The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball [Paperback]

David S. Neft (Author), Richard M. Cohen (Author), Michael L. Neft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1998 | Series: Sports Encyclopedia Baseball

Long considered the best low-priced baseball reference, THE SPORTS ENCYCLOPEDIA: BASEBALL 1998 covers the history of every player, every team, and every season from 1901 through 1997, with detailed statistics and text summaries, as well as key historical developments in the game. Also includes Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player Award winners and Hall of Fame inductees.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Statistics are to baseball as nails are to carpentry: they define, inform, and hold the game together. When the teams fly south for spring training, fans, eager to sort through and argue over the numbers, flock to the sports shelves for the statistics. The Sports Encyclopedia has what baseball aficionados want. From 1901 through 1997, the reference supplies updated and revised lifetime numbers for every player, plus seasonal summaries of each team's performance. In addition, there are details of every playoff and World Series game ever played, profiles of every no-hitter since 1901, updated stats on RBIs, on-base percentages, and fielding, plus classic baseball legends and intriguing trivia. As salaries and sports politics get murky, it's refreshing to surround yourself with pages and pages of solid, quantitative information.

Review

"One of the handiest and most reliable baseball reference books around."
-- The San Diego Union Tribune

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 727 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 18 edition (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312181833
• ISBN-13: 978-0312181833
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,788,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sports statistics begins with baseball, February 3, 2008

By 

Michael R. Chernick "statman31147" (Holland PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball 2002 (Paperback)

I published a review for the 2000 edition of this book not 2001 or 2002. Many of the reviews listed under this edition are for earlier editions and some comments may not pertain. Books like this one can change dramatically from year to year. Errors could be corrected, new errors introduced and there is always a whole new season of statistics that has an effect on the flavor of the book. For instance 2002 was the year that Bonds broke McGwire's home run record, so I am sure that there is coverage of that. These books are not worth buying every year. But these authors do a credible job and I would expect this to be of similar quality to the one I own. I would suggest buying a copy once every 5 years if you are a baseball enthusiast and only every year if you are a fanatic. However for sports statistic fanatics it may be that Total Baseball has more information.

now with the revelations about steroid use many of the records of the late 1990s and the 21st century are tainted.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, But..., February 25, 2003

By 

Rob T. (Savannah, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball 2003 (Paperback)

I bought the 2003 edition of The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball today, & as usual am overall pleased with the wealth of information in this very valuable book. However, there are a few problems which the editors need to resolve for future editions.This series has always been plagued by poor editing & typos, & the 2003 edition is no exception. In fact, there is one HUGE error that should never have gotten past whoever edited this edition. Turn to page 700 & you'll see it: instead of the statistics for the 2002 NL Championship Series between St. Louis & San Francisco the ones for the 2001 NLCS between Arizona & Atlanta have been reprinted. Someone should have caught this major blunder.Since this annual series does have typos & errors (what book with so much info doesn't?) the editors should provide their readers with an e-mail or snail mail address to notify them of mistakes so they can be corrected. I was able to do so in the 1980s & several errors were corrected. I hope the editors will be open to input from their readers once again, for that only strengthens the factual integrity of the book.I'm sure there are other mistakes but the one above is the reason I give The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball 2003 a rating of 4 instead of 5. It will make a good addition to your baseball reference library, but it's probably a good idea to have another encylopedia handy to doublecheck the info. Trust, but verify, with all these huge statistical books, I say.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good But Flawed Reference, January 31, 2000

By 

Rob T. (Savannah, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball (Paperback)

St. Martin's Press's Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball 2000, the 20th edition of this inexpensive but handy reference, is full of statistics & summaries of every baseball season since 1901. Arranged in a team format it allows you to see who played for what team in any given year. Starting with the 1999 edition & continuing this year a separate playoff & World Series summary has been added.The book does have a flaw that has persisted since its beginning, however, & that is poor editing. Every year there are numerous typos that make it less than a definitive reference. The editors need to proofread their work a little closer. It would help if they would put back contact info, as they did in the early editions, so the readers can tell them about any mistakes found. (No work this large is going to be without mistakes).Despite the sometimes glaring typos this book, for its price, is a useful addition to any baseball fans library. But, you need to check other sources to verify the accuracy of some of the info due to the typos.