This unprecedented book provides 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 time and passion to advancing the science. This quest to provide baseball with its statistical foundation is reminiscent of the toils and inspirations recounted in Longitude and The Professor and the Madman. The Numbers Game is baseball's answer to those books.

Alan Schwarz is the Senior Writer of Baseball America magazine, a weekly columnist for ESPN.com, and a frequent contributor to The New York Times. His work has appeared in Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and more than a dozen other national publications. He lives in Manhattan.

Foreword

Peter Gammons

Introduction

xiii

Bless Them, Father

(21)

The Second Generation

(21)

The Sultans of Stats

(24)

Darwins of the Diamond

(25)

Big Mac

(19)

Bill James

111

(22)

From Field to Front Office

133

(22)

All the Record Books Are Wrong

155

(18)

The Arms Dealer Goes to War

173

(22)

Luck and Where to Find It

195

(20)

The March of On-Base Percentage

215

(19)

In God We Trust; All Others Must Have Data

234

(21)

Acknowledgments

255

(2)

Index

257

Supplemental Materials

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