Rating: 
Summary: Bill James Adds to His Dynasty
Review: I felt like a kid at Christmas when my copy of the New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract arrived yesterday. I tore open the box and began reading and did not put it down until I was finished. I have been waiting over a year for publication and the book lived up to my expectations and even exceeded them. Having worn out my copy of the original (It is bound by duct tape), I wanted to see what changes drove the new book. I was pleased to find that Mr. James did not merely update passages; instead he completely reassessed each decade and the players that make baseball the wonder that it is. I was pleased by the thoroughness of the work, not merely the statistical work but the thought processes and theories employed. The thoroughness of the work, combined with the writing style of Mr. James -- a style that combines the subtle humor of Thurber with the tartness of Perelman -- makes this a book that a casual baseball fan can enjoy as well as a baseball nut like myself. The historical viewpoints are carefully constructed and designed to give the reader a feel for the game as it was played during the decade in question. The book educates without being stodgy or dull and it challenges the reader to give the book the attention it deserves. If you have a baseball fan on your shopping list, or just someone who enjoys reading a thought provoking writer, this book is a must buy.
Rating:
Summary: The best has gotten better
Review: Bill James has been my favorite baseball writer ever since I first read his 1979 Bill James Baseball Abstract. Then in 1986, he wrote the Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. A wonderful book, very difficult to put down. Now, the best has gotten better. All new section on the Negro Leagues, the 1990's and ratings on the Top 100 players at each position. A real smorgasbord for the baseball fan. If you enjoy great writing and baseball analysis, this is the book to get. Congratulations, Bill, great job!
Rating:
Summary: Best Baseball Book Ever
Review: Bill James rose to national prominence through
a series of annual Baseball Abstracts. His Historical
Abstract is the culmination, in a sense, of all he
learned studying baseball from year to year by producing
the annual books. The
writing is spectacular and witty. The information
in the book is a must for all real baseball fans.
It is, without a doubt, the best baseball book ever.
Some of his ratings are a little idiosyncratic, but
his methods and general conclusions are essential to
a good understanding of professional baseball.
Rating:
Summary: The remake better than the original.
Review: Unlike Sylvester Stallone, who try as he may, never was able top the quality of the first Rocky movie, Bill James has come up with a masterpiece taking what was one of the greatest baseball books of all time and actually improving on it. His new stat, Win Shares, introduced in the book, is a breakthrough. James also rates the top 100 at each postition which is sure to ignite it's share of bar room arguments.
His decade by decade break down, which is taken from the first abstract, updates with those from the 80's and 90's. All in All, the book could eventually go down exceeding the original as one of the great baseball books of all time.
Rating:
Summary: You're Darned Right Biggio is that Good
Review: Have to give it to Bill James. His rankings on the all-time 2nd basemen is a classic.
Craig Biggio is one of two players in the 20th century to have 50 steals and 50 doubles in the same season. Tris Speaker being the other.
Biggio is one of 5 players in history with 2,500 hits, 200 home runs, 300 steals and 1,000 walks. Paul Molitor, Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson and Willie Mays are the other 4.
James' rates Biggio as the 5th best 2nd baseman of all time. Read on and find out.
Rating:
Summary: If you enjoy baseball statistics, you will love this book
Review: Lots of expert analysis of top current and former players and teams. Intertesting trivia. Huge book, but not one you read from front to back. Just find a particular subject that interests you or turn to a page at random and enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book w/ Caveat...
Review: I've been a big fan of Bill James for a long time and the New Version of the Historical Abstract didn't disappoint. Any fan of baseball history will love this book. James' is a great writer and his approach to studying the game is, as always, fascinating. I loved the comments on Negro Leagues, Minor Leagues, evolution of the game, the game's politics, explanation of the post-1993 hitting explosion... You don't have to agree w/ all of James arguments, but his insights are at worst, great food for thought. I liked his suggestions for changes to the game that would lessen the impact of homeruns and strikeouts - too bad nobody at MLB is listening.
The majority of the book is dedicated to introducing his *Win Shares* system and ranking the greatest players of all time. Win Shares is a great approach, but not without flaws. Win Shares are based upon a team's actual Wins - an odd choice considering James was the guy who invented the formula for projecting a team's *Pythagorean* wins. Using actual wins unfortunately distorts some of James' arguments. I noticed this in his discussion of the 1961 Cincinnati Reds where he used Win Shares to illustrate the dramatic improvement in performance by players on the '61 NL pennant winning team. James obviously knows that the 1960 Reds UNDERperformed their pythagorean projection by 5 games, while the 1961 team OVERperformed their pythagorean by 11 games. Yes, the players got better, but they also got a lot luckier. That James would select such an obviously distorted example is disturbing.
Wins Shares also shows Ted Williams 1946 season to be over 20% better than his 1941 season (when he hit .406). Because of the relatively low offensive levels in 1946, you can make a reasonable argument that Williams was as good or even slightly better in '46, but not 20% better! The big difference in Win Shares for the two seasons results from the team's performance - not Williams. This flaw in James evaluation method makes Win Shares (like the often ridiculed RBI statistic) highly dependent on the context of the team's performance. It's a great approach, but it still needs more work.
Finally, James continues the hatchet job on Dick Allen that he started in his Hall Of Fame book. Dick Allen was without question one of the top 25 hitters in the entire history of major league baseball and Bill James knows that. There's only so much that a big ego and a weak glove can take away from you. Shame on you Bill.
The nitpicking notwithstanding, Bill James New Historical Baseball Abstract is a MUST READ for any serious baseball fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Lies and damned lies
Review: Bill James has been cooking statistics to support his own prejudices for twenty years. Think about it. A midwest nerd is tired of being on the losing end of the Mays v Mantle debate (James is a shameless Mantle man) and decides to prove Mantle was better. It's hard to prove a lie so he had to get imaginative. There was only one way Mantle was superior. Base on balls. Thus began the tyranny of the on base percentage myth. Real statistics like rbis had to be diminished since Mays was so superior in every category so he needed to invent new categories like "win shares", none of which any honest person can say they understand since they are simply ruses to distract people from reality. In his first version of this book he said Mantle was much greater than Mays. A concern for his place in history as a credible source has caused him to back off that nonsense a bit but his four main prejudices are still present in this new compendium of misinformation. 1. He's a devout midwesterner and seems dedicated to the notion that he must defend the greatness of fellow midwesterners like Walter Johnson and Mickey Mantle to the point of shredding the truth. 2. He's an insane American League chauvinist. In his latest irrational rantings on the subject he isn't satisfied to say the American League is a better league, it's also a morally superior league. Once again, a nerd grows up in the midwest watching his beloved American League be pummeled year after year in the all star game, it must have drove him mad. It doesn't justify dishonesty and shameless manipulation of statistics. 3. He's a racist. That he still can't bear to consider Negro League players in his position by position ratings shows that. His pannicy attack on Barry Bonds in the 2003 postscript to the book shows his great fear that the dead white hopes like Ruth and Williams might be obscured by a great black player. Not a convenietly dead one like Josh Gibson but a very alive one. He segregates his analysis of the Negro League players into a top 100 discussion but does not mention them in the position by position chapters. 4. He doesn't like the present day game. He'd rather live in the ivory tower of statistics than the acutal game that is played every day in parks around the country. He actually suggested that the only explanation for an uppity black man like Bonds threatening the place of the great white myths is that baseball is a dying game and easily dominated now. Ultimately he'd rather believe statitstics than what he sees on the playing field (except of course when statistics threaten his illusions). Which is what's wrong with all the stat mongers like James and Pete Palmer. They don't illuminate the game. They take us farther away from it into an arifical world of numbers and lies. I honestly believe that Bill James is the worst thing that happened to baseball in my life time.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive Synthesis
Review: I bought the original when it came out years ago, and read it, and read it, and read it until it's spine cracked and pages started falling out. This time I bought the hardcover edition (buy whatever edition you can get your hands on, and can afford) and have read it, and read it, and read it; but thanks to hardcover binding it is not falling apart. One of the most fun aspects of this version is seeing how James has used his Win Shares method of evaluating performance to rank players by position. (By the way, the book Win Shares is an absolute classic, and should be purchased with this book, if at all possible.) For example, if you were to look strictly at the numbers you may say that Ty Cobb or Tris Speaker (or even the Mick) was the greatest center fielder of them all; but armed with his Win Shares method he makes you seriously consider that it has to be Willie Mays. I certainly have no argument against James's evaluation, but with Win Shares there seems to be a more logical, statistical basis for that judgment than by comparing raw numbers (not that Willie Mays needs to apologize for anything; he did after all have some huge seasons while playing at Candlestick park. How would he have done, I wonder, playing the last half of his career in Atlanta?) If you are a baseball fan, young or old, buy this book and get a wonderful overview of baseball history.
| 
