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Monthly Archives: May 2011
The Bill James Baseball Abstract 1984: a short review
The best Baseball Abstract so far, partly because he hired an assistant (Jim Baker) who could assume part of the writing load. This edition’s largely about the things managers do, though of course there are excursions in other topics on nearly every page. There’s also a lot of discussion of “Victory Important RBIs” that I have difficulty taking seriously.
Posted in Baseball CrankSpace, Bookworm Alley
Tagged baseball abstract, bill james, sabermetrics
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Disturbing the Universe by Freeman Dyson: a short review
Liked this book better when I first read it, back when it was new. The first half, more or less, is autobiographical, and quite delightful; the second half is articles/essays on a variety of topics, and kinda preachy, even though I generally agree with Dyson’s perspective. The result is that the books gets progressively more difficult to read. At least for me.
Posted in Bookworm Alley
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The Bill James Baseball Abstract 1983: a short review
Part of the fun with these is knowing how things worked out. He predicted the O’s imminent demise, but probably missed by a year (he expected 1983, but hedged his bets. His evolving understandings of, say, Dennis Eckersley is intriguing. He’s absolutely nasty about Sparky Anderson, which probably (or partially) explains Anderson’s low opinion of James’ work.
Posted in Baseball CrankSpace, Bookworm Alley
Tagged baseball abstract, bill james, sabermetrics
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Betrayer by CJ Cherryh: a short review
Bren, now really obviously a powerful lord of the realm, rearranges almost everything on the Atevi continent. That’s getting to be a habit. And Cajeiri’s continuing to grow up before our eyes, which is fun. Oddly enough, and unlike other LT reviewers, I liked the first half of the book better than the long, dual-threaded, action sequence.
Beautiful Code edited by Andy Oram: a short review
Parts are over my head, of course; the book’s clearly intended that way. But parts are just wonderful, and make the book worthwhile. I’m guessing each reader will prefer different essays.
Posted in Bookworm Alley, Semi-Geekery
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The Diamond Appraised by Craig Wright and Tom House: a short review
In general, this book is not as good as I remembered. It’s still very good, though, and an important sabermetric standard. Fewer numbers in here than in Bill James or Pete Palmer, but the perspective is much like James’.