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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
A premier baseball analyst and brand name, James (The Bill James Player Ratings Book, The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers) releases a revised edition of his 1985 classic, with expanded player and team histories and reconsidered commentary. Divided into two sections, "The Game" and "The Players," this comprehensive and opinionated tome describes the evolution of the sport over the decades (uniforms in the 1890s, best minor league teams of the 1930s, the Negro Leagues, etc.) and the characteristics of its players (stats, injuries, habits and proclivities). The thumbnail player sketches in the second section (the 100 greatest players at each position) vary widely in content and tone: the entry on Lefty Gomez includes a page on his public-speaking abilities, while of Kevin Brown, James merely writes, "I don't root for him, either, but he is a great pitcher." (James has assigned the rankings according to a statistical rating formula he calls Win Shares, which he explains conceptually and mathematically.) The game section, though, is the standout. It may not contain detailed statistical leaders or standings for each year, or even who won each World Series, but it does offer information on new stadiums, the competitiveness of different leagues and shifts in the way the game was played. At the end of each chapter, a "decade in a box" lists major statistics and Jamesian awards, varying from the quantitative (the team with the best record) and the qualitative (the best switch hitter) to the quirky (the decade's ugliest player). (Dec.)Forecast: There are enough baseball and Bill James fans to ensure steady sales, and the pub date near enough to the World Series might encourage a few extra readers. A uniquely personal, even iconoclastic guide, this belongs in baseball libraries to counterpoint The Baseball Encyclopedia and Total Baseball.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From Library Journal
True to form, James's new Historical Baseball Abstract is filled with often fascinating and frequently quirky evaluations and insights regarding the history of baseball. Starting with the 1870s, James explores, decade by decade, how and where the game was played and who played it. He discusses nicknames, top minor-league teams, and the most admirable superstars, among other matters. At the close of the initial 13 chapters, the author highlights each ten-year period "in a box," with a player or two tagged as the best-looking, the ugliest, the fastest, the slowest, and so forth. The last half of the book presents James's evaluations of the top 100 or more players at each position. Some are expected, with Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, for example, deemed the top first basemen. But Hank Greenberg is slotted in only at eighth place, and then James spends most of his time ragging on the great slugger's performance as the Cleveland Indians' general manager from 1949 to 1957. In other instances, the description of a player's on-field antics is melded with curious social commentary. All of this makes for a sometimes illuminating, occasionally exasperating book certain to engender controversy among baseball aficionados. For general libraries. R. C. Cottrell, California State Univ., Chico
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The first section of this book looks at the history of baseball as it has unfolded, decade by decade, since 1870. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The first section of this book looks at the history of baseball as it has unfolded, decade by decade, since 1870. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A must-have for lovers of sabermetrics....,
By
This review is from: The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (Hardcover)
.... but not quite as ground-breaking as the original edition.Overall, it is a definitive book to have on your baseball shelf. James rates many more players than he did in 1987 and introduces a new statistic called "Win Shares" from which most findings are based. I was disappointed with his explanation for wins shares theory and even more frustrated to learn that you had to buy the "Win Shares" companion piece [not cheap] just to understand his derivations. The preface/introduction in the historical abstract does not fully describe the intricacies of the method (particularly for defensive win shares), making it difficult to appreciate his conclusions. His finding that Craig Biggio is the 35th greatest player of all time, for example, is met with skepticism because the reader is not given complete proof. Yes, we know Biggio can create runs -- that is a Jamesian throwback -- but how precisely do these runs contribute to wins? The reader won't know all the details until he purchases the "Win Shares" volume....... Some of James' conclusions arbitrarily deviate from the quantitative analyses. He goes to the trouble of developing a systematic approach for win shares but then does not do us the service of explaining why certain players rate higher than their individual values would indicate (see Don Mattingly). Such deviations do not lend confidence to a value scheme which Mr. James himself is VERY fond of.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive Synthesis,
By
This review is from: The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (Paperback)
I bought the original when it came out years ago, and read it, and read it, and read it until it's spine cracked and pages started falling out. This time I bought the hardcover edition (buy whatever edition you can get your hands on, and can afford) and have read it, and read it, and read it; but thanks to hardcover binding it is not falling apart. One of the most fun aspects of this version is seeing how James has used his Win Shares method of evaluating performance to rank players by position. (By the way, the book Win Shares is an absolute classic, and should be purchased with this book, if at all possible.) For example, if you were to look strictly at the numbers you may say that Ty Cobb or Tris Speaker (or even the Mick) was the greatest center fielder of them all; but armed with his Win Shares method he makes you seriously consider that it has to be Willie Mays. I certainly have no argument against James's evaluation, but with Win Shares there seems to be a more logical, statistical basis for that judgment than by comparing raw numbers (not that Willie Mays needs to apologize for anything; he did after all have some huge seasons while playing at Candlestick park. How would he have done, I wonder, playing the last half of his career in Atlanta?) If you are a baseball fan, young or old, buy this book and get a wonderful overview of baseball history.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive Synthesis,
By
This review is from: The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (Paperback)
I bought the original when it came out years ago, and read it, and read it, and read it until it's spine cracked and pages started falling out. This time I bought the hardcover edition (buy whatever edition you can get your hands on, and can afford) and have read it, and read it, and read it; but thanks to hardcover binding it is not falling apart. One of the most fun aspects of this version is seeing how James has used his Win Shares method of evaluating performance to rank players by position. (By the way, the book Win Shares is an absolute classic, and should be purchased with this book, if at all possible.) For example, if you were to look strictly at the numbers you may say that Ty Cobb or Tris Speaker (or even the Mick) was the greatest center fielder of them all; but armed with his Win Shares method he makes you seriously consider that it has to be Willie Mays. I certainly have no argument against James's evaluation, but with Win Shares there seems to be a more logical, statistical basis for that judgment than by comparing raw numbers (not that Willie Mays needs to apologize for anything; he did after all have some huge seasons while playing at Candlestick park. How would he have done, I wonder, playing the last half of his career in Atlanta?) If you are a baseball fan, young or old, buy this book and get a wonderful overview of baseball history.
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