There’s been a good deal of kvetching about how stats are ruining the game. Too much time and effort is spent with analytics, according to some who just enjoy watching a good contest., while others claim you can’t have too much of a good thing. Plus it gives the fans something to do while they’re waiting for a commercial to be over or a mound conference to conclude; here’s the latest article I’ve come across on the subject.
But just think what that would mean to the baseball book industry.
Where would we be with the Bill James Abstracts or any of the scores of items under his name? Where would be be with Baseball Prospectus, The Hardball Times, or any of the other books frequently published by websites that dissect the ever-increasing — and ever-changing — way we valuate players? )Note that I do not include the various encyclopedic tomes that basically just give stats without analysis.)
Here are just a few of my favorite “numbers” books, in no particular order:
- Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball
- The Numbers Game
- The Hidden Game of Baseball: A Revolutionary Approach to Baseball and Its Statistics
- The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players
There are always three of four new titles each year and some of the upcoming ones look good.
And I’m actually kind of glad, as an older guy, to see State of Play: The Old School Guide to New School Baseball
is available on Amazon.com,
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