Jonah Keri - Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong

Praise for Baseball Between the Numbers

If youre a sports iconoclast, one of those folks who believes that the conventional wisdom is usually wrong, a firm believer in the cult of Moneyball, then this book should be next on your list. The stathead big brains at Baseball Prospectus tackle the articles of baseball dogma and dismantle them one by one.... [T]he authors use numbers and cold hard logic to dispute myths you never wouldve even thought to challenge. Its a must-read for anybody who grew up memorizing statistics on the backs of baseball cards.

Newsweek.com

Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong is this years baseball book for the fanatic who wants to dominate water cooler and tavern conversations as well as the deadly serious fantasy leagues.... Editor Jonah Keri and his experts are smart guys, and to their credit they lay out in the introduction that the ultimate goal of all the monster in the closet numbers is more fun for the fan. Also to their credit, the book is laid out in chapters covering burning baseball questions....

Indianapolis Star

This is a book about baseball stats and theories for people who... dont really like stats.

San Jose Mercury News

This book has the answers....

CNN.com Eye on Entertainment

Ive been told many times that everything I knew about baseball is wrong, but this is the first time anyone ever proved it. And made me enjoy hearing why.

Allen Barra, author of Clearing the Bases and Brushbacks and Knockdowns

The best thing about Baseball Prospectus is that its writers not only challenge conventional wisdom, but also supply powerful statistical evidence to support their arguments. Baseball Between the Numbers provides fresh insights on classic baseball questions (Is Barry Bonds better than Babe Ruth?) and irreverent ones, too (What if Rickey Henderson had Pete Incaviglias legs?). Each chapter leaves readers with a greater understanding of the game we all love.

Ken Rosenthal, Senior Baseball Writer, FOXSports.com

Freakonomics for statheads.... Like [Michael] Lewis, the Baseball Prospectus team can make just about anything interesting.... Prodigiously informative, sometimes dense, Baseball Between the Numbers is an excellent companion for the long summer ahead.

New York Times

For years, people have been asking me if theres one book that will give them a solid grounding in modern baseball analysis. And for years, Ive been forced to admit that no, there wasnt any such book. Until now. Baseball Between the Numbers will soon be required reading in every front office with serious aspirations for the World Series.

Rob Neyer, author of Rob Neyers Big Book of Baseball Lineups

No one who reads this book can follow baseball the same way again. Its so cutting-edge, your fingers will bleed.

Alan Schwarz, author of The Numbers Game

[Baseball Between the Numbers makes] for great coffee-table referencing for the postseason... [with] enough heat to last through the winter, too, if thats what you need.

Jeff Bathurst, Philadelphia Enquirer

Fascinating new book... there is plenty of tasty stuff to chew on.

New York Newsday

One book that will surely fuel the vicious barroom arguments that make the national pastime so much fun is Baseball Between the Numbers by the stat-heads at Baseball Prospectus, a book that brings a meat cleaver to some of the games most sacred cows.... The chapters hereIs Alex Rodriguez Overpaid?, Do Players Perform Better in Their Contract Years?... puncture cherished myths and suggest that every so often, the old-timers were right.

New York Daily News

A provocative book that looks at the game in ways not previously imagined... these are the people making a huge impact on progressive front offices throughout the game.

Boston Globe

[Baseball Between the Numbers], whose authors claim to operate the top statistical Web site in baseball, attempts to present taxing formulas and equations in a breezy, readable way to address questions that have puzzled fans since Ty Cobb was a boy. Overall, they succeed.

San Diego Union-Tribune

This is essential reading for all baseball fans, even those who hated math in high school.

Library Journal

For fans in the moderate-to-diehard category, the queries asked and answered within these pages make for surprisingly absorbing, even suspenseful, reading.

Wall Street Journal

The best essays in Baseball Between the Numbers... present detailed and compelling cases for why the traditional dogmas of baseball hold, just not as well as you might think.... [Baseball Between the Numbers] will also reveal some fascinating things about the game to anyone from Mr. LaRussa to the guy who despises Mets manager Willie Randolph for batting Mr. Reyes leadoff and owns www.firewillie.com to the lawyer who thinks both of them are nuts.

New York Sun

Always entertaining....

Scripps Howard, Sacramento Bee

These are people who love baseball; their purpose is not to destroy our enjoyment of it but to provide better understanding. And if youre impatient, you wont have to wait longits in an introductory chapterfor the groups answer to the burning question: Whos the better player, Barry Bonds or Babe Ruth? We wont give it away.

Roanoke Times

While we dont agree that everything we know about the game is wrong, this work presents 29 thought-provoking questions and answers about the game guaranteed to generate animated discussion at ballparks, in living rooms and anywhere else baseball fans gather.

New Jersey Times

Those truly committed to the study of the inner workings of baseballs numbers call themselves sabermeticiansamong them there is a cult-like group who write for Baseball Prospectus. A collection of their work appears in Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong. The image is one of guys in lab coats and ball caps; there is no aspect of the game too great or too trivial to fall under their analysis.

Toronto Star

Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong by the experts at Baseball Prospectus; edited by Jonah Keri. The reason is simple: Summers are nothing without arguments about baseball. This book is sure to start a few.

Patrick W. Gavin for nationalreview.com

... [An] interesting book about statistics by the guys from Baseball Prospectus.

Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy, espn.com

To get a clear grasp on the scope and depth of the impact of statistical analysis in modern baseball, Baseball Between the Numbers is essential reading.... This is a book for baseball fans. True fans love their stats and will not be intimidated by samples, variables, means, medians, regressions, correlations, and many other statistical concepts in the book, as each one of them is clearly explained and illustrated with practical applications.

Embassy Magazine

Copyright 2006 by Prospectus Entertainment Ventures LLC

Hardcover published in 2006 by Basic Books