th). Good luck to Duffy with the Mets. Welcome back. Hope he can recruit great talent that can help the Mets get back on track.

ON EDIT...I was Duffy Dyer, bloody knew that would happen.

[Elster88]

I like the Player Memories a lot. I was surprised that all (or at least the ones I read) of the Memories of Vince Coleman where the person actually met him, they reported that he was "the nicest guy", or "couldn't be nicer", etc.

[Elster88]

Found a place where MBTN and UMDB don't match.

MBTN lists Lance Johnson at 222 hits in '96. UMDB lists it as 227, which I pulled for the list of hits in a season in the Where Mets Rank thread.

[seawolf17]

227 according to b-r.com...

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

That probably explains it.

I never knew till just recently how varied the various stat databases can be.

To my discredit, I know this now but have not gone back and reconciled what's published on mbtn that has come from a variety of sources some of which may have been discredited or disagree with one another (bb-r, baseball encyclopedia-macmillan, retrosheet/umdb, yearbooks, baseball cards, total baseball, baseball encyclopedia-b&n, etc etc etc).

[Guest SwitchHitter]

I go there when my posting level changes and duirng the parody contest to find out more about specific Mets. I love the memories. I even e-mailed one guy who wrote something about Doc Gooden.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

In a typical week, I will visit the UMDB 3-4 times a week. I like being able to quickly view the roster of players and coaches for a given year. I also like to see how players were acquired and/or released by the Mets. I only read the fan memories of players on rare occasion.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The all-time roster was a good as any way to find the right Met for the "Gimme a Met Who..." thread.

[Guest mlbaseballtalk]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Well, I do put up black caps when that's all that's available, and I don't see an imminent chance for a blue cap. I'm going to stick with the Mets-cap-only policy, though. I'd rather see Mr. Met than Larry Bowa in a Phillies or Cubs cap.

It may be a Black and White, but Larry Bowa is in a Met cap on his card in the Wiz's "All Time Mets" set

Which is good, considering the 1987 hurler Bob Gibson is depicted as the 1981 pitching coach Bob Gibson

Steve

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wow, mlbaseballtalk gets a lead on the most sought after Mets image.

On edit: BAM!!



What a resource for a database guy!

[Guest mlbaseballtalk]

mlbaseballtalk wrote: ="Yancy Street Gang"]Well, I do put up black caps when that's all that's available, and I don't see an imminent chance for a blue cap. I'm going to stick with the Mets-cap-only policy, though. I'd rather see Mr. Met than Larry Bowa in a Phillies or Cubs cap. It may be a Black and White, but Larry Bowa is in a Met cap on his card in the Wiz's "All Time Mets" set Which is good, considering the 1987 hurler Bob Gibson is depicted as the 1981 pitching coach Bob Gibson Steve

Also I should add that the Wiz same time did mega sets for the Yankees of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's as well (which prompted me to do a "of the 90's collection for both. Its dissassembled right now (instead of pages its in several boxes) but I've emassed quite alot of those players) and unlike the Mets set where 100% of the subjects were in Met caps the Yanks weren't so lucky. Some had caps blurred out, one I think was depected in an obvious Seattle Mariner jersey!

Steve

[metirish]

]The all-time roster was a good as any way to find the right Met for the "Gimme a Met Who..." thread.

So very true, that was a great thread, and the all-time roster was great for the name link thread, remember that great thread..

Roger Craig Anderson, so on, UMDB was in heavy use during those days.