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Exotic Stats That Don't Make Sense
Every time baseball begins to falter, it seems, a reformer or revolutionary conveniently pops up.
It happened in the 1920’s and 1930’s, when Branch Rickey ensured a steady talent pipeline by developing the Minor League development system. It happened in the 1940’s, when Rickey and Jackie Robinson ended segregation, thus opening the game to world-beater talents from around the country and around the world. In the 1970’s, Marvin Miller of the Players Association injected free agency and free markets into the game. In the 1990’s reformers brought new ball parks and interleague games and wild card playoffs, big hits all.
As firmly rooted as the game may be, baseball’s always been open to the newest new thing. Even in statistics.
Starting in the 1970’s, statisticians like Dick Cramer and Pete Palmer began to rethink the premises of century-old statistics, with their pioneering technical work later being expanded and popularized by the (rightly) revered Bill James. The ‘sabermetric’ revolution they launched has now reached the point where it has its own outlook, one that rejects or limits most of the old-line numbers. Here are its basic outlines:
Hitting
• Batting Average- It’s vital for a good hitter to get on base, but that can happen through walks and hit-by-pitch totals as well as base hits. Better to look at On-Base Percentage (OBP), which accounts for all three categories.
• Home Runs- Round-trippers are wonderful, but they’re an incomplete measure of extra-base hitting. By accounting for doubles and triples as well as homers, Slugging Percentage provides a better power picture.
• Runs Batted In- They’re deceptive, mostly because they’re dependent on a batter’s lineup support. An otherwise great batter can compile low totals because leadoff guys aren’t getting on base ahead of him, while a mediocre performer might put up a 100-RBI season by batting with plenty of runners on.
Starter Pitching
• Earned Run Average- It should be kept in perspective, because it might be unduly skewed by superb defensive support, the pitcher-friendly National League, or a spacious home park. Peripherals like Strikeout/Walk Ratio and Walks and Hits Per Inning (WHIP) give more reliable gauges on day-to-day performance.
• Wins- Far too dependent on run support and bullpen help. Too many weak starting pitchers can be credited with cheap wins even as strong pitching starts are punished with hard-luck losses and no-decisions.
Relief Pitching
• Earned Run Average- It has limited utility for relievers, since they pitch relatively limited innings and one or two bad outings can throw set their overall ERA out of whack to their overall performance.
• Saves- Very often, relievers can pick up relatively easy saves by coming into a game with no men on base or with a two- or three-run lead. To judge reliever performance, it’s better to look at how they pitch with inherited runners on base.
Fielding
• Fielding Percentage- This measures errors made, but that isn’t nearly as important as a fielder’s ability to reach balls in the first place. Besides, error totals can be distorted due to scorer mistakes. It’s more accurate to assess defensive work through Range Factor, which is based on the number of putouts-plus-assists made for every inning played.
Base Running
• Steals- High theft totals are great, but their impact can be offset by a runner’s tendency to get picked off. Better to judge effectiveness through Caught Stealing percentages.
All those sabermetric perspectives have won a mainstream following because they deserved a mainstream following- the stats dissected the ways the game really works. They made sense. They were necessary, clear, simple, and objective.
Unfortunately, that’s about where the stats revisionists stopped making sense.
As it turns out, many of the flawed old statistical categories have been replaced by flawed new statistical categories in recent years. They haven’t won a mainstream following and haven’t deserved a mainstream following- they were unnecessary, confusing, complicated, and subjective:
Unnecessary
• Runs Created- Baseball Prospectus calls this James’ “seminal modern offensive statistic,” but mostly it just sews confusion in the way its catch-all number throws together hits, walks, total bases, hit-by-pitches, steals, and sacrifices. It has at least 20 (!) different variations, with a typical equation reading:
RC= (H+B+HBP-CS-GDP) * (TB+.26*(BB-IBB+HBP) / (AB+BB+HBP+SH+SF))
The numerical potpourri’s perfectly accessible to some fans. All of whom have advanced mathematics degrees from MIT.
• Runs Allowed- Turning more than 100 years of conventional wisdom upside-down, the self-proclaimed ‘Experts at Baseball Prospectus’ have declared that pitchers should be graded by all the runs they allow, including whatever scores that come as a result of their team mates’ fielding errors
But the conventional wisdom should stay right-side up.
It’s true that official scorers might make mistaken judgments on what they call an error, thus rendering ‘earned’ run measurements less than absolutely, completely, 1,000% reliable. However, by all accounts, there isn’t any systematic corruption in the process of Major League scoring and there is a high degree of skilled grading when it comes to error plays. With that clean, objective system in place, ERA measurements are highly accurate.
Plus, the so-smart-they’re-dumb crowd should be reminded that it’s only fair to judge ball players for their own performance, without penalizing for the faults of others. ‘Runs allowed’ necessarily blames pitchers for negative developments that are out of their control, and that’s like blaming weathermen for Saturday downpours.
Unnecessary & Confusing
• Runs Created/27- An old joke has two economists falling into a deep hole. When one asks the other what they should do, he says “first, assume we have a ladder.”
That’s RC/27 in a nutshell. It first assumes Runs Created makes sense, then asks how many runs a player would score if he played in a lineup consisting of . . . his statistical clones. Words fail me.
Unnecessary, Confusing & Complicated
• Equivalent Average- To quote stats bible BP once more: “A measure of total offensive value per out, with corrections for league offensive level, home park, and team pitching.” Like ‘Runs Created’, ‘Equivalent Average’ happens by tossing wildly different stats in a blender, then hitting the ‘puree’ button:
(H + TB + 1.5*(BB + HBP + SB) + SH + SF) / (AB + BB + HBP + SH + SF + CS + SB)
That esoteric mumbo-jumbo is then scaled into a simplified average, leading to the inevitable question: why not stick to simple old on-base percentage and slugging in the first place?
Unnecessary, Confusing, Complicated, & Subjective
• Replacement Player stats- These include a whole bunch of categories, including Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) and Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP), all of them based on comparisons to a ‘readily available replacement player’ in the same position.
It’s a neat-o attempt at setting an objective baseline for Major League performance, but, problem is, no one’s exactly clear on the identity of ‘readily-available replacements’. Are they supposed to arrive via waivers, trades or purchases? Are they defined by AAA call-ups, Major League reserves, or some combination thereof? How to account for the fact that many candidates have more than one position and display wide variations in playing time? Are we supposed to ignore the many, many factors (waiver rules, salary constraints, and so forth) than mean ‘readily available’ players aren’t really so readily available in the real world?
You can make a lot of guesses on all those questions, true. Without them, VORP is about as helpful as BYOB.
• Zone Rating fielding stats- These numbers are derived by taking how many plays a fielder makes, then dividing it by the total number of balls were hit to his ‘zone’ on the playing field.
Again, it’s a nifty concept that doesn’t really work out.
First, the definition of any fielder’s playing responsibility is inherently arbitrary and fluid, varying as it does based on the batters’ handedness (righty or left), hitting tendencies, ball park conditions, even base/out scenarios. Second, it’s often hard-going-on-impossible to assign a ball into one ‘zone’ or other- how to reliably assign a gap drive to the centerfielder rather than the right fielder, or a sharp grounder to the third baseman instead of the shortstop? Third, incredibly, the system doesn’t know how to credit spectacular fielders who make plays outside their invisible, made-up little ‘zone’.
Again, you can try to patch over those cracks by making judgment calls. But, again, that just takes you farther into the land of assumptions and guesswork. Right back to where you started from.
Posted 8/1/2007 @ 11:36 AM | Exotic Stats That Don't Make Sense | 0 Comments Tristate Tour '007
Guess what book made it on to Bookscan's bestseller list for sports paperbacks in greater New York? I'll give you one hint.
Many thanks to all the family, friends, and new friends that made it possible. You should all feel welcomed to drop a line any time, and anyone who's interested has plenty of 'meet the author' dates to pick from:
Jan. 31- Enfield Public Library (Enfield, CT)
Feb. 3- Wilton Library Association (Wilton, CT)
Feb. 4- Square One Theatre (Stratford, CT)
Feb. 10- New York Public Library (New York, NY)
Feb. 11- Barnes & Noble (Danbury, CT)
Feb. 17- Borders Books (Milford, CT)
Feb. 18- Borders Books (Farmington, CT)
Feb. 24- Barnes & Noble (Yonkers, NY)
Feb. 25- Barnes & Noble (Edgewater, NJ)
Feb. 27- North Castle Public Library (Armonk, NY)
March 20- 86th St. & 2nd Ave. Barnes & Noble (New York, NY)
April 7- Borders Books (Wilton, CT)
April 12- Hunan Balcony Restaurant (Riverdale, NY)
pch@UnitedStatesofBaseball.com
‘The Best New York Sports Arguments:
The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’
SourceBooks, Inc. • On-Sale Date: November 28, 2006 • 270 pages
$14.95 • ISBN: 1-4022-0823-5
Posted 1/19/2007 @ 9:28 PM | Tristate Tour '007 | 0 Comments The New Book
It's entitled ‘The Best New York Sports Arguments: The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’, and you can find the complete publicity kit through the following links:
Advance Praise/Early Reviews
Description
Talking Points
Questions and Answers
Press Release
Featured Chapters
Table of Contents- Baseball
Buy at Amazon
pch@UnitedStatesofBaseball.com
‘The Best New York Sports Arguments:
The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’
SourceBooks, Inc. • On-Sale Date: November 28, 2006 • 270 pages
$14.95 • ISBN: 1-4022-0823-5
Posted 9/1/2006 @ 5:32 PM | The New Book | Read Entry Description
New York’s an incredible sports town, and the reasons go beyond its unmatched array of high-profile teams, star athletes, championship titles, and landmark moments.
What truly sets the Big Apple apart are its sports fans and sports conversations. Whether the subject’s baseball, football, basketball, hockey, tennis, boxing . . . if something’s within shouting distance of the tabloids or the Times, New Yorkers are always talking about it. No other town features so many discussions over who’s winning, who’s losing, who’s coming back, who’s collapsing, who should be hired, and who should be fired.
The city’s all about controversial questions, and ‘The Best New York Sports Arguments’ goes to the heart of it all. Its 100 chapters cover more than a century’s worth of topics, examining everything from the underestimated to the overrated, from the heroes to the goats. Along the way, the book takes diverse perspectives in all athletics’ stats and society, humor and history, comparisons and culture.
With both surprising facts and biting insight, Peter Handrinos presents a highly original take on the greatest sports town in America. There’s one thing all die-hard fans can agree on- ‘The Best New York Sports Arguments’ stands out as one of the most compelling books of the year.
Chapters include:
What are New York’s biggest sports myths?
Were the ’62 Mets the worst team of all time?
Parcells or Belichick- who’s the better coach?
Was Ewing to blame for the Knicks’ title draught?
Are the New Jersey Devils the classiest team in New York?
Connors & McEnroe- who was worse?
Will the Belmont Stakes ever see another Triple Crown winner?
Was Mike Tyson ever a great heavyweight?
pch@UnitedStatesofBaseball.com
‘The Best New York Sports Arguments:
The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’
SourceBooks, Inc. • On-Sale Date: November 28, 2006 • 270 pages
$14.95 • ISBN: 1-4022-0823-5 Posted 9/1/2006 @ 5:21 PM | Description | Read Entry Talking Points
• Examines baseball, football, basketball, basketball, hockey, tennis, boxing, and horse racing, as well as golf and stickball.
• Covers every New York team- the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders, and Devils. The book even includes the long-gone Brooklyn Dodgers and baseball Giants.
• Includes personalities like John J. McGraw, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Roger Maris, Casey Stengel, Tom Seaver, Reggie Jackson, Derek Jeter, and George Steinbrenner of baseball.
• Also includes personalities like Vince Lombardi, Joe Namath, Mark Gastineau, Wayne Chrebet, and Wellington Mara of football, along with Clyde Frazier, Patrick Ewing, Pat Riley, and Isiah Thomas of basketball.
• Various chapters focus on statistical breakdowns, historical analysis, performance comparisons, social influences, cultural impacts, sports financing, team rivalries, player styles, humor, and parody.
• Advocates for the underrated, including Allie Reynolds, Walter O’Malley, Casey Stengel, Alex Rodriguez, Clyde Frazier, the expansion Islanders, and the Devils franchise.
• Takes on the overrated, including Roger Maris, Vince Lombardi, Joe Namath, Bill Parcells, Wellington Mara, and Mike Tyson.
• Also covers the overlooked, including Fred Merkle, Chuck Dressen, Horace Stoneham, the new Yankee Stadium, the ‘Brooklyn Nets’, and the Triple Crown.
• Off-beat topics include sports traditions, memorable fans, colorful quotes, franchise moves, proud moments & low moments, team rivalries & personal rivalries, myths, awards, athlete-celebrities, expansion teams, ‘guaranteed’ wins, player etiquette, and the state of sports.
pch@UnitedStatesofBaseball.com
‘The Best New York Sports Arguments:
The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’
SourceBooks, Inc. • On-Sale Date: November 28, 2006 • 270 pages
$14.95 • ISBN: 1-4022-0823-5 Posted 9/1/2006 @ 5:20 PM | Talking Points | Read Entry Questions and Answers
How did you start off with ‘The Best New York Sports Arguments’?
My publisher first approached me with the idea to cover all of New York’s sports history, in a book covering 100 chapters. I was reluctant to try it at first, if only because of the project’s sheer ambition- they were talking about covering baseball, football, basketball, hockey, tennis, boxing, and racing over more than a century.
Why did you decide to write it?
Oh, the usual reasons- hunger for literary fame and fortune! Seriously, though, I was very intrigued by the concept, not only because it was very ambitious, but it was original. I believe I’ve read most every important sports book published over the last 30 or 40 years, but I’ve never seen a good book tackling all New York sports.
Finally, as I considered it, I got really excited about the prospect of examining the questions and controversies and misunderstood events that have come up over the years. There’ve been more than a few, that’s for sure.
What’s your intended readership?
Age 13 to 83, from kids to die-hard, old-time fans. All along, I tried to set up the chapters so a novice could learn about the topics, while still adding a lot of new facts and opinion for those who were already familiar with the topics.
How would you describe your approach?
‘Serious fun’ is a phrase that fits, I suppose. I wanted to supply some rock-solid research and analysis while, at the same time, maintaining the ‘fun and games’ aspect. More than anything else, I wanted to keep the readers intrigued enough to turn the pages.
What was the greatest challenge in the writing?
I’d have to go back to the ambition, I guess. When you’re talking about 100 chapters, obviously, there’s a whole lot of research and writing involved, but beyond that, there has to be a whole range of approaches. I wanted to be versatile enough to switch around in everything from stat analysis, history, and sociology to media criticism and style. I even wrote a few humor/parody chapters.
Apart from that, I wanted to give both sides of the issues whenever possible. I always present a point of view, and some are straight advocacy pieces, but it was important to acknowledge when reasonable people have disagreed with some of the conclusions.
What was the most rewarding part of the process?
Going in, I thought it might be tough to fill 100 chapters. Heck, it was easy, because there have been so many great teams and athletes and events along the years, all of them permitting new angles for analysis or argument. I loved getting into that.
I’ll freely admit, at the beginning of the process, baseball was, by far, my favorite sport. At the end, though, I came across with an appreciation for just about everything. I liked some athletes more than others, but, for better or worse, I learned to how special all sports can be.
OK, so who gets a ‘for better’ assessment in the book?
Oh, Babe Ruth may have been even bigger than we’ve all been led to believe, both as a ball player and as the true ‘Athlete of the Century’. There are a number of figures that come off great, in my personal view- Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Allie Reynolds, Bill Belichick, Clyde Frazier, and Mark Messier among them.
Who comes in for some rough criticism?
There’s a dishonor roll, too, and it includes guys like Roger Maris, Joe Namath, Bill Parcells, Patrick Ewing, and Jimmy Connors. Also, polician/fans and broadcaster John Sterling. I don’t want to give away too much- readers have to buy the book to find out for themselves!
Do you anticipate that ‘The Best New York Sports Arguments’ will be controversial?
I guess it will be, at least in some corners. I always wanted to be original, and frequently that means being contrarian, but not reflexively so. I never set out to write something just to be ‘outrageous’. Even those who disagree with the book might concede some pretty good reasons behind the arguments, if nothing else.
At this point, are you more or less of a sports fan?
I’ve always been a sports nut, but now? Forget it. I’m much, much more of a fan. If the public enjoys reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it, it’ll be a big win-win.
pch@UnitedStatesofBaseball.com
‘The Best New York Sports Arguments:
The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’
SourceBooks, Inc. • On-Sale Date: November 28, 2006 • 270 pages
$14.95 • ISBN: 1-4022-0823-5
Posted 9/1/2006 @ 5:16 PM | Questions and Answers | Read Entry Press ReleaseTHE MANY ARGUMENTS IN NEW YORK SPORTS
Anywhere two or more New Yorkers might gather, you can find fans arguing about the in’s and out’s of baseball, football, basketball, hockey, tennis, boxing, and the rest. Not infrequently, fans’ voices are raised, arms are waved, chops are busted, and stray pretzels are tossed. And all that’s before the die-hards start hitting the city’s talk radio, lighting up internet sites, or devouring reams of newspapers, magazines, books, and every other conceivable platform for raging debate.
Forget baseball- around New York, the real national pastime has fans arguing all sports, all the time.
A new book tackles New Yorkers’ favorite arguments in all their glory. Syndicated columnist Peter Handrinos has written a new tome entitled ‘The Best New York Sports Arguments: The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’, and it’s a doozy.
“I wanted to write something that reflected all the important sports, and look at them in a variety of ways, from stats to society, humor to history, comparisons to culture,” says Handrinos.
An ambitious mission statement, indeed, but the first-time author may have succeeded in fulfilling it. A glance at the book’s Table of Contents reveals chapters on every major franchise, from events as old as 1902 and as recent as 2006. Apparently, New Yorkers practically invented big-time American sports and we’re still generating some of its more fascinating questions.
Handrinos has a couple of theories on Gotham’s a-chugging sports machine. “A lot of it has to go to the fact that the country’s biggest market has always attracted the best of the best, in athletics as in all walks of life,” said the Norwalk, CT native. “Apart from that, there’s a way that our athletics reflect the city itself. Most New Yorkers have to be intense competitors to survive in daily life, and they’re naturally attracted to the intense competitors to be found in diamonds, gridirons, courts, and the rest.”
Sure, but why all the sports nuts’ yelling and bickering?
“Oh, don’t think of it as yelling and bickering,” chuckles Handrinos, 34. “Think of it as loud, passionate conversation- beneath all the bluster, most fans are pretty big-hearted, friendly people, and they simply utilize sports to bond with those they care about. Whatever team they might root for or against, they’re united in their caring.”
Hmmm. Raucous New York sports fans are actually . . . friendly and united? Now there’s something you could argue.
pch@UnitedStatesofBaseball.com
‘The Best New York Sports Arguments:
The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’
SourceBooks, Inc. • On-Sale Date: November 28, 2006 • 270 pages
$14.95 • ISBN: 1-4022-0823-5 Posted 9/1/2006 @ 5:13 PM | Press Release | 0 Comments Featured Chapters
• Do New York sports matter?
• What are New York’s greatest sports traditions?
• Was Chuck Dressen the real goat of the ’51 Dodgers’ pennant collapse?
• Why were the ’69 Mets the most amazin’ story in baseball history?
• Jeter & ARod- who’s the better clutch hitter?
• What was the biggest disaster in the Jets’ move to Giants Stadium?
• Was Wellington Mara a true football fan?
• Michael Jordan & Pat Riley- who was public enemy #1 in the Garden?
• Is Isiah completely responsible for the Knicks fiasco?
• Namath & Messier- who made the greater ‘guarantee’?
• What was the greatest US Open of all time?
• Why is New York boxing so screwed up?
• Will we ever see another Triple Crown winner?
• Babe Ruth vs. Air Jordan- who was the true ‘Athlete of the Century’?
pch@UnitedStatesofBaseball.com
‘The Best New York Sports Arguments:
The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’
SourceBooks, Inc. • On-Sale Date: November 28, 2006 • 270 pages
$14.95 • ISBN: 1-4022-0823-5 Posted 9/1/2006 @ 5:10 PM | Featured Chapters | Read Entry Table of Contents- Baseball
Was Merkle to blame for Merkle’s Boner?
Who was the biggest Yankee hater of them all?
Did the Yankees’ Carl Mays commit an on-field manslaughter?
The Babe & Barry- who was the better hitter?
The Babe & Barry- who was the better all-around player?
The Babe & Barry- what about the different historical eras?
Lou & Cal Jr.- who was tougher?
What would have happened if Jackie Robinson failed?
Who was the most underrated star in Yankee history?
Was Chuck Dressen the real goat of the ’51 Dodgers’ pennant collapse?
Was Don Larsen’s perfect game the most shocking event in baseball history?
Did Brooklyn abandon the Dodgers?
What was the dumbest move in the history of New York sports?
Did Roger Maris deserve a hard time in ’61?
Were the new Mets really the old Dodgers?
Were the ’62 Mets the worst team of all time?
Was Casey Stengel all that funny?
Matty, Whitey, & Tom Terrific- who was New York’s greatest pitcher?
Why were the ’69 Mets the most amazin’ story in baseball history?
Who was the Yankees’ real 'Mr. October'?
What was the saddest farewell in New York sports?
Jeter & ARod- who’s the better clutch hitter?
Jeter & ARod- who’s the better leader?
What moments have Yankee haters loved most?
What were the coolest nicknames of all time?
Will the Yankees’ new ball park demolish tradition?
Is King George a tyrant?
Why haven’t the Mets ever had a no-hitter?
Are the Red Sox the New York Yankees of Massachusetts?
Do the Yankees and Red Sox hate each other?
What were the most emotional moments in Yankee history?
Are the Mets second place in New York?
pch@UnitedStatesofBaseball.com
‘The Best New York Sports Arguments:
The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’
SourceBooks, Inc. • On-Sale Date: November 28, 2006 • 270 pages
$14.95 • ISBN: 1-4022-0823-5
Posted 9/1/2006 @ 5:06 PM | Table of Contents- Baseball | Read Entry Advance Praise/Early Reviews
"Indispensable to any New York sports fan. It's somehow both irreverent and serious."
-Jeremy Schaap, ESPN
“Peter Handrinos's lively book will start as many arguments as it settles. Great fun."
-Alex Belth, SI.com
“A truly interesting, intelligent book.”
-Peter Golenbock, author of ‘Amazin’ & ‘The Bronx Zoo’
“A very entertaining read."
-Marty Appel, former Media Relations Director for the New York Yankees
"Peter Handrinos takes us on a wild, rollicking journey through New York sports history. This rich treasury of stories and subjects promises to entertain, incite, enlighten, and thrill even the most devoted New York sports fans. It's a blast."
-Tom Stanton, author of ‘The Final Season’
“I truly loved it. A terrific book.”
-Peter Williams, author of ‘When the Giants Were Giants’
"An interesting and historical take . . . Any book that questions longstanding ‘truths’ deserves a place in my sports library.”
-Elliott Kalb, author of ‘Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Basketball’
“I can see this book being indispensable in many a New York fan . . . Peter quite obviously researched exhaustively, so this book is useful both as a reference book and debate-starter. I can also see this book pleasing a ton of sport-hungry youngsters who are interested in getting the lowdown on sports history. This praise doesn't come easy, either- I hail from the Boston area.”
-Michael Woods, ‘The Sweet Science’
“In a completely unique city, Peter Handrinos has written a one-of-a-kind book. I’ve never seen a project take on so many topics in New York’s incredible athletics, or approach them with such evident preparation and joy.”
-Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Wolff, from the foreword
"A lighthearted yet mature and detailed examination of a hundred questions we've all probably thought about at any given moment watching games in these parts. What I love about this extraordinarily logical book is it takes every issue seriously because we as sports fans do. Handrinos doesn't level cheap shots or seek easy ways out and is marvelously even-handed. There's plenty of Mets in here, but it's not necessarily pro-Met or anti-Met (or pro- or anti-anybody). It's in favor of free thinking. That's always appreciated by the sports fan who loves to read."
-Greg Prince, Fear & Faith in Flushing
“This book if fun to read, in fact I couldn’t put it down . . . I rifled through all 270 pages and was sorry I finished it so quickly.”
-Shari Forst, Most Valuable Network
“In-depth . . . fascinating . . . fearless . . . often funny . . . The author’s knowledge with regards to his subject matter is paramount, obviously, but what really comes across in the book is the passion. The passion with which he writes is equaled only by the passion with which New York sports fans root, which is why you’ll find it so difficult to put the book down.”
-Mike Kenny, The (Middletown, NJ) Courier
"If you're looking for the perfect gift for the sports nut in your family, well, then look no further . . . Intriguing and rewarding . . . You’ll be kicking yourself at times and nodding in agreement at others. The 'Best New York Sports Arguments' is just that kind of book. You won’t be disappointed."
-Jeff Lykes, MVN.com
“Surprising . . . A talented writer with a flair for drilling down to the most interesting facts . . . This is a great book that will surely give you hours of entertainment.”
-Jeff Brohel, Metsquire
“An impressive read . . . covering an incredible breadth of topics . . . I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
-Jack Dickey, Crosstown Rivals
pch@UnitedStatesofBaseball.com
‘The Best New York Sports Arguments:
The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans’
SourceBooks, Inc. • On-Sale Date: November 28, 2006 • 270 pages
$14.95 • ISBN: 1-4022-0823-5
Posted 9/1/2006 @ 4:51 PM | Advance Praise/Early Reviews | Read Entry |
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