Customer Reviews

Stats 1998 Diamond Chronicles (STATS Diamond Chronicles)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really enjoyed reading this book, even though I read it after the '98 season instead of after the '97 season. It's like reading discussions in news:rec.sport.baseball but at a higher level (sometimes). Bill James doesn't contribute very much, unfortunately; he does surprisingly conclude that Tony Gwynn was the '97 NL MVP (instead of Mike Piazza). My favorite pieces were the articles by Zminda on the SABR Convention and his summary of the broadcasts of the '52 World Series, Olkin on pitch counts in the year 1920, and Henzler on after-effects of pitch counts.

I have always enjoyed reading Bill James' books, articles, and essays...even when I do not agree with them. He was one of the first, and remains the best, irreverent observers of the game. Many of the stats taken for granted today were really created by James. Since he stopped doing his annual "Baseball Abstract" a few years ago, I have always purchased his works and have yet to be disappointed. The fact that there are other intelligent and provocative writers in this book only makes it better. It's like sitting around the hot stove in February talking baseball.

This book was very disappointing. Too much of the book is just a transcription of chatter on miscellaneous baseball-related subjects from an e-mail listserve or stuff available on AOL. The book is hardly worth reading even if you overlook the fact that the recycled material is a ripoff.