The hidden game of baseball : a revolutionary approach to baseball and its statistics / John Thorn and Pete Palmer with David Reuther ; foreword by Keith Law.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thorn, John, author.

Palmer, Pete, author.

Reuther, David, author.

Law, Keith, author of introduction, etc.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baseball.

Baseball--Statistics.

Baseball--Miscellanea.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (453 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago, [Illinois] ; London, [England] : The University of Chicago Press, 1985.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Long before Moneyball became a sensation or Nate Silver turned the knowledge he’d honed on baseball into electoral gold, John Thorn and Pete Palmer were using statistics to shake the foundations of the game. First published in 1984, The Hidden Game of Baseball ushered in the sabermetric revolution by demonstrating that we were thinking about baseball stats—and thus the game itself—all wrong. Instead of praising sluggers for gaudy RBI totals or pitchers for wins, Thorn and Palmer argued in favor of more subtle measurements that correlated much more closely to the ultimate goal: winning baseball games. The new gospel promulgated by Thorn and Palmer opened the door for a flood of new questions, such as how a ballpark’s layout helps or hinders offense or whether a strikeout really is worse than another kind of out. Taking questions like these seriously—and backing up the answers with data—launched a new era, showing fans, journalists, scouts, executives, and even players themselves a new, better way to look at the game. This brand-new edition retains the body of the original, with its rich, accessible analysis rooted in a deep love of baseball, while adding a new introduction by the authors tracing the book’s influence over the years. A foreword by ESPN’s lead baseball analyst, Keith Law, details The Hidden Game’s central role in the transformation of baseball coverage and team management and shows how teams continue to reap the benefits of Thorn and Palmer’s insights today. Thirty years after its original publication, The Hidden Game is still bringing the high heat—a true classic of baseball literature.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Foreword

Preface

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1. The Music of Sphere and Ash

2. What’s Wrong with Traditional Baseball Statistics

3. The New Statistics

4. The Linear Weights System

5. There’s No Place Like Home

6. The Theory of Relativity and Other Absolute Truths

7. The Good Old Days Are Now

8. The Book . . . and the Computer

9. Rising to the Occasion

10. 44 Percent of Baseball

11. Measuring the Unmeasurable

12. What Makes Teams Win

13. Great Single-Season Performances

14. The Ultimate Baseball Statistic

15. Rumblings in the Pantheon

Key to Symbols Used in the Tables

Tables

Appendix: Top 500 Players of All Time (through 2013)

Bibliography

Notes:

"Originally published by Doubleday & Company, Inc. in 1984"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed March 20, 2015).

ISBN:

0-226-27683-X

OCLC:

1233041613