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Monthly Archives: June 2011
Walking the Appalachian Trail by Larry Luxenburg: a review
A decent book, but it has no great depth. This view of the Appalachian Trail is that of the circa-1990 through-hiker. It’s pretty easy to think of a half-dozen other ways the book could have been focused, all equally valid, that I might have preferred.
Posted in Bookworm Alley
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Bill James’ Baseball Abstract 1985: a review
As James notes near the end of the book, this edition of the Abstract is the most technical book he’d produced to date. 1985 is the year Bill brought Major League Equivalencies of minor league players into Sabermetric discourse; comments are scattered throughout the text but the key discussion’s in the Dodgers section. Several of the team writeups were composed by Project Scoresheet participants, which lent some variety; in all cases, Bill added come critical comments. Strangely, Jim Baker seems not to have written any of the book, though he was still in James’ employ and is credited for some of the quoted research.
Posted in Baseball CrankSpace, Bookworm Alley
Tagged baseball abstract, bill james, sabermetrics
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Car Guys vs. Bean Counters by Bob Lutz: a short review
This is basically a high-level account of Lutz’ most recent GM stint, from 2001 to 2009. He spent the decade making war on the place’s culture; in particular, he attempted to move Design back to the organizational center. To all appearances, those efforts are the reason the company’s made a successful turnaround since the economy tanked and the American auto industry nearly died.
Posted in Bookworm Alley
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Robert A. Heinlein by William Patterson: a short review
Good enough; ends with Heinlein’s marriage to Ginny. The book really needed more extensive editing, mostly to remove unnecessary redundancies, but I’ve read biographies which were far less readable and showed far less research. Looking forward to the second volume.
The Politics of Glory by Bill James: a review
This is both a history of the Baseball Hall of Fame and an examination of the apparent standards used by the voting populaces, with a lot of asides. The history is solid, and covers both the institutional side (how the Hall and museum came to be built, maintained, and ruled) and the election of the players (and others) who are honored there.