Customer Reviews

The Bill James Handbook 2010

5 star:		(5)
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The Handbook is not really intended for helping rotisserie league owner prepare for drafts, but it provides great backup material. James includes projections for the upcoming season, but acknowledges that they are less than 100% certain. But then again, what projection is 100% certain? There are the usual intriguing essays on baseball and past statistics for individual players. It's a great companion for the upcoming season.

Bios of players with minor league records, achievements, awards, transactions, are not provided; Which I found disappointing.

Tho very dry reading, this book is VERY helpful to us Fantasy Baseball geeks who sufer from "stat withdrawal" in the off season. I only buy this book from Amazon becuase it's a little overpriced at bookstores. The only problem is it's short shelf life = it goes in the dumpster by next October.

A must-read for the diehard, number-crunching, baseball enthusiast. Great section of projected stats for pitchers and position players.

As the other reviewers have noted, this book is full of insightful statistics. James, along with most sabremetricians, is doing a much better job of relating statistics to actual on-field performance. That this book comes out so early is a big plus, though one that's negated now in January. Just the fielding sections make this book worth browsing!

My one, abeit relatively major, complaint is that the minor league seasons are not included in the players' career. I miss the old "Baseball Register" for that reason alone.

Publisher ACTA Sports gets the Hot Stove League cranked up with Baseball Info Solutions and Bill James through the recent publication of The Bill James Handbook 2010.

The thick 510 pages of text in the Handbook touches every base with grand splendor for fans, fantasy players and those inside the pro game who are looking for comprehensive stats from last season to prepare for the 2010 campaign.

Along with Win Shares, team statistics, hitter projections and pitcher projections, there are new sections that analyze pinch hitting and the brief history of instant replay, along with updated park indices to include new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. While the career register for every major leaguer who played in 2009 is a grand slam, it is the small ball with the manager's record and a trifecta of sections - manufacturing runs, base running, fielding - that digs deep into the data for numerous gems.

There are only an elite few mentioned in the hitting, base running and pitching categories for career targets that include homers from 600 to 900, swiping 1,000 bases and those most likely to toss a no-hitter for the first time. And when it comes to pitchers notching 300 career wins, the calculations deliver a pessimistic lineup card.

"As of the end of the 2009 season no pitcher seems likely to emerge as a solid 300-win candidate for the next several seasons," James writes. "The two pitchers who are well-positioned to emerge as 300-win candidates in about five years, if they can continue to pitch well, are Roy Halladay (Toronto Blue Jays) and CC Sabathia (Yankees).

"Dan Haren (Arizona Diamondbacks) does well in our calculation because Haren has made every start and pitched 200-plus innings a year for several years, which is characteristic of pitchers who last a long time."

This is the book I've had to have every baseball season since it was firt published in 1988. The information is great and it's available early enough to purchase as a Christmas Gift. It is a rare year where I only purchase one of these since I can wrap it and put it under the tree and I know my favorite baseball fans will love this gift! Bill James has never dissappointed me with anything he's been associated with and I've been reading his books since the Abstract days of the very early 1980s. This edition is another Home Run!

This book is filled with statistics of every MLB player as well as analysis of what those stats really mean and stats are often severely misunderstood by fans and baseball managers as well as General Managers. Some of the stats covered are; Career data for every 2009 major leaguer (and a few bonus players) in more statistical categories than any other book Exclusive! Fielding Bible Awards, Manufactured Runs Analysis, Player Win Shares, Updated Park Indices (including the New Yankee Stadium and Citi Field), Pinch Hitting Analysis Instant Replay History, Manager's Records, Base running Analysis, Young Talent Inventory, Hitter Projections, Pitcher Projections, and Team Efficiency Summary

Patrick Lagreid, a reviewer here, gives an excellent review and analysis of the goals and intent of the Statistician Bill James. I love stats and no one creates more applicable stats than BJ. To quote Patrick Lagreid, "...and the result is a smarter and more educated fan," but those of us who love stats and logic, know that it is not the fans, but the managers and GM's, which, unfortunately appear, and fairly often, in the realm of the unenlightened. There is nothing more frustrating than a MGR whose knowledge and application of stats is incredibly naïve'. Moreover it is incredibly annoying to hear radio and TV, "Color-Men" spouting ideas that are primitive and incredibly stupid. Bill James puts them where they belong, out in far right field, far out of the ballpark.

It was probably Bill James math and theoretical team building stats and their hiring of him, which brought the Boston Red Sox out of their 86-year prehistoric cave and into reality.

George William, "Bill" James has been credited by the Boston Red Sox organization with assisted bringing them to their to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the trade for ex-Cub, Mark Bellhorn and the signing of free agent David Ortiz, and the team's focus on on-base percentage. Bill James has received two World Series rings for the team's 2004 and 2007 victories. If you love baseball, are a logical open-minded person with a good head on your shoulders and love unusual but highly applicable stats, this is the book for you.

The Bill James Handbook has been around for a while and diehard baseball fans like me, this is the offseason cure for my addition. Now about this book:

* The Annual Fielding Bible Awards
* Stats include Runs Created and adjusted ERA (Component ERA)- These stats alone make the book worth buying).
* Updated Ball Park Indexes
* Another Big Plus- Manager Stats
* New This Year- Pinch Hitting Analysis
* New This Year- Instant Replay History
* Projections- If you buy the book, you can go online and get updated ones in spring training. Take the ones in the book with a serious grain of salt since this book was published on November 1st.

Summary- A must buy for a true baseball fan. Also recommended- Baseball Forecaster by Ron Shandler, Baseball Prospectus

I started buying the Bill James Handbook with the 2008 edition and have found it quite valuable in looking up and researching raw statistics. It is also good for examining traits that complete baseball players should have instead of simply what they did at the plate last season. It also has leader boards for many categories. I recommend this item for those who like to do research on the statistics for their own ideas. If you prefer that already done for you, get the Bill James Gold Mine.