Customer Reviews

The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2007 (Hardball Times Baseball Annual)

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For those who like some good commentary to go with insightful statistics, this is a great purchase. Although the title makes it sound like this is a preview of next season, it's really a review of the 2006 season along with some excellent historical articles.

The statistics will be familiar to those who frequent the THT site, and they've made sure to include both traditional and sabermetric stats. I know that there were a lot of negative comments when BP cut some of the traditional stats in their publication, but that isn't a problem here. Items like batting average are included along with runs created and GPA, and they've also included a table for WPA and Win Shares for every player and team. One of the more interesting tables is the Playing Time Constellations, which chart players' time at each position throughout the season. They might initially look like a weird collection of dots, but they're actually a lot of fun to review.

Among the numerous year-in-review essays, there are a few standouts. For those who enjoy the business side of the game, Brian Borawski has written a good synopsis of the happenings from the past year. Also standing out are Jeff Sackmann's review of the World Baseball Classic, and Vince Gennaro's article on competitive balance (or lack thereof).

The historical articles, too, are enjoyable, especially John Walsh's look at the best outfield arms of the past half-century. And while I don't agree completely with David Gassko's formula for figuring out the most valuable pitchers of all time, his article is good food for thought.

It's still a few months before we see much on-field MLB action. In the meantime, this should help feed the appetites of fans whose minds remain on the game during the winter months. Another great effort from the guys at THT, worth well more than the low cost.

Make no mistake about it, as good as "Baseball Prospectus" is, "Hardball Times" is even better. The statistics are more imaginative and useful, while the writing is much more accessible. I will continue to buy "Baseball Prospectus" for its player analysis, but there is no doubt that "Hardball Times" rules for the true baseball stats nut.

This is an enjoyable, fairly lighthearted baseball book. It's not as irreverent as Baseball Prospectus but contains a similar focus on having lots of editorial content. The key difference is baseball prospectus is interested in projected future team and player preformance whereas Hardball times looks at the last season and is more interested in how things came to be. This edition I really enjoyed the articles on the buisness of baseball, the correlating factors for the development of power, and their team articles about the teams on the failure end of the spectrum (AKA the Pittsburgh Pirates).

As a baseball fan who isn't really into the fantasy game, its one of the three annuals I always get (the other two being baseball prospectus and the Bill James handbook). I also suggest it because it comes out as we enter the depths of winter and it helps to ward off the baseball withdrawl symptoms. Not that I'm a baseball junkie or anything...

This was my first encounter with the Hardball Times, and I came away impressed by the research and data. It wasn't what I was looking for though, and would have appreciated a more in-depth review of the 2006 season. The last half of the book was pure statistical information without even a brief synopsis of what the data showed.

Overall, I felt like I overpaid.