The New Ballgame: Understanding Baseball Statistics for the Casual Fan (22 page)

This contains everything you need to know to play Rotisserie League Baseball:
how to organize or join a league, how to build winning teams, and the salaries
(plus scouting reports) for hundreds of players. It is updated annually.

This book tells the story behind Strat-O-Matic's creation, popularity and survival against the odds that overwhelmed many of its contemporary competitors. And it documents how this hobby inspired the baseball-statistics revolution we enjoy today.

This book provides analyses of the top players in each organization with objective data, insightful commentary, and irreverent humor. Its proprietary projections system "PECOTA" makes this book unique.

A staple in the fantasy baseball world, this book offers projections based on
player performance with analytical support to back up those projections.

This analysis of the entire season even includes a breakdown of the postseason and World Series, but still comes out before the end of November. It also
contains timely guest essays from some of the brightest minds in baseball. The
Hardball Times is a baseball think tank of writers who create provocative, insightful and entertaining baseball analyses, as well as produce their own unique
statistics, graphs and essays. Their website, www.hardballtimes.com is updated
daily throughout the year on all things baseball.

Other Books from ACTA Sports

by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans

edited by Gregory F. Augustine Pierce

In this collection of twelve essays by some of the sharpest minds in baseball, the contributors show how Bill James has changed the way they think about a lot of things,
including baseball. 144-page hardcover, $14.95

by Bill James and Baseball Info Solutions

Always the first and certainly the best of the annual baseball statistical analysis books.
It contains all the lifetime stats from all the players who played Major League Baseball
the previous season. 466-page paperback, $21.95

Edited by Dave Studenmund

A comprehensive analysis of the entire previous season from the first pitch to the last
out, including a review of the playoffs and the World Series. Written by the think tank of
baseball writers at the popular website www.hardballtimes.com. 350-page paperback,
$19.95

by John Dewan

The breakthrough analysis of baseball defense that is revolutionizing how people think
about fielding statistics. Includes major contributions from Bill James and Baseball Info
Solutions. 241 -page paperback, $19.95

Told by a Fan

by Sara Kaden Brunsvold

This complete biography looks at the legendary New York Yankee first baseman from
the point of view of a fan, revealing what Gehrig and his legacy have meant to her and
other baseball fans. 252-page paperback, $14.95

Available from booksellers or call 800-397-2282
www.actasports.com

Other Books from ACTA Sports

Real-Life Applications of Statistical Analysis Actually Used by
Major League Teams...and Other Stories from the Inside

by Doug Decatur

An insider's look into why, when and how analytical managers and GMs use the practical application of baseball statistics to make key decisions in a game and over a season. Includes the popular "GM IQ Test." 311 -page paperback, $14.95

The Unlikely Success Story of a Game

That Became an American Passion

by Glenn Guzzo

The award-winning book about the creation-and re-creation-of America's most
popular sports board game ever. Tells the story of Hal Richman, who beat the odds
and invented a game that has been played by thousands of baseball fans for over forty
years. 320-page paperback, $14.95

Twelve Stories of Finding God at the Old Ball Park

edited by Gregory F. Augustine Pierce

A collection of true stories in which the authors relate how they came to feel the presence of God while enjoying the great American pastime as players, coaches, parents,
children, or just plain fans. 175-page hardcover, $17.95

Lessons for Parents and Coaches of Young Baseball Players

by David Allen Smith and Joseph Aversa, Jr.
with a Foreword by Peter Gammons

A book for parents and coaches who love baseball and want to be involved in encouraging children to learn and enjoy it. Contains practical advice, true stories about youth
baseball, and "life Skills Learning Drills." 126-page paperback, $9.95

Available from booksellers or call 800-397-2282
www.actasports.com

More praise for The New Ballgame

Baseball has needed a Stats 101 class for a long time. This book is
required reading for anyone new to baseball's numbers.

-Alan Schwarz, senior writer for Baseball America

Statistics do not just provide a droll chronicle of baseball's play-by-play.
The New Baligame shows how they provide the "color" to understanding the game and enrich the experience of being a fan.

-Ron Shandler, author, Baseball Forecaster,
and publisher, BaseballHQ.com

As Glenn Guzzo says in this insightful survey, "statistics are the language
of baseball." Guzzo doesn't just define baseball stats, he shows how
they're used at the ballpark and on television. He tells you how to score
a game and how to read a box score. And his review of "Why Baseball
Arguments Never Die" is especially useful for interpreting the language
of baseball. Every beginning baseball fan will find this book useful, and I
can think of a number of "veteran" fans I'd like to give it to, as well.

-Dave Studenmund, editor of The Hardball Times Baseball Annual

Glenn Guzzo draws from both recent events and the vastness of baseball
history to introduce readers to basic baseball stats, as well as a few newfangled ones. Even if you already know your way around a box score,
Guzzo's prose and his choices of examples will make this a fun read.

-John Zajc, Executive Director,
Society for American Baseball Research