{"sport":"mlb","slug":"rich-butler","bio":{"fullName":"Rich Butler","position":"LF","team":"TB","heightInches":73,"weightLbs":180,"birthDate":"1973-05-01","rookieSeason":1997,"lastSeason":1999,"status":"RET","externalIds":{"mlbam":"111820","chadwick":"c8111f59","retro":"butlr002","wikidata":"Q7323205"}},"draft":null,"statTables":[{"id":"batting","label":"Batting","columns":[{"key":"g"},{"key":"ab"},{"key":"r"},{"key":"h"},{"key":"doubles"},{"key":"triples"},{"key":"hr"},{"key":"rbi"},{"key":"sb"},{"key":"bb"},{"key":"so"},{"key":"avg"},{"key":"obp"},{"key":"slg"},{"key":"ops"}],"rows":[{"season":1997,"seasonType":"REG","team":"TOR","gamesPlayed":7,"values":{"g":7,"ab":14,"r":3,"h":4,"doubles":1,"triples":0,"hr":0,"rbi":2,"sb":0,"bb":2,"so":3,"avg":0.286,"obp":0.375,"slg":0.357,"ops":0.732},"rowScope":"team"},{"season":1998,"seasonType":"REG","team":"TB","gamesPlayed":72,"values":{"g":72,"ab":217,"r":25,"h":49,"doubles":3,"triples":3,"hr":7,"rbi":20,"sb":4,"bb":15,"so":37,"avg":0.226,"obp":0.278,"slg":0.364,"ops":0.642},"rowScope":"team"},{"season":1999,"seasonType":"REG","team":"TB","gamesPlayed":7,"values":{"g":7,"ab":20,"r":2,"h":3,"doubles":1,"triples":0,"hr":0,"rbi":0,"sb":0,"bb":2,"so":4,"avg":0.15,"obp":0.227,"slg":0.2,"ops":0.427},"rowScope":"team"}],"careerTotals":{"REG":{"g":86,"ab":251,"r":30,"h":56,"doubles":5,"triples":3,"hr":7,"rbi":22,"sb":4,"bb":19,"so":44,"avg":0.223,"obp":0.28,"slg":0.351,"ops":0.631}}},{"id":"advanced","label":"Advanced (League-Relative)","columns":[{"key":"ops_plus","label":"OPS+","description":"On-base plus slugging vs the player's own season+league (100 = league average). Park-unadjusted; OBP uses a consistent (H+BB)/(AB+BB) rate. Higher is better.","format":"int","higherIsBetter":true},{"key":"era_plus","label":"ERA+","description":"Earned-run average vs the player's own season+league (100 = league average). Park-unadjusted. Higher is better.","format":"int","higherIsBetter":true}],"rows":[{"season":1997,"seasonType":"REG","team":"TOR","values":{"ops_plus":95,"era_plus":null},"rowScope":"team"},{"season":1998,"seasonType":"REG","team":"TB","values":{"ops_plus":66,"era_plus":null},"rowScope":"team"},{"season":1999,"seasonType":"REG","team":"TB","values":{"ops_plus":12,"era_plus":null},"rowScope":"team"}],"careerTotals":{"REG":{"ops_plus":63,"era_plus":null}},"advancedMeta":{"method":"computed in-house from MLB StatsAPI season batting/pitching lines, normalized to each player's own (season, league) baseline","formulas":{"era_plus":"100 * lgERA / playerERA (league ERA = 9 * ΣER / ΣIP over the season+league)","ops_plus":"100 * (OBP/lgOBP + SLG/lgSLG - 1)","career_era_plus":"innings-weighted league ERA / career ERA (B-Ref method)","career_ops_plus":"AB-weighted OBP & SLG against AB-weighted league rates"},"caveats":["PARK-UNADJUSTED: no park-factor data exists in the corpus, so these are league-relative but not park-adjusted (true B-Ref ERA+/OPS+ also divide by a park factor)","OBP baseline uses a consistent (H+BB)/(AB+BB) reached-base rate for BOTH player and league — the source feed carries no HBP or SF, so this is not the full (H+BB+HBP)/(AB+BB+HBP+SF) OBP; SLG is exact from the hit-type columns","league resolved from team code + season (most-recently-founded franchise existing by that season); the same resolver builds the baseline and looks up the player, so ratios stay internally coherent","a (season, league) bucket below the sample floor (3000 AB batting / 1000 IP pitching) yields null — no noisy baselines","regular season only; postseason lines are excluded from league baselines and metrics","AL and NL and each historical/Negro league are normalized separately — never blended across leagues or eras"]}}],"dataSources":["MLB StatsAPI (statsapi.mlb.com — official public league API; facts only, raw payloads not republished)"],"generatedAt":"2026-07-03T02:26:44.323Z"}