Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball

Good birthday gift

As the headline states, I'm glad I didn't pay full price for this. I tend to like Law's analysis, but his holier-than-thou personality rubs me the wrong way, so I waffled about purchasing this until it showed up as some lightning deal for a fraction of the price.Overall, I'm disappointed with this book, because if there was anyone who might be able to make the tradition vs. analysis debate interesting, it might be Law. It started off intriguing with him classically and in so many words, telling older fans who might interpret an 80s Donruss card as the only stats that matter, as antiquated luddites, but it didn't take long before the pace of the book slowed down into a parade of Player X vs Player Y and Z comparison charts, and then turning into a brochure for MLB Statcast, before ending abruptly with the last 20% of the Kindle edition turning into an excerpt of another book.As a baseball fan who is fairly sabr-friendly, respects and understands a good bit of baseball analysis and has Fangraphs and B-R bookmarked for quick reference for internet debates, this book really doesn't teach you anything new or groundbreaking, and is kind of boring. I'm curious how much of Law's trademark snark and vitriol were neutered out of this by his editor, because I was expecting way more bite than this delivered.If you're a baseball fan that's newer to the analytical movement and wanting to learn and understand better, I'm sure this might be a useful read, although I question how much being told you're outdated for liking classic scoreboard stats goes over for novices, and goes back to the narrative that I think that Law's personality is kind of a jerk. But if you can get over that, there's some stuff to learn... before you get to the Statcast brochure.

I like Keith Law's writing. I enjoy his stuff on baseball as well as board games. Yet I finished this book and was disappointed. Why? This book wasn't meant for me. I understand advanced baseball stats. I know why RBI and pitcher Wins are useless stats. I'm a believer in WAR. When I purchased this book I thought it would be a handy guide on advanced stats, deeper information about things I only knew superficially. Yes SMART BASEBALL is relatively superficial, and that is a valid choice by Law. He's not aiming to reach the already converted like me, he's trying to convince or at least educate those who believe Sabermetrics are ruining baseball.So don't buy this book if you want a deeper dive into advanced baseball stats. Maybe purchase some of the books that Law mentions in here as references. But do give this book to someone you know who thinks triple-crown stats tell you all you need to know about how good a player is.

Interesting and fun book, like much of what is emphasized, including the value of w/OBA and w/RC+, which are much too slowly becoming stats of focus and perhaps the best offensive metrics. If only MLB would move more rapidly in utilizing. Enjoyable reading and highly recommended. Just one incorrect item of note. The author asserts several times that hitting in 1968 was impaired by a raising of the mound to 15 inches that year. That did not happen in 1968 and is possibly confused with its lowering to 10 inches in 1969. The impact to hitting in 1968 had actually evolved over time since earlier in the decade when the size of the strike zone was significantly increased, that was much of the cause of the impairment to offense that peaked in 1968 and was largely solved via lowering the mound from 15 to 10. This aside, good book, well worth the investment.

As someone who has read Keith Law for years (both on ESPN and his personal blog), I'm biased when I give this a 5 star review. I agree with his approach and analysis of the stats used in baseball circles for years and that the modern analytical tools give the game more depth and a truer picture of how the players perform. His take on stats such as RBI and Saves indicate how player analysis has been skewed for generations and how the ill conceived stats have shaped the game. For those new to his work, you may be surprised as some old ideals are pealed away and will learn of some new stats that are starting to be used with increasing regularity. But for me the highlight as usual with Keith Law is the wry sense of humor. I laughed for five minutes at a Salomon Torres joke that most will likely shrug by. Smart Baseball is a good look at how the perceptions the game are changing today and a peak into where the game is headed analytically.

There are two things that are perfectly clear when you read "Smart Baseball": Keith Law knows statistics and he knows baseball. The book is perfectly organized -- here are all the old stats that you know and love (batting average, RBIs, pitcher wins, etc.) and why they're stupid (at worst) or misleading (at best). Having led you to that point, he introduces statistics that actually tell us something about players (WAR, OBP, OPS, etc.) and how they are constructed. All of this is done in a perfectly accessible way, whether you have a strong background in statistics or not. It reads quickly, but you never feel like something important is being glossed over.When Law starts talking about Statcast, the book slows down a bit. It's still good material, but almost feels "tacked on" to the rest of the book.The only bad thing is that once you've finished, watching games on TV with all the old statistics gets a little frustrating.

In recent times, there has been a battle between two camps of baseball fans: the traditionalists and the new generation of stats geeks. The former rely on the same set of statistics that they read on the back of their favorite player's baseball card as a kid, while the new generation rely on sabremetrics and big data. But as ESPN senior baseball writer Keith Law points out in his 2017 book Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, there really isn't any battle any more, as all 30 major league baseball teams now have advanced analytics departments that have long since replaced archaic stats such as pitching wins, batting average and RBIs with more modern concepts like WAR (wins above replacement) and WPA (win probability added).In this book, Law approaches the subject of how best to measure baseball talent through statistics in three parts. In the first part, he trashes many of the traditional old school baseball statistics such as batting average, pitcher's wins, runs batted in, saves and fielding percentage, making the case why each of these are based more on luck than on talent and are misleading and often meaningless. His point of view will grate on those who still believe that there's a time and a place for a well-placed bunt, a stolen base or the hit and run. In the book's second part, he looks at more relevant measurements of a player's ability, such as on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and WOBA (weighted on-base average) or its counterpart WRC (weighted runs created). He also explains that WAR is not really a statistic, but rather a concept because every team seems to have its own way of calculating how much better (or worse) a player is, compared to an average (baseline) player at that position. Law points out that many of these new-fangled statistics aren't perfect, but that modern baseball data and its analysis is nevertheless extremely valuable in measuring a player's worth, and offers a fairer means of measuring the true talent and value of former, current and future major leaguers.The third and final part of the book is especially interesting for baseball nerds, as it considers such interesting subjects as how to measure who deserves to be immortalized in baseball's Hall of fame, how scouting has changed in the era of new data, how something called Statcast has revolutionized how every big league ball team functions, and what the future holds in store for front offices as more and more data is gathered and new and innovative ways are found to analyze it. The chapter on what a scout actually does was especially interesting (it's nothing like the Clint Eastwood character in "Trouble With the Curve") as well the section on how data analysis may help players to prevent injury.For the most part, Law writes in an interesting, intellectually captivating style and is a pleasure to read. Occasionally he will regress into bouts of petulance, hurling pejoratives at those who disagree with him, and criticizing players who he views as over-rated in a disrespectful manner reminiscent of those people who write angry comments on internet message boards. Law does not suffer fools gladly and at times his writing is that of someone who wants it known that he's the smartest guy in the room. Fortunately this is usually constrained, and is eclipsed by intelligent and thoughtful writing, especially in the book's third part.This is a good book for all baseball fans, especially those who have watched the game for years, but who don't have the time to keep up with the post-Moneyball stats and analysis revolution. Law touches all the bases and his insight into the new world of baseball data analysis will be informative and interesting to all fans of the national pastime.

This is a very good book which questions the status quo of baseball statistics. You may agree or disagree with the author on certain topics, but he does back up his points. He makes an excellent argument regarding the RBI stat and how it is overrated. His basic point is that runners have to be in scoring position for someone to get an RBI which is true. But there is a basic follow up question which he didn't address. Why don't they look at players batting averages with runners in scoring position. That simple methodology can even the tables when it comes to comparing players and their ability to drive in runs. He certainly feels the RBI stat is overrated but he failed to mention that Lou Gehrig hit 140 RBIs the year Ruth hit 60 homers. That meant Gehrig had 60 plate appearances whit no one on base and he still hit 140 RBIs. Quite an accomplishment I'd say.Speaking of batting averages, the author feels that this is another overrated stat. He certainly prefers the on base percentage (OBP). I certainly agree with him, but one fatal flaw with that logic is this. Lets say you have a runner on 3rd and there is less than two out. Lets say the batter takes a walk. That's great for is OBP, but lets also say that there were one or two of those pitches that were called a "ball" yet they were close enough that could have been hit for a fly ball scoring a sac fly. It hurts your OBP but it scores a run and that is more important. That was one of the biggest criticisms of Frank Thomas. There was no mention of that.As far as pitching goes, he hates the won loss record and the ERA. His criticisms are excellent but he made no mention of the WHIP stat. That is walks and hits per innings pitched. This is a great stat in my mind for evaluating pitchers but there was no discussion of this in the book.Nonetheless, I thought it was interesting and a good read for any serious ball fan and the way you look at a game especially if you're into stats. If you think batting averages, RBIs, wonl/loss records and ERA are the be all and end all, you'll find this book blasphemous. If you think those stats are flawed and there is a better way to evaluate players, you'll enjoy this book

Interested in reading about Keith Law's vendetta against traditional baseball analytics? Then this book is for you!Fascinated by in depth analysis of the history behind the mathematical equations used to judge player performance? Don't miss Smart Baseball!Want to read a book with very few actual baseball anecdotes, stories, or such? You can't go wrong here!Actually, I really enjoyed the book - it is more technical than most mainstream baseball books, and doesn't have many of the stories and quips and such that make baseball so endearing. It is basically an analysis of the shift in baseball analytic processes: the first section deals with the 'outdated' stats still used today (at least by fans) - wins, RBI, AVG, saves, etc; the second section addresses the superior statistics that are replacing them (and the issues with them as well) and how they work in the practical operation of baseball, and the last section addresses how all these changes will/could/should affect baseball moving forward.As a relatively invested fan, I can't say that I learned a whole lot from the book, other than a term or backstory here and there, but I did enjoy the read. It's not a very entertaining book, and won't really affect the way you watch baseball, so if you have little desire to know what the difference is between VORP and WAR...stick to Baseball When The Grass Was Real. Oddly enough, there wasn't really enough detail to make it that fascinating even on the technical side. He explains the math behind some of the statistics and such, but it's really not about that either.I recommend it with caution!

Really enjoyed this look into the new statistics of baseball. Engrossing stuff for stats nerd like me. Maybe an appendix with all the abbreviations would have been a good idea though as the are so many to remember.

Keith does a good job of explaining the analytics and provides good arguments on why they are more useful measures than the older stats.If you're a baseball fan, then this is a good read.