Great baseball writing starts with Bill James. And there is no better Bill James book then the The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. This book has a section that reviews each decade and contains fascinating tidbits along with great analysis. Then he gives us the drug we all love – Top 100 lists for each position. Some of my favorite parts:

• of Don Mattingly, James writes “100% ballplayer, 0% bullshit.” Brevity and insight at its best
• read his detailed analysis of Richie Ashburn to get a good feel for the ballplayer and his humanity. Way to make it personal. An excellent example of finding balance in describing a person
• his description of the 4 players who qualify as a ‘horses ass’: Rogers Hornsby, Ty Cobb, Dick Allen, and Hal Chase. Way to take a stand.
• showing how baseball of before compares to baseball of today. About today’s emphasis on mechanics, he talks about how Bob Gibson’s mechanics would be altered by a modern coach – probably for a most negative impact!

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Another great Bill James book is “Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame.” There are 3 things I love about this book:

1. he presents some great statistical tools in a manner that I was able to easily understand! Now I am a total baseball-reference.com junkie. Enter a player and see how his Hall of Fame credentials are. Never understood black ink and gray ink before? Now it is easy.
2. He does a great job of showing the problems with gate-keeping at the Hall. (More on that in the next entry.) He does not avoid controversy in looking at the players who belong in, and those who do not? Think Tinkers to Evers to Chance are worthy entrants? Read what Mr. James thinks on this….
3. My favorite part of the book is he provides a better approach for looking at who belongs. He provides a system of tools and techniques for making more objective decisions. At the same time he makes it clear that decisions can’t depend on stats alone. Balance at its best.

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Not quite a book, but better, is the previously mentioned baseball-reference.com. Don’t tell the publisher: I’d pay a fair amount of money to access this site if it weren’t free. It is the best compendium for getting a full flavor for what a player accomplished. Endlessly entertaining. For data junkies and data-phobes alike.

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Want to know what it was like to play baseball in the 1890s? Read Fifty-nine in ’84, about Hall of Famer Hoss Radbourn. I always knew that pitchers were more durable, but 59 wins? Forget Joe D’s 56 – this is a record that will stand forever. Some things I learned:

• the different rules. I’ve read them out of context, but reading about the rules of the 19th century in context gave you a much better sense for the evolution of the game. Would love to see Randy Johnson running towards the batter within his box, 50 feet away….
• Can you imagine an opponent being asked to umpire?!
• relying on 2 pitchers for a season – and to think Billy Martin got criticized for how he used his pitchers….
• catching today is hard. But wow, can you imagine almost protection including a glove?
• Radbourn was part of the inaguaral Hall of Fame Induction in 1939. He was in the 3rd group.

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Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball is an inspiration. The author – one of the best – joined Buck O’Neil on a road trip. This gives great insight into the Negro League and its contribution to the game that is played today. More importantly we get to know Buck O’Neil, a heroic representative of decency, integrity, passion, and quality.