Rating: 
Summary: Very inconsistant logic...
Review: I've gotten into email wars with Neyer in the past, but I was trying to be fair-minded about this book.In the past, I've argues for Nolan Ryan in the top 20 all time pitchers list. Now, it seems he doesn't even make the top 10 Fast ball pitchers list. But logic escapes Neyer, as it normally does: Ryan is listed as #1 (fastball pitcher) from 1970-1984 and dropped to #3 from 1985-1989. But Clemens is #1 only in 1985-1989 and drops to #3 and then #6 in the next 5-year brackets. Generally, Neyer will throw out "have you ever heard of ERA+" comments to support some of his games, and as a mathmetician, I can say ERA+ and park-adjusted ERA are about 60% accurate devices and Neyer can't even explain them other than to say what each purports to tell us. So back to Ryan... #1 for 15 years and doesn't make the top 10. Oh, Clemens is #4 .... go figure. Simply consider what would have happened if Ryan pitched in the NL in the early 70s (say 1974 when the DH rule meant he would have faced more pitchers than DHs). Or how many Wins would he have had on the Reds or Pirates? Throw Clemens to Milwaulkee or Detroit and not New York or Boston or Houston or Toronto and see how his other stats would have fared.
Rating: 
Summary: A nice game of catch
Review: If you take this book at its premise as spelled out in the intro - Bill and Rob talking about Harvey Haddix and asking "What did he throw?"- then I think the authors toed the rubber, threw strikes and delivered a highly enjoyable book. And I think the other reviewers who panned this book may have been taking it a bit too seriously.
I think anybody who's tossed the ball around and wondered at how the combination of horsehide, raised seams and air currents can do strange things to the white sphere can appreciate this book. At their best, Bill James and Rob Neyer have always made me appreciate and love the game of baseball, past, present and future. Reading this book helps me watch a game and appreciate the seemingly simple on the surface yet fascinating to the core - and utterly boring to the uninitiated - battle between pitcher and batter.
Rating:
Summary: A nice game of catch
Review: If you take this book at its premise as spelled out in the intro - Bill and Rob talking about Harvey Haddix and asking "What did he throw?"- then I think the authors toed the rubber, threw strikes and delivered a highly enjoyable book. And I think the other reviewers who panned this book may have been taking it a bit too seriously.
I think anybody who's tossed the ball around and wondered at how the combination of horsehide, raised seams and air currents can do strange things to the white sphere can appreciate this book. At their best, Bill James and Rob Neyer have always made me appreciate and love the game of baseball, past, present and future. Reading this book helps me watch a game and appreciate the seemingly simple on the surface yet fascinating to the core - and utterly boring to the uninitiated - battle between pitcher and batter.
Rating:
Summary: Barstool Arguments
Review: To the guy from Jersey City, give it a break and read a little closer. Neyer didn't put Ryan in his top 10 (although he suggested that Ryan was his No. 11), but it was James who ranked Ryan as the best in 3 half-decades, not Neyer. Anyway, you think Ryan has the best fastball (or is in the Top 10), that's fine and supportable, but it's not beyond debate (Neyer explains why Ryan isn't in his Top 10, and can't say his reason is absurd). That's one of the beauties of baseball (in fact, if James had done a Top 10 list, he'd likely have Ryan in it since only 2 other pitchers in his half-decade rankings -- beginning in 1880 -- got the top slot 3 times). Very enjoyable and, dare I say, ground-breaking book. They examine a part of the game in a way that I've never seen before, and, in my opinion, they do it well.
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