Batting Location Charts with Vagrant and MySQL

Use R and MySQL together to create batting location charts from large data sets.

What you'll learn:

• install MySQL on a Ubuntu machine.
• perform basic administrative tasks in MySQL.
• use the vi program to edit the MySQL configuration file.
• perform port-forwarding with Vagrant.
• scrape hit location data from PITCHf/x.
• query MySQL from R.

This course is about working with large sets of PITCHf/x data to create batting location charts. We use R to scrape and visualize the data and MySQL to store the data. The course includes lessons on how to install a virtual Ubuntu machine, how to install MySQL, how to perform basic MySQL administrative tasks, and how to connect R and MySQL.

It would be best if you have some knowledge of R and ggplot. This can be obtained through my previous three courses in baseball analytics. However, it might be possible to follow along without this.

At a relaxed pace, the course should take about two weeks to complete.