The Bill James Gold Mine
by Bill James
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Book Reviews of The Bill James Gold Mine
Book Review: The Bill James Gold Mine 2008
Summary: 5 Stars
If circumstances only allow you to purchase and/or read one baseball book this spring, you cannot make a better choice than "The Bill James Gold Mine 2008."
In this book, James provides fun and informative statistical analysis on every big league team - in addition to 17 new essays that are a treat to read.
Among my favorites were:
"Three to Five Run Records" - which shows you the best and worst teams when they scored or allowed three to five runs in a game.
"The Dave Kingman Award" - where James uses "HR/[RC+10]" to show us which batters over the last 30 years were the "best" at "hitting home runs without doing anything else positive as a hitter."
"The Turk Farrell Award" - which identifies good pitchers who had terrible records because their team stunk.
"The Nolan Ryan Award" - given to unreformed power pitchers via James' formula of "[W*L*SO*BB]/IP."
"End Game" - which identifies "the moment at which it ain't over, but it's over" for a team with respect to their place in the standings. (This essay suggests that the three greatest collapses in baseball history belong to the 1951 Dodgers, 1964 Phillies, 2007 Mets, and 1978 Red Sox - in that order.)
"Closer Fatigue" - where James shows how fatigue level of a closer impacts success for his team.
"Strength Up the Middle" - that confirms good teams are strong "up the middle" - and it's more true that bad teams are weak in this area.
"Bullpens and Crunches" - that establishes teams with good bullpens "tend to exceed expectations" in one-run and close games. But, it also shares that there's no definitive evidence that teams with strong bullpens do well in the post-season.
"Herbie" - where James introduces a stat that identifies "a more reasonable candidate for the league's best pitcher than the actual ERA leader."
Brass tacks, if you were a fan of The Bill James Baseball Abstracts, you will enjoy this book. And, if you've never read James' Abstracts, and always wondered what the fuss was about, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book.
"The Bill James Gold Mine 2008" is the type of baseball book that's so much fun, and enlightening, that you'll want to re-read it, again, the minute you finish reading it for the first time. And, there's a good chance that you'll want to read it a third time after that - as there's so much good stuff in it.
Book Review: A nice Bill James work
Summary: 4 Stars
This is kind of an odd work. It is a book filled with snippets about each of the major league teams. And some of these are delightful! There are also essays interspersed among the team discussions, and intriguing little "sidebars" scattered throughout the volume.
But there are lots more goodies on the web site BillJamesOnline (for $3 per month). I would rather a few more data from that site be in this volume, but--nonetheless--this is still a fun work!
A few illustrations. Do you know the worst middle reliever in terms of highest ERA while recording a "hold"? Doug Brocail of San Diego, with 7.87 (ouch!). Then there is a comparison with the hitter most like a team when it wins--and loses. Take Arizona. When it won in 2007, its hitting statistics were much like Dave Winfield's; when it lost, stats were like Dave Stegman's.
In terms of teams, coverage is a bit thin, as already noted. For my White Sox, I see the 2007 pitching and hitting statistics for the everyday players and top pitchers--but scarcely anything on reserves and lesser used pitchers. There's a nice sidebar on where Jim Thome's home runs go (lots to the opposite field, as a matter of fact).
A nifty little piece is "cigar points," players who came close to milestones and just missed (e.g., one victory short of 20 wins or .299 instead of .300). Top player in "cigar points"? Greg Maddux. Clutch hitter of the year? Brad Hawpe who drove in 45 clutch runs.
One of my favorite bon bons here--consistency. James works on a formula to rank baseball players for consistency, and then assigns them a grade from A+ to F. Can you guess Number 1 all time? Henry Aaron (makes sense, doesn't it?). Least consistent? Bill Sweeney. Other noteworthies--Nellie Fox (one of my favorite players)-A-; Carl Yastrzemski (for my Red Sox Nation fans)-A; Mickey Mantle-A-; Jesse Barfield-B+; and so on. It's just fun to see who rates where in terms of consistency.
Anyhow, a lot of fun for the Hot Stove League debates going on. While it could use more meat than it manifests, this book is still most enjoyable to leaf through. Well recommended for baseball fans who like a healthy dose of statistics.
Book Review: A Pallid Imitation
Summary: 3 Stars
A seminal event in my life was my discovery of James' Baseball Abstracts. His application of statistics and commonsense to my beloved game of baseball was eye-opening and has informed my worldview ever since. If I had begun my working career as a night watchman, as did James, I'd like to think that I would have also spent some of the quiet hours on baseball analysis, but know that I couldn't have done it with the insight, wit, or pithy commentary of James. I still remember the hollow feeling when I first read that James was ending the Abstracts.
With that backdrop, I was thrilled to learn of the "Gold Mine" book. I hoped it would fill the Abstract vacuum. It doesn't. Although the insights of James shine through occasionally, much of the book is soulless tables that don't have the song of knowledge within them. I came away with the feeling that a clever 50-page Abstract was expanded into over 300 pages for no good reason except sales price.
I agree with others that "Gold Mine" reads like an extended advertisement for James' online website. And I expect that I'll subscribe to the website, and never purchase another "Gold Mine" book.
I can say it no better than this. The Baseball Abstracts remain a treasured possession that I'll keep to the end of my days. I'm unsure if I'll even keep "Gold Mine' until October.
Book Review: The best populist sabermetrician in the game
Summary: 5 Stars
Granted, the Gold Mine is not a revival of the Abstract. Nor does it contain thoroughly explained academic studies. Lastly, it's not a book that will give you short answers that will help you draft a better fantasy team. Rather than worry about what it isn't, as you consider buying it appreciate it for what it is. What we have here is a treasure chest of the things that caught Bill James's idiosyncratic attention over the past year or so. His eye is a sharp as ever, his questions are unique, his wit still sharper than anyone else playing at being the next Bill James. What's clear from reading this book, particularly if you read it as a companion to the lengthier essays on the new web site, is that Bill's sabermetrics are populist rather than elitist, in a good way. There are academic sabermetricians who do excellent work and you can learn from them if you can get through to the end of their essays, but Bill's the one you'll want to have a cup of coffee with, sit next to at the ballpark, and learn more from when it comes to improving your own ability to think creatively about baseball. There's material here you won't find on the web site, though the book is consciously designed as an introduction and complement to the site. So if you're interested at all, buy the book. You will end up subscribing to the site because you'll want to.Book Review: Offbeat, Informative, Valuable
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an offbeat addition from baseball stats-guru Bill James. The book is partly 30-team abstract, but primarily a look at little-known statistics compiled over the last season or so. James examines all 30 teams by looking at a few of their players. We see where certain players hit their batted balls, how many bad pitches others swing at, the pitch selection of certain hurlers, etc. Interspersed between the team sections are chapters on such subjects as no cigars (players that bat .299, or drive in 99 runs, or win 19 games), hard-luck starting pitchers, relievers that allow too many inherited runners to score, etc. The book's great strength is providing hardcore fans with important yet little-known stats that otherwise go unreported. I'd have liked more information on my favorites (White Sox) and the other teams as well, but this book isn't really an abstract. Instead, its an unusual but valuable look for students of the game.
Like many, I've enjoyed Bill James' books dating back to his 1980's Abstracts (which I still miss). I wish he'd included more team information in this offbeat effort. Still, as always, James helps us see baseball in a more informed and imaginative light.