Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game
by Jim Albert, Jay Bennett
List Price:
Our Price: $8.99
You Save: $10.96 (55%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.46 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Jay Bennett, Jim AlbertEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-04-08
ISBN: 038700193X
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Springer
Accessories:
- If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens... Where Is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to Fermi's Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life
- Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe
Book Reviews of Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game
Book Review: baseball statistics interpreted by professional statisticians
Summary: 5 Stars
Jim Albert and Jay Bennett share two traits that make them the perfect authors for this type of book (1) they are both baseball fans who know the game and have seen many games and much statistics from many angles and (2) they are both professional statisticians who understand probability and the subtle aspects that chance can have on statistics. By being professional statisticians they also know how sophisticated statistical techniques can add to ones ability to seriously address questions of strategy and comparison of player performance. That is what they accomplish in this book, teaching some basic probability and statistics along the way.
They also make it very interesting to the baseball fan by raising interesting baseball questions related to players that the fans relate to, namely the stars that the fans follow and the great clutch hits and clutch defensive plays that we baseball fans have imprinted in our memories, like Mazeroski's game winning home run in the 1960 World Series, or Willie Mays' famous over the shoulder catch of Vic Wertz's long fly ball in the 1954 series, or Bobby Thompson home run that won the 1951 playoffs for the Giants.
In the very beginning Albert and Bennett distinguish themselves from the sports statisticians that are hired by the teams. The sports statisticians collect the data and present it in various ways. However, this is merely exploratory data analysis. Albert and Bennett point out that a numerical difference in a hitting statistic such as on base percentage between Chuck Knoblauch and Kenny Lofton may be a real difference in ability but may also be a small enough difference to be merely due to chance. Finding ways to analyze the baseball data to make probabilistic inferences like answering the question of whether Lofton is better at getting on base than Knoblauch is the focus of what professional statisticians do and is the theme of the book.
In the course of reading the book you will learn many things about baseball. Some may agree with previous notions and some will be surprises. You will learn about the massive amount of major league baseball data available, about SABR a society for baseball research and more. You will be opened up to the hinden world of professional statistics where probability models have been used for over a century to handle military, engineering, energy, environmental, agricultural and medical problems. These same tools in recent years have been used to handle baseball questions also.
They start with simple table top baseball games like All Star Baseball to introduce concepts. They then move on to baseball data and probability. Then they look at statistical questions, situational effects in Chapter 4, hot hitting in Chapter 5, methods of measuring offensive performance in Chapter 6, more sophisticated measures in Chapter 7, simulation models in Chapter 8, measures of clutch play and team value in Chapter 9, ways to predict performance in Chapter 10, analyzing World Series results in Chapter 11 and final comments in Chapter 12.
This is a great book for any one who loves baseball and baseball statistics. It also is a great way to learn and become interested in the techniques of the professional statistician.
For statisticians that teach statistics, it provides a wealth of interesting examples to help illustrate important statistical concepts in basic or even advanced courses, including the value of Bayesian methods, the need for overdispersion models (e.g. batting averages) and the value of linear and nonlinear prediction models.
Summary of Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game
"... a smart and energetic collection of essays on baseball statistics. Curve Ball doesn't play misty-eyed homage to baseball's traditions and conventional wisdoms.... This is great stuff.... Curve Ball makes clear how pleasurable [stats] can be, and arguably how important, to view the great American game with real precision." -- The Wall Street Journal "Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Must own!" -- Baseballnotebook.com "In [Curve Ball] Albert & Bennett explain the game in ways the conventional press - even titans such as Bill James - cannot." -- Baseball America "[The book] illustrates how statistical reasoning can be useful in teasing out the role of chance from performance in baseball to better assess ability.... Curve Ball represents another advance in the genre of baseball and statistics books." -- Journal of the American Statistical Association There is a fascination among baseball fans and the media to collect data on every imaginable event during a baseball game and to use these data to try to understand characteristics of the game. But patterns in baseball data are difficult to detect due to the inherent chance variation that is present. This book addresses a number of questions that are of interest to many baseball fans - including how to rate players, predict the outcome of a game or the attainment of an attainment, make sense of situational data, and decide the most valuable players in the World Series. Curve Ball is directed to a general audience and does not assume that the reader has any prior background in probability or statistics, although knowledge of high school algebra will be helpful.General Books
- Science
- History & Philosophy > General
- Mathematics > Pure Mathematics > Algebra > General
- General
- Applied > Probability & Statistics
- Sports > Baseball > General
- Statistics
- General
- Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Mathematics > Applied > Statistics
- Pure Mathematics > Algebra > General
- Calendars > Sports
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in best in baseball
Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Gameby Jim Albert, Jay Bennett
Springer; Published: 2003-04-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
Heroes of Baseball: The Men Who Made It America's Favorite Gameby Robert Lipsyte
Atheneum; Published: 2006-02-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.44
Price in other shops:
The SABR Baseball List & Record Book: Baseball's Most Fascinating Records and Unusual Statisticsby Society for American Baseball Research
Scribner; Published: 2007-03-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.47
Price in other shops:
Baseball Eccentrics: The Most Entertaining, Outrageous, and Unforgettable Characters in the Gameby Bill Lee, Jim Prime
Triumph Books (IL); Published: 2007-03-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
The Ballad of Billy and George: The Tempestuous Baseball Marriage of Billy Martin and George Steinbrennerby Phil Pepe
The Lyons Press; Published: 2008-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.45
Price in other shops:
We Would Have Played for Nothing: Baseball Stars of the 1950s and 1960s Talk About the Game They Loved (Baseball Oral History Poject)by Fay Vincent
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.48
Price in other shops:
National Baseball Hall of Fameby The Curators
Scala Publishers; Published: 2006-07-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.43
Price in other shops:
When Chicago Ruled Baseball: The Cubs-White Sox World Series of 1906by Bernard A. Weisberger
William Morrow; Published: 2006-04-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.17
Price in other shops:
Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Firsts (2008 Edition) (Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Firsts)by David Nemec, Scott Flatow
Signet; Published: 2008-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.02
Price in other shops:
Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacyby Jules Tygiel
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-02-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Bill James Gold Mine 2008by Bill James
ACTA Sports; Published: 2008-02-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.76
Price in other shops:
The Physics of Baseball (3rd Edition)by Robert K. Adair
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2002-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
Baseball Prospectus 2008: The Essential Guide to the 2008 Baseball Season (Baseball Prospectus)Plume; Published: 2008-02-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.95
Price in other shops:
The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposedby J.C. Bradbury
Dutton Adult; Published: 2007-03-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
A Mathematician at the Ballpark: Odds and Probabilities for Baseball Fansby Ken Ross
Plume; Published: 2007-02-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.24
Price in other shops:
The Numbers Game : Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statisticsby Alan Schwarz, Peter Gammons
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2005-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.27
Price in other shops:
Baseball Hacks: Tips & Tools for Analyzing and Winning with Statistics (Hacks)by Joseph Adler
O'Reilly Media, Inc.; Published: 2006-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseballby Tom M. Tango, Mitchel Lichtman, Andrew Dolphin
Potomac Books Inc.; Published: 2007-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.18
Price in other shops:
Baseball Between the Numbersby Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts
Perseus Books Group; Published: 2006-03-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops:
Teaching Statistics Using Baseballby Jim Albert
The Mathematical Association of America; Published: 2003-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $52.95