Customer Reviews

The Bill James Handbook 2008

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Those familiar with the Bill James Handbooks will know what the 2008 version is about. This volume is chock full of intriguing statistics.

One part that I like is a prediction of how various players are expected to do in the next baseball season (in this case, 2008). On pages 442 and following, we see the projected batting figures for players; on pages 456 and following, we see projections for pitchers for 2008. This year, the work does not contain predictions of career totals, given the uncertainty of injuries. Let's take a look at some predictions for 2008: Prince Fielder is projected to hit 44 homers with a batting average of .289; he is predicted to steal 4 bases and be caught twice. Frank Thomas, nearing the end of his career is projected to hit 28 home runs with a batting average of .262. One nice thing about the book is that it provides an indicator of how accurate last year's predictions were. Fielder was predicted to have the following statistics in 2007: 30 homers and a .280 batting average; his real productivity was 50 homers and a .288 average. Injuries accounted for some erroneous projections, as with Joe Crede and Scott Rolen. The text notes which predictions were way off and which were pretty accurate. A nice bit of accountability.

There are the unique statistics created and developed by Bill James and his colleagues, such as team efficiency, baseball park indices, those batters who are most apt to swing at the first pitch (Delmon Young in the AL, at 51.4% of first pitches; the corresponding NL figure is Jeff Francouer at 44.1%), those who are least likely to swing at first pitches (e.g., Reggie Willitts of the Angels at 4.6% and J. J. Hardy of Milwaukee at 7.9%.

And on it goes. So, this book gives baseball fans a chance to start gearing up for 2008, provides lots of material for hot stove league discussions, and gets one to thinking about performance of major league players in a different way.

For 13 years, STATS Inc. published the STATS Major League Handbook. However, in the fall of 2002, STATS Inc. all but suspended its publishing operation. At that time, it had appeared that 2002 would be the end of the Major League Handbook (that so many had grown fond of over time). However, in June of 2003, thanks to the good folks at Baseball Info Solutions and Acta Publications, The Bill James Handbook (as this grand annual was renamed) reappeared on the scene - and it has continued to be available in the years to follow.

On November 1, 2007, The Bill James Handbook 2008 was released.

As usual, this version of the Handbook contains team statistics from last season - including Bill James' Team Efficiency Summary, a register of career stats for everyone who played in the majors this past year, 2007 fielding stats - including the 2007 Fielding Bible Awards, manager records and tendencies, park data, player splits, leader boards, win shares data, and 2008 player projections.

In addition, this version of the Handbook contains some new and expanded features. These include:

* Bill James' Young Talent Inventory - with good grades for the Rockies, D-Rays and D-backs...and bad grades for the Astros, Cubs and Tigers.

* Bill James' Manufactured Run Analysis - which notes that, last season, manufacturing runs was slightly more a trait of successful teams than preventing teams from scoring them.

* Bill James' Player & Team Baserunning Analysis - that shows why Mike Cameron is the king of going first to third and why Jason Varitek is a station-to-station guy...and that the Angels, as a team, will first to third you to death whereas the Astros killed themselves on the bases as a team.

Granted, in the past, the STATS Major League Handbook had an edge that is no longer available for The Bill James Handbook. Both books provide reams and reams of great baseball data and were/are the earliest "baseball annual" each year. For the STATS Major League Handbook, these two wrinkles were a major draw as, at that time, there were not web-sites that provided (both traditional and sabermetric) baseball data on a real-time basis. Nor, for the most part, were there software programs that contained this information. Therefore, if you wanted baseball data like this, and you wanted it "ASAP," the STATS Major League Handbook was your source.

However, while not having an edge in terms of exclusive data and publication timing, The Bill James Handbook does provide you with something unique - call it a serendipitous benefit - with its retro-style media format. In simple words: It's a book!

Being a book, you can do something with The Bill James Handbook that you can't do with a web-site or software program - meaning you can read it...like a book.

You can sit with it for an hour, or just a few minutes, and no matter how much time you spend when looking at the Handbook, you will find abundant nuggets of baseball enlightenment and amusement. With every turn of a page - albeit if you start at the first page of it or just pick a starting page at random - you can begin a fun journey into the land of baseball statistics. And, again, because it's a book, The Bill James Handbook lends itself towards being used in locations and/or times, and in a way, that web-sites and/or software programs cannot provide the same satisfying results.

Think of it this way: You need a screw-driver. You know where to find it. It's in a tool-box on a shelf in your garage. So, you go exactly there, and get the exact screw-driver that you need. That's nice and satisfying feeling. You have a need, you know the best place to address it, and it's easy to complete that need at that place.

Now, think about this situation: You have some time to kill. Just for the heck of it, you go for a walk in the neighborhood. As you are strolling, you run into an old friend that you haven't seen in years. You talk to them and start to realize how much they had to offer in terms of enjoying their company. Then, as you're talking, someone that you never noticed before comes by and joins your conversation - and you start to realize that this new person also offers insight that is something that you never thought of...and, you find it useful and enjoyable as well.

Both of these situations benefit you. But, going for that screw-driver is not going to deliver the same benefit that you get from that random and chance meeting with old and new friends. And, chances are, if you needed a screw-driver, the best route was that direct line to that tool-box on a shelf in your garage - rather than hoping you might find one, or run into someone with one, if you went for a walk around the block.

Still with me? What I'm trying to say here is that using a web-site or software program to get baseball data, is like the screw-driver situation. If you know what you need (or want), specifically, and you know the quickest place to get it, then going there makes sense. However, if you're looking to take some time, and allow yourself to find something - that you're not specifically looking for - and want it to be a positive experience, then a more indirect and broader route is the better way to go...like taking that walk and rolling with chance meetings...or like picking up The Bill James Handbook, reading it, and seeing what you'll find out.

It's for this latter reason that I highly recommend The Bill James Handbook 2008. Just don't get it for all the great data and analysis that's inside it - get it because of the way in which it can be used...and enjoyed...in a manner that only a book can provide.

This is not a book for those who prefer Bill James' Historical Abstract type of stat books. This is stats and nothing but the stats.

This book contains useful data as well as interesting projections for all players during the 2008 season.
Much of this data can be found on free databases online, such as the one by Sean Lahmahn but for those who aren't computer savvy the stats are there for you to read.

As in past years, Bill James handbook is timely and chock full of numbers for both the baseball guy and fantasy baseball guy in all of us. A must read till all of the magazines start appearing in January.

When the Sporting news stopped publishing their annual Baseball Register, I was Very dissapointed. However after finding about the Bill James Baseball Handbook there was once again Hope for this Baseball Fanatic.
The Differences in the books are simple. Bill James' Book Is a Much Easier read With a treamendous amount of extra Statistics. The Only Pluses that the Sporting News book had were 1. It had Career Transaction records. and 2. All Players That played in the majors the previous Season,In Order to gain entry into the book had ALL their Minor league Stats Listed as well as Career Major League Stats.
Bill James While Having A Ton More Stats. Only Lists Minor League Stats Of Players Who have One or Two Years in the Majors. After that only Major League Stats, and any Minor League stats From the Last Season Played if Any As Well as All Major League Stats Are Listed.
What I Really Like Is In The Career Register The Season Stats Are Combined For A Grand Total and then They are Separated if Two or more Teams Are Played for In a Given Season. Overall I Hope They Publish This Book as Long As The Game of Baseball Lasts- Which I hope Is Forever.
All in All A Five Star Book.

Was pleased with the fast good service. Book being used every day
while watching baseball games - to look up stats, etc of different players.
Thanks much.

It's baseball Christmas. Bill James seems to always add new twists to what most people think is basic statistics. The Great Game of baseball deserves this type of dedication and Bill delivers.

It's baseball season so have good and get give!

I hear a lot of people talk about how the internet has largely rendered titles such as this obsolete, and to some extent that may be true. The bulk, maybe 80-90%, of this book--the career register that lists career statistics, the splits, and even much (though not all) of the leaderboards--is freely available online. Even the outstanding defensive analysis--John Dewan's plus/minus system--is posted online.

But this book still has some gems. The manufactured runs analysis, for instance; the detailed baserunning numbers; the detailed park factors (most other sources list just basic factors); and if you're a fan of James' writing, while there's not a lot of it here (I don't want to mislead anyone on that), he does do an intro for most sections, and in typical Jamesian fashion often provides a thoughtful, unique spin on what these numbers and analysis are saying (as well as their limits). And in this era of more and more competitors selling "deadly accurate" projections, James and Co. provide a refreshing dose self-accountability, highlighting both their good and bad projections from last year, and quietly noting the nature and limitations any projection system will have.

In short, if you're a fantasy player, maybe this isn't for you. They have projections, but they're grouped in a smaller section at the back of the book, and probably don't include as many younger players as other annuals (particularly young pitchers: they note that they prefer to see some baseline from young pitchers before projecting them). If you're more interested in some of the more nuanced details of "real baseball," however (how often did a guy go first-to-third on the basepaths? how might a left-handed hitter with just doubles power play in Dodger Stadium? who's the best team at manufacturing runs? how about defending manufactured runs? who crushes sliders? or balls outside the zone?) then you'll enjoy it. (Although again, that stuff is maybe 20% of the book, so you must balance that into whether or not it's worth the price.)