Customer Reviews

The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2006

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Given that the Bill James and Baseball Prospectus annuals seem to cover almost anything you could need for the upcoming season, I wasn't sure what to expect with this effort from the guys at the great THT site.

What makes this one stand out from the others, in my opinion, is the number and quality of articles, both with regard to the 2005 season and to other baseball-related issues. While the BP annual always has essays, their number doesn't approach what is included in the THT annual. In their recap of 2005, there are short essays covering each divisional race, a postseason review, and an excellent "Ten Things I learned this Year" essay from Dave Studeman, who manages to bridge the gap betweeen "traditional" and "stathead" approaches to the game as well as anyone I've read. Steve Treder's examination of the 2005 season stands out, as do a couple of articles on the business side of baseball by Brian Borawski and Maury Brown.

I admit to being a little surprised at the number of research articles dedicated to batted balls (there are 5 of them), but after reading them I can understand why all of them were included. The analysis section also includes several other interesting articles, including a good look at the value of baserunning. And I would be remiss, of course, not to mention that this publication includes some excellent and well-presented stats in the book's second half. It's simply that the articles are so good and plentiful that they overshadow the numbers.

This is an outstanding work, one that has quickly earned a place on my bookshelf behind copies of James' old abstracts and a growing pile of BP annuals. I'd be surprised to see a better baseball publication for 2006, as the THT guys have just done a great job of culling many items of interest together in a single book. This is a must-purchase, one worth much more than its low price.

I have been reading the hardball times website for over a year and the analysis and articles have always been really thought provoking. Aaron Gleeman is a joy to read and "Studes" is a stats maven who brings great insight into the game I love. Great reviews of division races, great graphical trending to get a true insight into how teams really performed, and articles with a statistical bent detailing the pros and cons of the DePodesta era for the Dodgers, the "Angel Way" system and its pros and cons, analysis of the impact of luck, Walt Jocketty as a GM and much more. Throw in great articles by Bill James and Rob Neyer, and what's not to love? And of course the detailed stats (in many hitting, pitching and fielding categories) for every player and team that you'd expect from a top-of-the-line baseball annual. If you are not convinced, take a look at their excellent site -- www.hardballtimes.com -- and review a couple articles; I think once you get a feel for the quality of their work, you'll be convinced that this is the annual to buy. Anyone can compile stats or a paragraph on each player, but these guys add a whole layer of analysis on top of the game that sheds a lot of light on the game.

When I first got this book, I was a little disappointed that it did not provide everything in a neat package like other annuals. For example, the team and individual statistics are for 2005 only, with neither historical numbers nor projections. There are no detailed writeups or predictions on teams or players, and some of the articles seem to go into too much depth on issues like batted balls, as noted by another reviewer.

Over time, however, I have been referring to this book more than any other source to get deeper insights into the coming season and re-reading the numerous excellent articles on specific topics like fielding and, yes, types of batted balls. While not written with fantasy leagues in mind, I've found the stats to be invaluable in identifying undervalued players especially beyond the Top 100 that appear on everyone's draft lists.

This book does not try to cover everything, but what it does choose to cover is done extremely well.

As a fan of Baseball Prospectus, I must say I was very impressed with the Hardball Times Baseball Annual. Impressed enough to say that it is the best annual of its kind, beating out BP. The reason is that there is so many quality and interesting articles. There is nothing on fantasy baseball or much on individual player evaluation, but the whole annual is filled with thought provoking essays that do not seem to be biased towards or against any particular team as other periodicals seem to be.

Baseball research has come a long way over the past 30 years. For proof, just pick up a copy of the Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2006.

Back in the late 1970's, Bill James wondered about such questions as what catchers had the best throwing arms, and what type of pitchers lasted the longest. So he started counting by hand, came up with answers, and revolutionized a sport.

Now baseball students have all sorts of tools at their disposal for analysis, and some of them are on display in this book. It's a wide collection of essays that will be of great interest to those with a thirst for such material.

One bit of explanation: The Hardball Times is a Web site dedicated to timely baseball analysis. I haven't been reading it enough, but the guys in charge of it do a nice job on it. It's worth a look.

The most impressive part of this book involves speed -- not first to third speed, but publication speed. There are articles on the World Series in this book, yet it was published before the end of the 2005 calendar year. Plus, it has a full set of statistics from the just-completed season. It's tough to beat that.

The book is broken into five different areas: the 2005 season, 2005 commentary, History, Analysis, and Statistics. What you like may be determined by your taste in baseball.

Personally, I'm a fan of using numbers to help draw conclusions. Therefore, I liked Jon Weisman's story on Paul DePodesta's time as general manager of the Dodgers, Matt Welch's story on the Angels' system, James' article on Bert Blyleven, and Dave Stundenmund's review of the season.

Some of the other articles didn't work quite as well as for me. Usually when I see lines on a graph, my eyes start to glaze over ... and there's a little of that here. And while studies of what happens to batted balls (grounder, line drive, etc.) are interesting, they are a little impersonal for my taste. You might disagree, and that's fine. It's a collection of essays, so it's designed to come at you at a variety of viewpoints.

The stats take up almost half of the book. They thankfully have the traditional numbers, like homers and pitching wins, as well as some other stats that force many to run to the glossary.

This all makes this a difficult book to rate. I'm a pretty big baseball fan, and my mind did wander at times in the text and with some statistics. But there's enough worthwhile stuff in here to make this worth a look at the bookstore if nothing else. It's not quite as useful to me as Baseball Prospectus, which I find myself grabbing a lot during the course of the season, but there's some good reading in the Hardball Annual. And if you like this sort of stuff, give it an extra star or two.

I didn't find this useful as the 'statistics' presented werte more subjective and less useful than the usual baseball numbers. This book may be useful for some but it was not useful to me.

Overall an excellent baseball book.

Something to keep in mind - despite the huge "2006" declaration of the front, this annual is definitely more of a 2005 season review book than a 2006 season preview. Would probably work better as a Hot Stove primer or a refresher in the run-up to spring training.

It's about 50% reviews & articles and 50% shear stats from the 2005 season.

The GM in a Box feature was pretty fascinating looking at the wants, habits & desires of the career of one particular GM (Walt Jocketty in this case) - hope that continues in future years.

The stats run from the basics you see everywhere (RBI, HR, H etc) to the more sabermetrically inclined (RC, PR, WS).

This book, along with THT free website, is a seasonal "must have." The collection of stats itself is freely available on THT website, but - like Baseball Prospectus' annual - its presentation of those stats allows for easy reading on a team by team basis before and during the season. It also has articles that provide an indepth analysis of several of THT's own stats and other "on the edge" ideas about baseball analysis. If really forced to get only one such book each year, this one would make a strong argument to be that book.

This was the first time I ordered this book.I was surprised at the amount of information that was found in this book.If you are looking for expanded informations about baseball stats this is a book for you.There is also wonderful articles about baseball in this book.

Others like this book, but my view is in opposition. The unanswered question, to me, is "What's the difference?" You may find yourself a more knowledgable fan after reading this book; I did not.

Statistical significance at the .30 level seems to me to be not significant.