I enjoy handicapping football and baseball games and built the first version of this site a few years ago in order to automate some of the data gathering and parsing I used to try and handle manually. Since then I've continued to add new parts, but it's still geared almost entirely toward my own methods of handicapping.
Over the last two or three years the site has been discovered by many other handicappers, and I welcome anyone to use the data in whatever ways they find useful. Do note that Cleanup Hitter is still aimed first and foremost at me. That means:
There's not much in the way of explanations of abbreviations, instructions on how I use data or clarification as to why certain items are highlighted or noted. When in doubt, hover your mouse over an item and see if a definition pops up -- I've added popups to many headers and abbreviations, etc., but not all.
Don't get too hung up on items that are highlighted pink, orange, red or purple. Those are simply meant to catch my attention for a closer look as I scan the pages. It just means there's a possibility that something meets one of my own handicapping criteria, but it might not be of interest at all to you in your methods.
Nothing on the site -- highlighting, notes or anything else -- should ever be confused with being an automatic pick. Sports handicapping is about taking various information and situations into account, then making a decision based on that.
Football and baseball is it. I don't handicap other sports.
I love talking about football and baseball handicapping, but I might be a little vague about the specifics of my own methods, at least when it gets down to the level of nitty-gritty details. Part of this is because I don't want to feel responsible for anyone else's decisions, and part of it is because I believe handicappers should work to develop their own tweaks and modifications.
If you have any ideas about new ways of parsing and/or presenting data, or new items to add, I'm always open to ideas. If I don't spend time and effort on your idea, though, don't be offended. Your idea may be great, but if it doesn't fit with my own handicapping preferences I probably won't work on it.
June 2012 note: I've recently decided I will no longer develop for or test this site on any version of the Internet Explorer browser. For anyone using IE version 8 or later who really wants to stick with that browser, it's not likely you'll ever notice a problem, but there are better options available. I really recommend Chrome or Firefox.
I'll also stress this, because it's my official position: Sports handicapping and sports betting are not the same thing. Cleanup Hitter is NOT a gambling site. All information and presentation of data is solely for entertainment purposes.
--Steve