- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA (3 Mar 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195397762
- ISBN-13: 978-0195397765
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
1,651,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #77 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > American Sports > Baseball > Statistics
- See Complete Table of Contents
Wizardry : Baseball's All-Time Greatest Fielders Revealed
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
The book of the season . . . comes from Michael Humphreys . . . who has spent years meticulously extracting reads on historical defensive performance from the flawed and fragmentary numbers we have to go by, and he now offers the definitive work on the subject . . . A careful, thoughtful system that will make you appreciate all the more the genius of the late Yankees second baseman Joe Gordon or the peripatetic and vastly underrated outfielder Kenny Lofton . . . A representation of the future of statistical sabermetrics, which in years to come is quite likely to become more focused less on telling the future than on wresting meaning out of the past." -- Tim Marchman, The Wall Street Journal
"Excellent." -- David Schoenfeld, ESPN ("Sweet Spot" blog)
"Humphreys writes capably and makes the math-heavy parts as readable as anyone could. The outcome should attract all dedicated baseball fans and stat hounds." -- Library Journal
"Michael Humphreys does for fielding what Neil deGrasse Tyson does for astrophysics: he takes an incredibly complex subject and makes a reader who once felt dumb feel smart. He has cut through the cloud of my unknowing and helped me to understand what major league fielding really is and how it can be quantified. Wizardry is the best book yet on the subject." -- Allen Barra, writer for The Wall Street Journal
"Fielding is the hardest aspect of baseball in which to rate performance. In his fascinating book, Michael Humphreys should get the Gold Glove for historical fielding evaluation. With carefully derived formulae, he rates Aaron, Clemente, Gordon and Hooper as saving 100+ runs more than does Total Baseball, while Mazeroski and Ozzie Smith saved their teams over 100 fewer. And that's just among Hall of Famers! Taken seriously, as it should be, this book will substantially shake up our all-around rankings of players." -- Michael J. Schell, Moffitt Cancer Center, author of Baseball's All-TimeBest Hitters and Baseball
Product Description
Sabermetrics, the systematic analysis of baseball statistics, has evolved over time to resemble something of a science, attracting fans from diverse professional and educational backgrounds, all fascinated by both the analysis itself and the objective insights it provides into the game. Although fans and analysts have devoted exhaustive efforts to developing statistics that measure offensive performance, defensive metrics have historically been deemed too difficult to measure accurately and objectively. In Wizardry: Baseball's All-Time Greatest Fielders Revealed, Michael Humphreys introduces a system that conclusively quantifies fielding statistics and compares player performance from as early as 1893 by estimating how many runs each fielder "saved" or "allowed." While a number of methods for analyzing defense have recently gained exposure, they rely on expensive proprietary data held by professional sports statistics companies and only capture information drawn from the contemporary era. Humphreys' method, Defensive Runs Analysis (DRA), makes unique use of free, open source data available to the average fan and incorporates equalizing historical factors to place players from different eras on equal footing. Wizardry is the first book to systematically rank and profile the greatest fielders at each position from throughout major league history. To frame and validate his results, the author tests DRA data against other well-known statistical measures and also presents an analysis of other defensive statistical metrics. Casual fans with little mathematical background will appreciate Wizardry's accessible style while professional statisticians will value the opportunity to validate Humphreys' methodology and results. Given the topic and the author's presentation of the material, the book will draw in both the serious, baseball statistics audience and the average fan.
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7 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Transformative, seminal work
6 Jun 2011
Format:Paperback
If you like baseball and you like stats, you'll love this book. No math skills are required, yet you can appreciate the methodical research and analysis that went into this book. It transformed the way I watch defensive plays now. The author exposes the obvious ways in which the Gold Glove has been awarded to the wrong players. Separate chapters are devoted to each position, with the author creating his own rankings by era. I didn't know that the best fielding short-stop and third baseman played side by side on the same team! If you enjoyed Moneyball, this is a must, as it applies metrics to fielding, a feat that has never before been fully accomplished. The book does not need to be read cover to cover. It is written in a user-friendly fashion that allows one to use it as a reference book as well. I highly recommend it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
fascinating
1 Jun 2011
Format:Paperback
A facsinating journey into the world of baseball defense and the often unsung heroes of baseball history.The author searched long and hard for interesting stories that make players both from my youth and from the older days of baseball really come alive, and the relative rankings are alot of fun to consider. Terrific for anyone who enjoys age old arguments about 'who was the best' at any given position - a fun and entertaining read -
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Great Advance In This Field!
13 Oct 2011
Format:Paperback
The Author has done what other giants in this field of study, Bill James among them, could not, in producing a means of analyzing the measure and value of defense to complement the other values of offense and pitching that have been accomplished in the Sabermetrics field. At a time when objective means of determining the value of players has been brought to the forefront by the success of the movie "Moneyball," this book provides tremendous insight and value both for baseball insiders and fans alike. Meticulously researched and extremely well-written. Highest recommendation. Bravo!
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