Burning River Book Club: The 2017 Bill James Handbook

The Bill James Handbook, a book I received for Christmas this year, is a gem for baseball fans looking to expand their perspective of advanced stats. Get your bubble bath ready and pour yourself a glass of wine, as we dive into the pages that tell of the future with the numbers of the past.

This journal of high quality was most likely created for the purpose of study, not to be read like a storybook next to a stack of People Magazines and Cosmos. Amazingly though, that’s how I read it. Each chapter was a new story of players being held by stats deemed important by Mr. Bill James, while also giving the breakdown how they’re important and the effect on the game per stat and player.

Sounds magical, doesn’t it?

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In a unique way , the handbook can be read like a choose-your-own-adventure book we all read as kids. You can stumble upon a player who’s numbers in a particular stat are mind blowing when seen from a different angle. From there, you might want to see what other stats for this player might begin to paint a bigger picture. Page after page, a stathead’s curiosity peeks until you’ve come to the conclusion of your own projection or just a better grasp for the projections already set.

Enough with the sappy stuff, let’s get down to what’s between the lines. Like most books, it takes a bit before the reader gets into anything juicy and this starts with its beautiful table of contents. A list of tantalizing chapters, from Starting Pitcher Rankings to Hitter Analysis, The Fielding Bible Awards to Home Run Robberies and everything in between. The chapters, for the most part, start off with an explanation of its importance on the game along with the positive and negative impact each one could have.

For example, turn to page eleven, titled “Run Impact of Events”. I have the very first sentence highlighted as it explains the entire chapter in just six words: Not all singles are created equal. In other words, there’s more to a single than just being a single.

It’s baseball, however and never that simple.

The chapter goes deeper into the numbers. A bases-empty double with no outs is worth something different than a double with one or two outs, and the same can be said with a bases-loaded double. This plays into the idea that just because a player hits the most doubles, doesn’t exactly mean they were the most impactful. David Ortiz, of the Boston Red Sox, hit the most doubles last season (48) and averaged .84 runs per double (40.3), above the average at .74 runs per double, which is nothing to sneeze at. Jonathan Lucroy, of the Texas Rangers, hit half as many doubles, with 23.2 runs on those doubles, but his impact on the games he played in with those doubled was higher, at .956 runs PER double. Ultimately, who ever scores the most runs is said to be the better hitter, but when you add the aspect of game-changing hits into the mix, it turns the basic understanding of base hits on it’s head. This can be applied to any sort of hit including walks and can be looked at from a negative standpoint regarding strikeouts, groundouts and double plays.

There were other tidbits I discovered as well such as: the Ballparks and Park Indices chapter towards the end, breaking down the stats per major league park, and if each one is more hitter or pitcher friendly or not. Another are the Fielding Bible Awards for 2016, with a panel of 12 experts to vote on the top player per position. Each position has listed the top player voted, and each top over since 2011. Some might not be surprising, like Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo who was voted top 1B on the season, and others might surprise you, like that Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor came in third with only four first place votes, or that ace Corey Kluber didn’t even crack the top ten. There is a breakdown for every result, along with a explanation of the process all together.

Whatever baseball thoughts you have hiding in your noggin, you’ll find something to comfort that niche you fall into. It’s a collection of knowledge that can be applied to any situation while doubling as a reference to guide for the rest of the season. Crack it open and get comfy; even if it’s not necessarily in a bath of bubbles with some wine, and plan to hide away from the non-baseball world for a while as Bill James and his crew gets you ready for the season we’ve all been waiting for.

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