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Baseball Prospectus 2005: Statistics, Analysis, and Insight for the Information Age (Baseball Prospectus) | 
 enlarge | Author: Baseball Prospectus Team Of Experts
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $0.29
You Save: $17.66 (98%)
New (13) Used (26) from $0.26
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 85089
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.7
Dimensions (in): 10.4 x 8.3 x 1.6
ISBN: 0761135782
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3570973
UPC: 019628135780
EAN: 9780761135784
ASIN: 0761135782
Publication Date: February 21, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: NEW BOOK!! WE SHIP 6 DAYS A WEEK!!
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Product Description
Don’t think there’s merit in the idea of analyzing baseball players using sophisticated statistical tools? Maybe you should talk to the deliriously happy members of Red Sox nation, whose team is run by Theo Epstein, a disciple of the BP way of thinking. Where can fans and fantasy players get this same inside intelligence that’s revolutionizing Major League front offices? Baseball Prospectus.
“ The best book of its kind”—Rob Neyer, ESPN.com
“ If a general manager hasn’t read Baseball Prospectus, he should be fired for incompetence.”—Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball
“ Baseball Prospectus has become the standard by which all scouting guides should be measured.”—Billy Beane, Oakland Athletics General Manager
“ I never cease to be blown away by the geniuses at Baseball Prospectus.” —Jayson Stark, ESPN
“ The best book for preparing for a rotisserie draft”—USA Today
Packed with statistics, analysis, and attitude, Baseball Prospectus is the essential season-long companion for the millions of fans and fantasy baseball players who are looking to understand the inside game. Includes extensive performance analysis of 1,600 players—covering the majors, the minors, top 40 prospects, draft choices, and rookie ball—plus in-depth, insightful essays on all 30 Major League clubs and gimlet-eyed evaluations of their top 50 players. With ballpark-adjusted stats, a deadly accurate system for forecasting a player’s performance, and more, Baseball Prospectus hits it out of the park every year.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 good stuff February 10, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
BP has a distinct slant on performance analysis that some people misinterpret as reinventing the wheel. They're not. What they do is present new and creative ways to breakdown performance and potential. It's not hocus pocus--these are smart people with proven metrics giving us a glimpse of the game from another perspective. Now, as for 1 of the most common complaints I've read here I have to come to BP's defense a little. It's just absurd...
Players are listed with their team from the previous year, even if traded or signed elsewhere. ...
Come on. BP writers follow a team for the entire year. That's one of the unique aspects of their coverage. So the author that covered the Diamondbacks is going to write Randy Johnson's blurb, even if he was dealt to the Yankees. Secondly, it's just smart organization. Do you know when their publishing deadline was? Do you remember what players changed teams before that deadline and which were after? Of course not. So they standardize it. If that's your biggest complaint about this book then you're plain fishin for something to whine about.
Better bathroom reading than "Juiced" July 16, 2005
4 out of 13 found this review helpful
As I pointed out in my Amazon review of Canseco's "Juiced," the BP makes for much better bathroom reading. My copy is all dog-eared and has post-it notes sticking out in different colors from all edges. None of my other books have that, so that's saying something, right?
 Disappointing June 22, 2005
7 out of 30 found this review helpful
Because I could find the Baseball America Handbook and having seen one of my classmates with it, I decided to acquire it. Although it is not a completely waste, it is disappointing.
First of all, stats like wins, saves etc. are not listed. I think it is important to have some idea of the basic statistics. Secondly, I do not like the organization of players. They list players who have changed teams on their old teams, keep pitchers and position players separate which can be hard to follow at times.
My biggest complaint though is the fact that they seem convinced that they know everything and that they are funny. As a result, there are quite a few snarky comments when describing players like Alejandro Machado (Nationals) that is not even close to informative and their attacks on Pat Gillick and Jim Bowden are nothing short of vicious.
For a prospect handbook, this is disappointing.
The Future Of Baseball May 15, 2005
10 out of 15 found this review helpful
This refrence book is part of what's known as the sabrmetrics, or statistical analysis, movement in baseball today, particularily the pro game. The main thesis that this book is based around is the factual idea that baseball players (and, by association, baseball decisions) can be analyzed using stats. Many successful MLB teams, including the A's, Red Sox, Indians, Cardinals, and Dodgers use advanced statistics (some more than others) to determine what moves they should make.
This book isn't a fantasy baseball book, it is a scouting guide. You won't find Wins, RBI, or Errors listed here, because these stats aren't important when it comes to evaluating players. Some reviewers have complained at the lack of said stats, and that they should "at least be included". On the contrary, they don't fit BP's organizational hilosophy. They shouldn't be included at all. If you want to use BP for your fantasy league, you're better off buying a "BP Fantasy" subscription at www.baseballprospectus.com
Other reviewers have stated the the Sabrmetric way of thinking doesn't encompass all the lore, emotion, heart, etc. that play such an important role in such a beautiful game. They say that baseball can't be measured solely in stats. Unfortunately for them, it nearly can. If heart, emotion, and the like actually were important, then they would show up as anomilies in the stat relationships. Fact is, they don't. Those things don't really matter, because they don't effect how the outcome of the game.
The BP writers aren't out to dehumanize baseball. Far from it, in fact! They are providing insight into a new way to play the game, a way to play the game that has made the low-budget A's into consistent 90+ game winners, and the Red Sox into World Series champions. Sabermetrics can only improve the game of baseball, and the "revolution" is coming sooner than you think. In fact, its already here. Become part of the forward-thinking, extrodinary group of people known as statistical analists.
 Still with a big chip on their shoulders April 17, 2005
19 out of 58 found this review helpful
The Baseball Prospectus covers most major league players, complete with comments and their own type of statistics, emphasizing categories like on-base percentage and slugging percentage, which have become the vital statistics for many in the game. Their organizational comments try to focus on how teams build smartly, and how others gamble on short term solutions and never get anywhere. There is much to debate here, but such is the game of baseball that there's always going to be different points of view.
Unfortunately, the arrogant conceit of the statistical people reveals itself; simply go to the entries for Seattle and Oakland. In the Seattle profile, there is basically an assault on the professional character of Pat Gillick, one of the finest baseball general managers of our era, who is more of a traditionalist. Because of that, he is unfairly targeted in the Seattle chapter, which is unfortunate. There is a tendency to suggest that all baseball scouting should simply be done on a statistics sheet, as opposed to the expertise of experienced scouts who actually go and see young ballplayers play. Gillick believes in that, and he's had great success. The Baseball Prospectus types scoff at that, instead making a demi-god out of Oakland's Billy Beane. (who's won exactly zilch so far).
Another thing; the authors denigrate traditional stats like wins and losses for pitchers, and batting average and RBI's for batters. Tradition means nothing to them. Baseball isn't just a cold statistical pursuit; instead it has lore and history, and the game on the field isn't played by robots. Sure, there are better measures to evaluate players, but isn't it revealing that these new statisticians can't ever seem to agree on a measure of performance? There's always a new acronym based on some convoluted formula which seems to go by the wayside a few years later. But when one talks about RBI's, you have something tangible, something you can compare across the last century.
In closing, go ahead, hit that "No" button. I'm just wondering what old time managers like Billy Martin would have thought about all this. Baseball is all about putting the ball in play, not leaving the bat on your shoulder to draw walks. Hits are infectious, there are untangibles in baseball like emotion and momentum that don't figure into the equations of the Prospectus-types.
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