Baseball Prospectus 2004: Statistics, Analysis and Insight for the Information Age

The book is a great reference tool the whole year long.


Something fishy   March 1, 2004
 6 out of 36 found this review helpful

If, in late February, nobody has been able to get this book due to delivery problems, and the book is allegedly 600+ pages, how have these guys below been able to write thoughtful reviews as if they've read the whole thing? Are those reviews "plants?" Maybe the book is good, but that type of trickery turns me off.


It should be good... when i get it   February 29, 2004
 4 out of 31 found this review helpful

I own and love the last three editions of this book, and i am anxiously awaiting arival of this one.

The frustrating thing is, it was supposed to ship Feb 15th, and as of the 28th it is still not shipping. I don't mind the delay as much as the lack of information. I don't know if it is a problem with the publisher, or Amazon, but it is very irritating.

Looking forward to the book though, it is always informaitve and entertaining.


Not Your Typical Baseball Book   February 28, 2004
 15 out of 20 found this review helpful

This is not a fantasy guide. This is not a typical season preview magazine. It is however a fantastic book full of insightful and funny writing on everything baseball.

Some of the statistics can be hard to understand or figure out where they came from but they are useful once you grasp what they mean. I still don't know how to figure out things like Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) or Equivalent Average (EqA) but I know what they mean now and they are much more useful than the everyday RBI's and batting average totals you'll find everywhere else.

This book isn't just about the numbers though. You've got chapter reviews on every MLB team along with a paragraph or two on every significant player in every MLB organization (including minor leaguers).

Did I mention that besides being a very useful reference book that it is entertaining, too? The writers refer to all sorts of off-the-wall pop culture references within the articles making for fun reads.

If you really love baseball, you should get this book.


Not what I expected   February 28, 2004
 9 out of 13 found this review helpful

This book wasn't at all what I expected. I ordered it looking for a fantasy baseball guide, but got a book on baseball like nothing else I've ever read instead. The writing's sharp, the numbers seem really complicated at first, and some of the comments seem awfully negative, but boy has it changed the way I think about some of the players today. The foreward at the beginning of the book does a really good job explaning what all the analysis is about too.