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For eight years, A's coach Tye Waller has been collecting data on opposing players and methodically building an application that gives the team an advantage on defense and on the bases.
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These days, most major-league clubs employ advance scouts who travel around the country looking for clues about the subtleties of how the next teams on the schedule play:
Where does the right fielder usually hit the ball when he swings at an inside fastball?
How deep does the third baseman hit the ball when he takes a cut at a two-strike slider?
How often does the catcher strike out on curve balls in the dirt? And so on.
Even in 2014, most scouts deliver updates to the home club with paper reports and even index cards that coaches then use when preparing for their teams' future opponents.
...But watch an Oakland A's game and notice where the fielders are positioned on each pitch, how the pitcher throws the ball to each hitter, or how big a lead an A's runner takes off first base.
You're seeing the result of analysis culled from a deep and well-established one-of-a-kind database built by hand over the last eight years by first-base and outfield coach Tye Waller.
It's known, for lack of an official name, as the "Tye Solution," and yes, it's a FileMaker database.
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