It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book

It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book
by The Baseball Prospectus T, Jonah Keri

It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book
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Book Summary Information

Author: Jonah Keri, The Baseball Prospectus T
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-02-25
ISBN: 0465002854
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Basic Books

Book Reviews of It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book

Book Review: A Second-Place Finish
Summary: 3 Stars

As the other reviewers have indicated, this book is full of choice details and interesting analysis about some of baseball's great pennant races and memorable teams, players, coaches, and managers. However, the book is badly edited and poorly written at times -- the price paid for trying to quickly slap together contributions from numerous contributors.

I think the book also suffers from confusion about whether it is aimed at the serious baseball fan or the casual fan. There's a lot of advanced baseball analysis terminology and numerology in the book that is familiar to the perhaps 200,000 people who are fascinated by sabermetrics. But the authors want to cast a wider net, so they spend a fair amount of time explaining these concepts to the newcomers in the audience. Trying to serve two audiences weakens the flow for those of us who already are on the bandwagon.

Yet, the book has significant strengths. The stories of how certain teams were built and reached their pinnacle during a particular pennant race (or staved off collapse for one more year) are frequently compelling. In fact, they're stronger than the data and statistics, which is usually BP's strength. I'm not a softie for the stories about a particular player's "manhood" or "ability to play in pain" or whatever, but this book highlights those achievements without being hyperbolic about it.

In conclusion, it's a decent addition to my baseball library, but far from a grand slam.

Summary of It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book

Pennant races are arguable the most important aspect of baseball. Players, teams, and franchises are all after one goal: to win the pennant and get into the post-season. But what really determines who wins? Statistical analyses of baseball abound: different ways of breaking down everyone's individual performance, from hitters and pitchers to managers and even owners. But surprisingly, team success-what makes some teams winners over an entire season-has never been looked at with the same statistical rigor. In It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over, The Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts introduces the Davenport Method of deciding which races were the most dramatic-the closest, the most volatile-and determines the ten greatest races of modern baseball history. They use these key races (and a few others) to answer the main question: What really determines who wins? How important are such things as mid-season trades, how much a manager overworks his pitchers, and why teams have winning and losing streaks? Can one player carry a team? Can one bad player ruin a team? Can one bad play ruin a team's chances? This is a fascinating and illuminating statistical analysis of the game that will change our perception of it.

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