Smart baseball : the story behind the old stats that are ruining the game, the new ones that are ruining it, and the right way to think about baseball
(Book)

Includes index.

"For decades, statistics such as batting average, saves recorded, and pitching won-lost records have been used to measure individual players' and teams' potential and success. But in the past fifteen years, a revolutionary new standard of measurementsabermetricshas been embraced by front offices in Major League Baseball and among fantasy baseball enthusiasts. But while sabermetrics is recognized as being smarter and more accurate, traditionalists, including journalists, fans, and managers, stubbornly believe that the "old" waya combination of outdated numbers and "gut" instinctis still the best way. Baseball, they argue, should be run by people, not by numbers. In this informative and provocative book, the ESPN analyst and senior baseball writer demolishes a century's worth of accepted wisdom, making the definitive case against the long-established view. Armed with concrete examples from different eras of baseball history, logic, a little math, and lively commentary, he shows how the allegiance to these numbersdating back to the beginning of the professional gameis firmly rooted not in accuracy or success, but in baseball's irrational adherence to tradition. While Law gores sacred cows, from clutch performers to RBIs to the infamous save rule, he also demystifies sabermetrics, explaining what these "new" numbers really are and why they're vital. He also considers the game's future, examining how teams are using Datafrom PhDs to sophisticated statistical databasesto build future rosters; changes that will transform baseball and all of professional sports."-- Amazon.com.