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Hardball Times Writers

The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2009 Paperback – November 30, 2008

by The Hardball Times Writers (Author), Dave Studenmund (Editor)

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Celebrating its fifth year in production, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2009 compiles some of the best analytical and historical writing on baseball with unique and innovative statistics into a timeless annual guide. This comprehensive book covers the entire 2008 season from the first pitch to the last out, and it is also the first book of its kind to include a review of the postseason and World Series.

With guest writers like Rob Neyer, John Dewan, Richard Lederer and Tom Tango, and articles on hot topics like "GM in a Box: Pat Gillick," predicting rookie performance, and a look at the "Pete Rose" class of free agents, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual is a resource you will pick up again and again.

Print length

368 pages
Language

English
Publisher

ACTA Publications
Publication date

November 30, 2008
Dimensions

8.5 x 0.75 x 11 inches
ISBN-10

0879463686
ISBN-13

978-0879463687
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Nobody provides cutting-edge statistics with insightful, provocative and accessible writing like the folks at The Hardball Times. --Jacob Luft, Sports Illustrated

Some of the most informed baseball analysis can be found on renegade websites like The Hardball Times. --Alan Schwarz, New York Times

About the Author

The Hardball Times is a think tank of baseball writers who create provocative, insightful and entertaining baseball analyses, as well as produce their unique statistics, graphs and essays. Their website Hardballtimes.com, is updated daily throughout the year on all things baseball.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ ACTA Publications (November 30, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0879463686
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0879463687
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.8 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.75 x 11 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,882,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10,672 in Baseball (Books)

Customer Reviews:
9 ratings

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2 star		25%
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Jasmine T. Baer

For the stats addict

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2008

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I enjoyed the articles contained within, but what I liked best were the recaps of the 2007 season pennant races. The authors include a line graph that tracks all the teams in a division across the course of a season. It really makes it easy to see when the "wheels come off" of a team as it plummets to the bottom, or when a team goes "en fuego" and comes from behind to capture the division title.

Of course, there are stats galore and a fine glossary to explain acronyms and the names of other statistical measures.

This isn't for the casual fan. This book is for rabid fans of baseball who also love the statistical side of the game. Read it, and you will be able to conduct an intelligent conversation on everything from the Cardinals' tragic season (DUIs, deaths, etc.) to quantifying the impact of a manager on a team.

2 people found this helpful

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W. Heron, Jr.

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2009

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The Baseball Annual is more a collection of baseball related articles...some germaine, many extraneous ...I thought it would be more analytical in the Bill James mode...it wasn't.

One person found this helpful

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John J. Franco

Worthy successor to the annual Bill James annuals

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2009

I got the THT Annual for Christmas this year and I really enjoyed it. Definitely a worthy successor to the work of Bill James. The coverage is definitely focused on the just-ended 2008 season, and there is tons of stats and analysis there. Though I will say, it would have been better for them to wait a bit longer to publish, so they could have known things like who would win the MVP Award. But I can understand the need to get the book out long before the Baseball Prospectus comes out.

There is enough stuff in here that ISN'T focused just on 2008 to make the book worth buying even if you don't need the 2008 stuff (the Pete Rose class of Free Agents article was very good, and there were others as well) but it's definitely a compilation of the 2008 season more than anything else.

I still like the Prospectus better but this is a good book to keep the hot stove fires burning until it comes out.

2 people found this helpful

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newyorkrunner

good reading about baseball

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2009

Many baseball books come out in December, Janaury and February to capture the attention of baseball fans during their 5 month drought. THT Baseball annual is a relatively new addition to the company of Ron Shandler and Bill James, who have been publishing such books for decades.

THT takes some time to read and get used to. Unlike the Shandler and James books, THT Baseball is mostly long articles on various subjects of the sport, such as Pete Rose's free agency drama in 1978 (which I rememebr well) and whether ballplayers hit more home runs after the guy in front is intentionally walked. Also, other articles measure the value of new prospects and mid season trades and the effect of player height (!)

THT does not lend itself to quick browsing as does the Shandler and James book. Most articles cover several large pages. This is not the book to consult when trying to figure out how many RBI's A-Rod will hit or how many innings CC will pitch. The articles have a lot of statistics in them and are intended for those those who enjoy tinkering with baseball stats. There are plenty of things for non stat heads to read as well. Some of the stats can be a bit confusing if you are new to them, but the book includes a nice glossary covering that.

The last part (about 40%) of the book is statistics on hitting and fielding for each team. This part is nice but I would like a link to these online; most of this can be gotten from several baseball websites as well.

In the glossary of statistics, you can find many of the underlying formulas, which you can use to create your own projections.

I suggest reading this, along with "Baseball by the Numbers" by Baseball Prospectus, early in the pre-season and then moving on to one of the forecasting books such as that published by Bill James or Ron Shandler.

4 people found this helpful

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Stephen Lombardi

The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2007

Being a big fan of The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2006 and The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2007, I was truly looking forward to reviewing the The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008. And, once done, I was not disappointed.

Following the format of the two annuals that preceded it, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 provides an extensive review of the past season, essays related to baseball history, features deep-rooted in statistical analysis, and, pages and pages of stats, stats, and more stats.

If The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 was a baseball bat, clearly, the content therein centering on statistical analysis would be the fat part of the bat.

Don't take this to mean that the features on the 2007 season and baseball history were not enjoyable. On the whole, I found them to be interesting and worth reading.

In particular, Dave Studenmund's "The Story Stat," where Dave uses the 2007 season to explain "Win Probability Added" (WPA) and "Leverage Index" (LI) - at a level where the old woman down the street would understand it - was excellent and recommended reading for anyone who does not understand WPA and LI.

And, Will Leitch's "The Deadspin Spin on 2007" was very entertaining - as was "The Months of 2007 in History" by Richard Barbieri.

Further, Chis Jaffe's "Manager Grinders and Boppers" (where Chis, via the stats, shows us who are baseball's true 'small ball' and 'moneyball' managers) is a must read. (Spoiler Alert: Buck Showalter would rather lose a finger than risk giving up an out.)

More so, it's a matter of the (deep) "statistical analysis" features being so off-the-charts in terms of value that they bring cause for you wanting more of them and less of the other (non-stats based) content in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008.

Mitchel Lictman's "Signals and Noise" (where he shows us which teams under- and over-performed in 2007), Tom Tango's "With or Without You" (where he uses the stats to determine the best fielding catchers in baseball history), David Gassko's "Do Managers Matter?" (where he details which skippers actually help or hurt their teams), and John Walsh's "The Origin of the Platoon Advantage" (where he shows us that it's actually the fastball and the slider that lead to large platoon splits - and not the not the curveball or the change), were so outstanding that they alone make The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 a worthy purchase.

To be fair, not every feature in the analysis section was as attention-grabbing as those noted above. Personally, I found Tom Tango's "With or Without...Derek Jeter" (where he uses a new look to show Jeter's lack of fielding skill) and Vince Gennaro's "The Dollar Value of Player Development" (where he makes a case for player development being "the lifeblood of an MLB franchise") to be somewhat like beating old drums, albeit using a new stick, and playing a song that we've all heard before...many times.

However, again, the "great to good" to "O.K. to boring" ratio for the statistical features in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 is very heavy on the "great to good" side. By far, these features put a great swing on the ball and make solid contact many, many, more times than not.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention the "stats" in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 - as more than half of the book is pages full of statistics.

In a nutshell, the "Statistics" section of The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 is, well, it's the data that you pray the G.M. of your favorite baseball team has at their fingertips, understands, and uses when making decisions. The statistics provided are both ground-breaking and illuminating.

For example, as noted in the book, Jose Contreras had an ERA of 5.57 in 189 innings pitched last season. Ask 99 out of 100 baseball fans and they will tell you that Contreras was a terrible pitcher in 2007.

However, as the statistics in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 show us, Jose's Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) - meaning strikeouts, walks and homers allowed - was not very out of line for him. Also, his Defense Efficiency Ratio (DER) - meaning the percentage of times a batted ball was turned into an out by his fielders - was third worst in the league. Further, 68% of Contreras' ground balls allowed went for outs - compared to the league average of 74% - and Jose gave up more runs per grounder compared to the average big league pitcher. Via the stats in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 you can see that Jose Contreras was not a very lucky pitcher in 2007.

You just can't get stats like these in very many places - which makes The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 incredibly unique and useful.

When you factor in the retail price of $19.95, there's really no excuse for a zealous baseball fan not to pick up The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008. (And, if you know a baseball fan, and are looking to buy them a gift this holiday season, you will do no wrong by getting them this book.)

I've read many books like this over the last quarter-century and this one is right up there among the best of the group. In terms of providing great and ground-breaking baseball analysis, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 is an excellent learning tool and valuable resource. I highly recommend it.

17 people found this helpful

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The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2009 Paperback – November 30, 2008

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