The Hidden Game of Baseball

Long before Moneyball, this book brought sabermetrics-the scientific measurement of baseball-into the popular realm. Whereas it used to be unquestioned that runs batted in, batting average, and pitcher wins were among the most telling of statistics, the sabermetric revolution revealed that subtler measurements such as on-base percentage, wins above replacement, and WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) could be used to find value in players. Thorn and Palmer here introduced key measurements and concepts, and they explained and promoted a huge range of considerations that had never been taken seriously and systemically into account by journalists, fans, players, scouts or executives. Their work also made possible much easier comparison of players across eras. The authors also provide the pedigree and history of various concepts and measurements, showing how our understanding of signal and noise in the available data has evolved.