So, I've always considered my baseball knowledge and fandom slightly better than average, but I've decided that I'd like to learn more. What are some good sites/books to read and what/where is a good place to start?
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So, I've always considered my baseball knowledge and fandom slightly better than average, but I've decided that I'd like to learn more. What are some good sites/books to read and what/where is a good place to start?
Cat in the hat
Wiseass :p.Quote:
Originally Posted by 5DiMaggio
Green eggs and ham?
Around the world in 80 days:D?
metsguy's blog
lolQuote:
Originally Posted by etothep
I'm sure Houston & Co will be here shortly with a list of books/sites for you
I'd assume checking out a place like hardballtimes until then is about as good as I can offer (that & the mandatory suggestion of Moneyball & a Bill James book or 2)
After Cat in the Hat, I liked Bill James Baseball Abstract
Quote:
Originally Posted by etothep
Cool, thanks to the both of you.Quote:
Originally Posted by acetoolguy
And yeah, I figured Houston would come on and post a list of sites and books a mile long and two miles wide.
Just read all of HoustonGM's posts and ignore all of RedsoxRockies' posts.
http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Betwe...2177989&sr=1-1
Great book if you are really serious about learning and gaining a better understanding of modern statistics.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/ar...-value-part-i/
Has a link to several systems of measuring players value such as WARP and Win Shares.
http://www.fangraphs.com/
Another good site that deals with in-depth analysis.
Somebody mentioned the bill james abstract and that is good as well.
And here's another good site
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/
http://projectprospect.com/forums/
Another good site especially if you are interested in following and judging prospects.
http://baseball-fever.com/forumdisplay.php?f=52
Awesome, thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by wahoosamC
I'm flat broke right now, but once I get the money I'll probably pick up that book and the Bill James one as well.
Everything wahoosamc mentioned is great. Baseball Between the Numbers especially is a great read.
Anyway, some books on my shelf:
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball
The Fielding Bible (the second edition comes out in February)
The Hardball Times Annual
Baseball Prospectus Annual
Anything from Baseball Prospectus, Bill James, THT, Tom Tango, and the like would be a good read. Also, if you're just getting started, Wikipedia might be a good launching point. Search up any of the above groups/people, or just "sabermetrics", and go from there following links and such.
These are all "stat" suggestions. There's tons of other stuff out there if you're interested in the general history of the game, etc. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, which I listed above, is a good "history book" as well.
And I wish I could delete the first half of nonsense in this thread :(
Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by HoustonGM
I would recommend this thread be pinned once mod powers are back, for anyone else down the line that may also want to endeavor to learn more about baseball.
Good grief...feel free to mix in some biographies or some books following the histories of teams, too.
Unless, you know, 7,000 pages of stats without respite sounds fun to you. :D
The Following events takes place between now and when I sober up...
Chloe told me that The Ultimate Baseball Book is a good place to read up on your history. You can order it off of Amazon.com....oh shoot gotta run, I see Tony Almeda.
Hold it right there Tony!!! click...
Man, what does Jack not know??Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Bauer
The following takes place between now and when I down this whiskey...Quote:
Originally Posted by ragecage
If I told you rage, I would have to kill you. Now if youll excuse me I have a meeting with the senate.
What are you trying to learn?Quote:
Originally Posted by YEAH DAAAAWG
History?
Strategy?
Player Evaluation?
Skills? Coaching?
The business side?
Money Ball, Baseball Prospectus, anything Bill James, Rob Neyer and Keith Law's stuff, those are good places to start
I read this book about pre 1900 baseball
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA140_.jpg
its not the MOST entertaining book in the world but it was VERY interesting and had a TON of info in 1900's baseball.
I also REALLLY enjoyed moneyball and Scouts Honor was a very good book about how the Braves did it all in the 90's thru the early 2000's.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheNamelessPoet
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA240_.jpg
you just had to make urself look like a homer didnt you? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by TheNamelessPoet
Everything you need to know is in this book..but seriously, the good ones have been mentioned. I love Rob Neyer myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by ragecage
Great bookQuote:
Originally Posted by Pavelb1
lol well... i figured what the hell... if u can read Moneyball which was good, why not this. I read very little but was given this as a gift and found the info on the Bonds trade tha tnearly happend really cool... and the way they just picked pitchers... it didnt matter just amas the pitching tallet as much as possible. quantity was key... and sadly they have gone away from thatQuote:
Originally Posted by ragecage
I really enjoyed that one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pavelb1
I'll echo TNP's and RSR's Moneyball recommendation. I've actually read that twice.
If you're looking for some less "stat-heavy" reading, here're a few others I've read:
Baseball Field Guide
Nice baseball rule book that's a heck of a lot more accessible than the dry "legalese" you get when you trudge through the official versions.
Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers
Worth checking out just for the discussions of the history and evolution of various pitches.
The Knucklebook
If you're a fan, specifically, of flutter-balls and their pitchers (my avatar ;) ), here's your "fix" right here.
Why a Curveball Curves
Pretty informal collection of Popular Mechanics articles about the science of a bunch of sports, not just baseball.
The Physics of Baseball
If you take your science "dry", or if you want a baseball-specific science discussion.
Emperors and Idiots
If you're "all about" the Sox/Yankees rivalry.
The Code
Subtitled: "Baseball's Unwritten Rules and Its Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct". And (if it floats your boat) the author also wrote its hockey counterpart, by the same name, only subtitled: "The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL".
If I think of more that are worth mentioning, I'll tack 'em on later.