The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract

The great classic returns in somewhat different form. The original version was James' greatest achievement and belongs on a short list of the most essential baseball books ever written. And the new version? Most of the new book has been completely rewritten, yet it retains the same flavor as the original. If pressed, I prefer the earlier edition. This is partly because I read it often in the last decade and thus am somewhat biased in its favor, but also because James' new rating system - Win Shares - is introduced in only in general, without demonstrating the nuts and bolts. James promises that his next book (out next year?) will tell us a lot more about this interesting and probably excellent system, but in the meantime we have to take Win Shares on faith. However, this reservation pales next to the excellence of the book. The historical overview and the player rankings are a tour de force, as before. In particular, the ranking section is much more ambitious and comprehensive, with many more comments than before. This is one of those books that is more fun to read by skipping from place to place rather than from cover to cover. Note: this is actually the 3rd edition of this book. The "original" was actually two very similar editions - a 1985 hardcover and a 1988 paperback. Here are some things I particularly liked: * Decade-by-decade outlines of the game. * Greatly expanded capsule lists of odds and ends in each decade. * Sidebars descibing interesting events and stories from each decade. * New 1980s, 1990s, and Negro Leagues chapters. The Negro Leagues chapter is the best addition to Section 1, the historical overview. * Comments and reasoning about the 100 greatest players overall in addition to raw list. * Vastly expanded section 2 - now there there are 100 greatest cited at each position (instead of 25 or 50), most of them with substantial comments and/or stories. * Fielding overview - James clearly explains why traditional fielding statistics mislead. * The stories and narratives keep the book from revolving around statistics. * Excellent new articles about the Union Association, the greatest teams ever, the best way to use a relief pitcher, power pitchers, the future of the game, and more. * Excellent returning articles on the Black Sox era scandals, the evolution of the minors, catchers blocking the plate, and more. Here are some things I wish were different: * The layout in the old book was more informal, part of its charm. * Some outstanding articles from the old book - such as those on the 1912 World Series, platooning, and the history of relief pitching - are gone. * The old book's glossary is omitted. New readers should have a place to check exactly what "secondary average" and "the pythagorean method" mean. * The old Section 3 was a reference section showing major players' yearly records, including fielding, hit-by-pitch (omitted from most references!), notes, and more. The new Section 3 replaces this with W

Bill James combines analysis, facts, and opinions, seamlessly into this informative and entertaining volume. It should be on the bookshelf of both the intense and casual baseball fan. It is a pleasure to read, but, with nearly 1000 pages, it takes some time. It can be read straight through, or can be picked up anywhere that seems interesting.Part 1 provides a historical perspective of the game, decade by decade. It includes the changes in the game, the uniforms, the players, the ball parks, and many thumbnail sketches of different events in each decade-and much more. You want to know about the game in the 1930s, just turn the book to that area, and you will find much of what you are looking for.The biggest part of the book, well more than half, is Part 2, however. It provides player ratings of the top 100 players at each position, and the top 100 players of all time. These selections are based on a system developed by James, which he calls "win-shares." While not fully explained (we have to wait until spring 2002 for the full explanation in a book to be published), it seems to me to be an excellent rating system. He gets win-shares for each player, than uses a different system to rank the players. The ranking system is heavily balanced toward peak performance (as opposed to entire careers) and is bound to cause controversy among fans. He also throws in (as he admits) his own personal opinion from time-to-time in these rankings. Otherwise, why would George Brett rank higher than Eddie Mathews at third base, when Mathews has higher win-share scores? The big problem I have with the rankings is that James does not usually explain why he chooses to rank some players higher than others, despite their lower win-share scores. Hey, Bill, why does John Olerud rank lower than about 20 players who have lower win-share scores? And why does Eddie Murray rank higher than Willie McCovey?Still, the book is well worth the price. James writes well, keeping the book interesting throughout. And a little controversy, or disagreement, does not diminish the book in any way.

I almost fell out of my chair when I saw "The New Bill James Historical Abstract" in the bookstore. James is every baseball fan wrapped into one and has always been able to see the cold statistical side of baseball along the human side. He even talks about uniform styles and baseball players' looks, which my wife enjoys. This is the kind of book that it takes months to completly consume, the reader starts at the beginning, but then a short tale leads us to another area to compare, then off we go to another similar player who we remember,then to something else. For baseball lovers this book is a must, but for the casual fan this is also a teriffic book. I became obsessed with his 1985 "Historical Abstract" and his yearly publication when I was in my early twenties, I hope young people today find this book and share some of my experiences.

If you like baseball books, in depth analysis and have a keen interest in the history of the game ... you NEED this book.Bill James' revision to his classic historical abstract weighs in at a hefty 1000 pages and a big price tag. But it's worth it. You really get two books.Book I: A decade-by-decade look at the game. As James says in his preface, he's not trying to give times and dates. Each section gives the reader a feel for what baseball was like in that decade - who the popular players were, how they played, where they played. Who was the biggest player, the smallest player, which team had the best infield, best outfield, best pitchers. He gives an OJ Simpson award for each decade, a Clint Hartung award for the biggest flop, the Paul Krichell award for the dumbest trades and signings. He also details the biggest problems the game had in each decade. You can read a chapter and almost hear the fans debating Wagner vs. Cobb, commenting on what a jerk Rogers Hornsby was and venting frustration as New York teams dominated the 1950's. He also has one section on the Negro Leagues. The last section has his (brilliant) solutions to the problems the game has in the 90's.Book II introduces James' new method of player evaluation -- Win Shares. A quantum leap forward in analysis, Win Shares quantifies everything a player contributes - pitching, hitting and defense -- in terms of how many WINS it brought his team. This corrects for park effects, different eras (you'll be surprised to learn how good those 60's hitters were) and is a massive improvement in evaluation of defense. He rates the top 100 players in history based on career value, peak value, clutch performance, etc. This top 100 includes 12 Negro League players and has some surprises (Oscar Charleston at #4). He rates the top 100 players at each position. Some of this can get dull when you get down to the low #'s. But you'll learn a lot, such as that the 1901 Beaneaters had the best pitching staff of the decade, that Arky Vaughn was the #2 all-time shortstop and that Craig Biggio and Barry Bonds are two of the best all-time at their position (this was written before Bonds' historic 2001 season and Biggio's 2001 comeback).One last thing. Throughout the book, James' cites reference to other great baseball books. You could build an amazing baseball library just from his bibliography.All of this comes with James' wit, insight and love of the game. He combines hard-boiled statistical analysis with an apprection of the intangible aspects of the game.