The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History [Hardcover]

Jayson Stark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2007

Every baseball fan knows New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter is a great all-around player. But how about Alex Rodriguez, Jeter's teammate, former American League MVP, and probable future Hall of Famer? Many would argue he's even better than Jeter. And what about Jeter's seemingly unassailable status as one of the greatest Yankees of all time? Such discussions highlight one of the great joys of being a baseball fan: arguing over who's really great and who falls just short, who doesn't get the respect he deserves and who gets too much. In other words, who's overrated and who's underrated.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"When I first knew Jayson Stark, he was often mistaken for Bernie Carbo, the erstwhile Red Sox outfielder. In a very short time, Jayson was himself unmistakable for his creative, thoughtful, human, humorous, and passionate writing that has made him one of the greatest of all baseball journalists. Everything he has done has been thoroughly researched and thought out, which is what makes his study of the most underrated and overrated players so fascinating. You know one thing as you open the book--that Stark will touch on things you never even thought about." --Peter Gammons, Hall of Fame baseball writer and ESPN baseball analyst

"Jayson Stark has always, in my opinion, been the most underrated baseball writer since man started writing about the game. Of course, I may have been influenced a little by the fact that I'm in his book. Nevertheless, if this book doesn't end up in Oprah's Book Club, then Oprah's list is overrated."--Andy Van Slyke, underrated centerfielder, underrated back-jacket blurb writer, and current Tigers first-base coach

"There is no one with more passion for baseball than Jayson Stark... Once you've read this book, you'll know why..." --Mike Greenberg, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and co-host of ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning

From the Inside Flap

It's one of the oldest pastimes known to man, dating as far back as the invention of the wheel (somewhat overrated) and the discovery of fire (vastly underrated). But not until thousands of years later, with the arrival of baseball, did the overrated-underrated debate really fulfill its potential.

This great sport was virtually made for the (overrated-underrated) debate, and the chances of any living soul having not engaged in it at one time or another are small. Whether you are a hardcore fan or a casual observer, you almost certainly have been lured into a war of wits on the merits, or lack thereof, of a particular ballplayer, team, or record-setting achievement. Sports-radio-talk-show hosts are well-known instigators of these kinds of debates, as are baseball columnists, friends, ex-friends, or the complete stranger sitting three seats down at the local watering hole.

It really doesn't matter if you went to the five-tool school of baseball verbiage or if you know just enough about the team in your zip code to survive the occasional water-cooler gossip; the O-U debate is so subjective that any argument could last for hours, regardless of the presence of statistical facts or hardball knowledge in the discussion. That was the case, of course, until Jayson Stark took it upon himself to end the debate once and for all in The Stark Truth--or, more likely, energize it for years to come. Stark, a baseball columnist and television analyst for the better part of the last three decades, attempts to identify the most overrated and underrated players of all time at each position. He'll be the first to admit that his selections will invite skepticism and even controversy, which is the very essence of the O-U debate. In Stark's findings, based on years of research and mounds of statistics (which, he says, can be somewhat overrated), you will see more Hall of Fame players than also-rans on both sides of the fence. One can be considered the best player of his time and still be overrated--or underrated--which makes The Stark Truth a fascinating journey into the greatest debate about the greatest game.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books (May 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572439599
• ISBN-13: 978-1572439597
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #415,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, but nothing groundbreaking, July 11, 2007

By 

Craig (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History (Hardcover)

If you're a serious fan of the game, then you're unlikely to learn much new from this book. Stark does, however, manage to provoke thought, which should really be the point of a book like this.

Most of his lists are pretty predictable - I wasn't at all surprised to see Nolan Ryan as the most overrated righthander and Steve Garvey at first base. I've spent more than enough hours arguing against others putting those guys on pedestals, so it was nice to hear someone agree with me. A few of the choices might shock people - Sandy Koufax as the most overrated lefty is an example - but Stark backs up his choices with stats and clear arguments. In the case of someone like Koufax, Stark isn't trying to discount his greatness, only to show that he had a mediocre start to his career and didn't have sustained greatness like some others.

This is a good, quick read, but nobody should have their hopes high that they're going to be reading a James/Neyer-type analysis of players. The book is a good debate starter, and there's nothing wrong with that.

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but you really have to like Jayson Stark, June 10, 2007

By 

Hal Jordan "A reader" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History (Hardcover)

This is a quick and entertaining read, but be cautioned that you really have to like Jayson Stark's writing. I read his (...) work regularly and I like his mix of oddball facts and humor. But he is a bit easier to take in short pieces than at book length. The book consists of lists of the five most underrated and five most overrated players at each position. In some of the longer entries he spends too much time straining to be funny. We are a couple pages into the entry on Duke Snider as the most underrated center fielder before we get to the first substantive comment. He's also a bit inclined to stack the deck. For instance, he exaggerates how poorly Sandy Koufax pitched early in his career. In short, this is not the book that Bill James or Rob Neyer would have written, but most baseball fans should enjoy it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Throwing a Wild Pitch, July 26, 2008

By 

Bicycle Day - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History (Hardcover)

The book is part of an ongoing series from ESPN personalities which seemingly has a purpose of further solidifying their on-air characters with sports fans.

Jayson Stark is the no nonsense baseball commentator who comes armed with a fast ball of facts to dazzle viewers in a bevy of segments on TV and radio. His lists of overrated and underrated players simply finds him playing that role.

Basically a means to drum up chat amongst those who have a historical interest in the game - the pre-publication publicity masterfully swirled and twirled a number of Stark's more controversial opinions - it is nothing more than water-cooler fodder on a slow summertime day in the office.