The Numbers Game Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics

by Schwarz, Alan; Gammons, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780312322229
• ISBN10: 0312322224
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-21
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Summary

The Numbers Game Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics Alan Schwarz 'Unprecedented......Schwarz illuminates the history and relevance of baseball statistics and is at the top of his game introducing the people behind the numbers.' -Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated o corner of American culture is more precisely quantified as the performance of baseball players. From Sammy Sosa's home runs hit at Wrigley Field on Fridays to Derek Jeter's field-ing percentage on AstroTurf, millions of numbers are churned out every day of the baseball season for a rabid audience that keeps demanding more. The Numbers Game is the first-ever history of baseball statistics-their keeping, their study, their creators-and analyzes this cultural phenomenon from 1845 until today. It is a fascinating portrayal of the people who have devoted such time and passion to advancing the science. This quest to provide baseball with it statistical foundation is reminiscent of the toils and inspirations recounted in Longitude and The Professor and the Madman. The Numbers Game will be baseball's answer to those books. ALAN SCHWARZ has covered Major League Baseball for twelve years as a columnist for Baseball America magazine and writes a weekly column for ESPN.com. He lives in New York City. Sports 0-312-32222-4 $24.95 $36.95 Canadian 61/8" x 91/4" / 320 pages Includes 10 b&w photos and 10 charts throughout Thomas Dunne Books July

Author Biography

Alan Schwarz is a senior writer at Baseball America magazine.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Introduction	p. xiii
Bless Them, Father	p. 1
The Second Generation	p. 22
The Sultans of Stats	p. 43
Darwins of the Diamond	p. 67
Big Mac	p. 92
Bill James	p. 111
From Field to Front Office	p. 133
All the Record Books Are Wrong	p. 155
The Arms Dealer Goes to War	p. 173
Luck and Where to Find It	p. 195
The March of On-Base Percentage	p. 215
In God We Trust; All Others Must Have Data	p. 234
Acknowledgments	p. 255
Index	p. 257
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