The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball

By Mitchel Lichtman, Tom M. Tango, Andrew Dolphin

Written by three esteemed baseball statisticians, The Book continues where the legendary Bill James's Baseball Abstracts and Palmer and Thorn's The Hidden Game of Baseball left off more than twenty... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1597971294
• ISBN13: 9781597971294
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc
• Length: 385 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

It's a gimmick is all and does not replace good baseball sense.

Best way to manage is by the seat of your pants, with years of experience, like Ned Yost did in 2014-2015 when he won back to back pennants and a World Series with an overachieving Royals team, while these "Numbers" guys have won zip in terms of World Championships since this so called Moneyball started. You may get a mediocre team to win some games, make the playoffs which today isn't that daunting a deal, but in the end the lack of a truly great team concept will doom them. Also look at Bruce Bochy a 4 times World Series winner. from 2010-14, and 23 with the Giants and Rangers. Using a system he put in place, with two different types of teams he won 4 in 11 seasons managing. Show me a moneyball guy that can do that and I'll change my opinion. Its a gimmick and only a party successful one.

Best math book on baseball ever.

The authors of "The Book" reveal truths of baseball derived from careful statistical analysis. The clear explanations are such that any person who can understand percentages will gain insight from the book. The conclusions (and data upon which they are based) are truly amazing. I have never read a book on baseball in this league. Every angle of the game is analyzed objectively. While it is presented such that "non-math" people can understand it, there is enough meat to the analysis that substantiate the conclusions without scaring the average reader. My purpose in studying baseball is from a sports betting perspective. The conclusions (such as run equity and win percentages given different situations) make this book a mandatory purchase for anyone who bets on Baseball live, or conducts a very thorough analysis of moneyline prices. There has never been a book on baseball so well written that targets all ranges of sabr-metric fans. This will teach you the subtleties in baseball that add small percentages to winning games and scoring runs. If you are a fantasy baseball player, a lot of this content is invaluable to you as well.

Step up from 'Numbers'

I wouldn't call it a complement to "Baseball Between the Numbers"--more like, if 'Numbers' is Algebra I, 'THE BOOK' is Algebra II. Where Numbers scratches the surface, THE BOOK goes much deeper, with a more sophisticated analysis, more evidence and more (yes) numbers. If you're new to sabermetrics, you might want to ease into it with Numbers, but THE BOOK is better.

Single Most Important Sabermetrics Book?

Take it from a professional sabermetrician: this might be the best and most important single volume in our field. It's a splendid complement to Baseball Between the Numbers, addressing many of the same questions but in many cases digging deeper. The authors have impeccable reputations in the online sabermetrics community. While they can't match Bill James for wit or BP for snarkiness, the writing is clear and solid. I don't think that any of the findings here (some of which are truly eye-opening) will end up as the very last word on the subject: but more often than not they are the latest word. And that makes the book an essential purchase for anyone serious about understanding the game of baseball.

fantastic baseball research

A strictly Sabermetric book (the table of contents has a listing of tables and figures... there's 100+ of them in here.) The work is strong, especially the chapter on Game Theory. If you liked Baseball Between the Numbers and are hungry for more, this is a good next step. If you're already into Sabermetrics, get this one. This is a model work.