Enable tracing on the statement handle in question; a value of `2' usually will show what's going to and from the database backend. That'll show you what DBI is sending to mysql and you can see if something's not getting quoted correctly. You might have to use bind_param and explicitly set the type of one of the variables if it's not getting determined correctly automagically.

I used your and Fletch's suggestions and here's what I came up with.

1. Setting a tracelevel of 2 on the problem statement handle pretty much confirmed that DBI is having a quoting problem. The single char strings are not getting quoted(ironically, the 5-8 digit int is :) Well I think we all pretty much knew that was part of the problem based on the error message.
2. I used hardcoded values in the prepare statement and it worked fine. As soon as I used the placeholders though, everything goes bad. NONE of the string values are being treated as such. 3. I tried explicitly binding the parameters but to no avail. Still the chars are not quoted.

I did get it to work using the 'do' method, but that is less efficient since the statement is executed inside a loop. Now the statement has to be prepared each time through the loop(which is better than not working at all I suppose :). Still though, for efficiency's sake I'd rather use the 'prepare-execute' method, so I'd still like to figure this out.

Anyway, here's what the trace on the statement handle output to STDOUT:

    DBI::st=HASH(0x87b0d80) trace level set to 2 in DBI 1.13-nothread
    Note: perl is running without the recommended perl -w option
SANFRNCSCO****
    -> bind_param for DBD::mysql::st (DBI::st=HASH(0x83dd82c)~0x87b0d8
+0 1 undef)
    <- bind_param= 1 at bb_ps_stats.pm line 49.
    -> bind_param for DBD::mysql::st (DBI::st=HASH(0x83dd82c)~0x87b0d8
+0 2 R)
    <- bind_param= 1 at bb_ps_stats.pm line 50.
    -> bind_param for DBD::mysql::st (DBI::st=HASH(0x83dd82c)~0x87b0d8
+0 3 R)
    <- bind_param= 1 at bb_ps_stats.pm line 51.
    -> bind_param for DBD::mysql::st (DBI::st=HASH(0x83dd82c)~0x87b0d8
+0 4 A)
    <- bind_param= 1 at bb_ps_stats.pm line 52.
    -> bind_param for DBD::mysql::st (DBI::st=HASH(0x83dd82c)~0x87b0d8
+0 5 '10457')
    <- bind_param= 1 at bb_ps_stats.pm line 53.
    -> execute for DBD::mysql::st (DBI::st=HASH(0x83dd82c)~0x87b0d80)
    -> dbd_st_execute for 083dd634
      Binding parameters: UPDATE players SET t_id=NULL, bats=R, throws
+=R, status=A WHERE id='10457'
Unknown column 'R' in 'field list' error 5 recorded: Unknown column 'R
+' in 'field list'
    <- dbd_st_execute -2 rows
    !! ERROR: 5 'Unknown column 'R' in 'field list''
    <- execute= undef at bb_ps_stats.pm line 54.
    -> $DBI::errstr (&) FETCH from lasth=DBI::st=HASH(0x87b0d80)
No status UPD: Unknown column 'R' in 'field list'
    -> DESTROY for DBD::mysql::st (DBI::st=HASH(0x87b0d80)~INNER)
    <- DESTROY= undef at unknown location!
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Doesn't reveal anything new to me but who knows what you'll see.

Thanks again.

Amel - f.k.a. - kel

Can you upgrade to a newer version of DBI ?
The latest one is 1.21, I believe.
The following code works on my Win2K PC (cygwin, PostgreSQL, DBI 1.201, ActivePerl 5.6.1)

use DBD::ODBC;
use DBI;

my $p = {};
my $t_id = '20'; 

$p->{P_BATS}     = 'R';
$p->{P_THROWS}   = 'R';
$p->{P_STATUS}   = 'A';
$p->{P_PLAYERID} = 1;  


my $dbh = DBI->connect('DBI:ODBC:test', 'foo', 'bar', {RaiseError => 1
+});
my $sth = $dbh->prepare(qq/UPDATE players SET t_id=?, bats=?, throws=?
+, status=? WHERE id=?/);
$sth->execute($t_id, $p->{P_BATS}, $p->{P_THROWS}, $p->{P_STATUS}, $p-
+>{P_PLAYERID});

$sth = $dbh->prepare(qq/SELECT * FROM players/);
$sth->execute();
while (my @row = $sth->fetchrow_array()){
    print join(',', @row),"\n";
}

$dbh->disconnect();
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Table 'players' is defined as follows

test=# \d players
               Table "players"
 Attribute |         Type          | Modifier
-----------+-----------------------+----------
 id        | integer               |
 t_id      | character varying(20) |
 bats      | character varying(20) |
 throws    | character varying(20) |
 status    | character varying(20) |
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--perlplexer

for (keys %$p){ if ($p->{$_} == 0){} }
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    DBI 1.201-nothread dispatch trace level set to 2
    Note: perl is running without the recommended perl -w option
    -> prepare for DBD::ODBC::db (DBI::db=HASH(0x1abae48)~0x1abad7c 'U
+PDATE players SET t_id=?, bats=?, throws=?, status=? WHERE id=?')
    dbd_preparse scanned 5 distinct placeholders
    dbd_st_prepare'd sql f31660176
    UPDATE players SET t_id=?, bats=?, throws=?, status=? WHERE id=?
    <- prepare= DBI::st=HASH(0x1abae6c) at a.pl line 18
    -> execute for DBD::ODBC::st (DBI::st=HASH(0x1abae6c)~0x1ab55ac '2
+0' R R A 1)
bind 1 <== '20' (attribs: )
bind 1 <== '20' (size 2/3/0, ptype 4, otype 1)
    bind 1: CTy=1, STy=VARCHAR, CD=80, Sc=0, VM=2.
bind 2 <== 'R' (attribs: )
bind 2 <== R (size 1/2/0, ptype 6, otype 1)
    bind 2: CTy=1, STy=VARCHAR, CD=80, Sc=0, VM=1.
bind 3 <== 'R' (attribs: )
bind 3 <== R (size 1/2/0, ptype 6, otype 1)
    bind 3: CTy=1, STy=VARCHAR, CD=80, Sc=0, VM=1.
bind 4 <== 'A' (attribs: )
bind 4 <== A (size 1/2/0, ptype 6, otype 1)
    bind 4: CTy=1, STy=VARCHAR, CD=80, Sc=0, VM=1.
bind 5 <== '1' (attribs: )
bind 5 <== 1 (size 1/2/0, ptype 6, otype 1)
    bind 5: CTy=1, STy=VARCHAR, CD=80, Sc=0, VM=1.
    dbd_st_execute (for sql f31660176 after)...
    dbd_describe sql 31660176: num_fields=0
    dbd_describe skipped (no result cols) (sql f31660176)
    dbd_st_execute got no rows: resetting ACTIVE, moreResults
    <- execute= 1 at a.pl line 19

...
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