Customer Reviews

The Fielding Bible--Volume II

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When John Dewan's Fielding Bible was published early in 2006, it easily represented the biggest leap forward in defensive metrics ever. Three years later, in The Fielding Bible Volume II, Dewan has taken another big leap forward, not only converting his Plus/Minus rating into runs saved, but also adding in bunt runs saved (for corner infielders), double play runs saved (for middle infielders), outfield arm runs saved, earned runs saved (for catchers), and stolen base runs saved (for pitchers and catchers).

No longer do we need to wonder whether Bobby Crosby's excellent work at turning the double play outweighs his poor range: last year, he was the best in the business at turning the double play, but his four GDP Runs Saved pale in comparison to his 10 Plus/Minus Runs Allowed. Conversely, Alfonso Soriano's underrated arm made him the most valuable defensive left fielder in the game: despite having saved just nine Plus/Minus runs over the past three years, his whopping 33 runs saved via his throwing arm puts his total of 42 runs saved well over the speedy Carl Crawford's three-year total of 22 (19 Plus/Minus, 3 arm).

This is information you cannot get anywhere else, information you need to fully understand the game of baseball. Without The Fielding Bible Volume II, you might wonder why the Athletics signed the 31-year old Mark Ellis to a 2-year, $11 million deal after he batted .233 last year. But at the end of the book, there is a chart adding up players' runs created on offense, runs created on defense, and baserunning runs and using a nifty positional adjustment created by Bill James to compare the players across the diamond. We find that Ellis was a more valuable player overall last year than Alfonso Soriano, Garrett Atkins, Carlos Lee, Jim Thome, J.D. Drew, and a host of other players who each make way more money than Ellis does and each of whom the average fan would consider a better player than Ellis, hands down.

That is the advantage that the Fielding Bible gives you: the ability to understand an integral part of the game of baseball that had remained hidden for so long. Don't analyze baseball without it.

Read the full review:

http://baseballevolution.com/keith/fbibleii.html

In addtion to all the wonderful statistics and analysis that one would expect to find in "The Fielding Bible -- Volume II" - based on what was provided in the first book - now there's even more goodies therein.

The new "stuff" includes, but is not limited to, Defensive Runs Saved for players over the last three years, Total Runs for each player (meaning the combination of Runs Created, Baserunning Runs, and Defensive Runs Saved) in 2008, Bill James' Misplays/Good Plays leaders for 2008, Analysis of Defensive Positioning, and Bill James' Universal Fielding Percentage.

And, of course, "The Fielding Bible -- Volume II" also provides Plus/Minus Leaders and Trailers, The Fielding Bible Awards, Defensive Scouting Reports and a bunch of thought-provoking essays/studies centering on the analysis of baseball defensive play - just as the first volume gave us.

Needless to say, I highly recommend "The Fielding Bible -- Volume II." It's a must for the thinking baseball fan and an essential component for any creditable baseball library.

There are about a half dozen must-have (5-star) baseball books released this time of year, and Acta either publishes or carries all of them. The Fielding Bible isn't an annual publication -- it comes out every three years -- but it might be Acta's flagship. If you're considering buying this book, you're probably familiar with the first volume and you won't need much convincing. Simply put: this one's even better. It contains four essays by Bill James, one of them being a fascinating discussion of the distinction between defensive misplays and errors. There are essays on new ways to evaluate catcher defense, and a brief but insightful look at how defensive replacements may show who the good and bad fielders really are, and whether managers are seeing with their eyes what we see in the Bible's metrics. The book will probably appeal to a limited but devout audience, but if you've been waiting for it you won't be disappointed.

As a reader of bill James since ~ 1980, I continue to be amazed at his insights [and the insights of his collaborators]. This book is another validation that statisticians looking objectively at data can reach conclusions that 'experts' never could. The notion of how many runs a defender adds or subtracts from the norm is hugely valuable, and allows for a much better performance comparison. It's great to see that Jamesian analysis is now coming to the political realm with Nate Silver. By using the same analytical statistical approach, he has created new insights in politics and upended so much conventional wisdom.

And the icing on the cake is that all these guys are very entertaining and thoughtful writers. James and his fellow travelers are doing to baseball what W. Edwards Deming did to business analysis: get rid of 'opinion' and replace it with 'facts.' He was fond of saying "In God We Trust, all others bring facts." What the world could accomplish if everyone relied more on fact than opinion!

The accepted statistics for fielding prowess have been fielding percentage, chances and assists, errors committed, gold gloves and reputation--deserved or not. Fielding Bible uses a variety of statistical tools using the 2008 season to show who the real fielding stars are by showing how they can save runs and who are the fielding also rans that cost teams runs. It also shows how misleading the accepted measures are. The statistical tools are explained and there are charts and graphs that allow the reader to compare playes at each position. And there are some surprises. Fielding Bible assumes the reader has a working knowledge of baseball statistics as well as the players and teams. Baseball fans who read this edition of Fielding Bible will smile and shake their head when they hear the talking heads on television and radio use conventional statistics and reputations to tell the listener who the fielding stars at their position. The real fans know better. Not necessarily for the casual fan but the true baseball fan who wants to go beyond convential wisdom and get a much better understand of the game. Must read for fantasy fans.