The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed

The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed

by J.C. Bradbury
The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed

The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed

by J.C. Bradbury

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Overview

Freakonomics meets Moneyball in this provocative exposé of baseball’s most fiercely debated controversies and some of its oldest, most dearly held myths.

Providing far more than a mere collection of numbers, economics professor and popular blogger J.C. Bradbury shines the light of his economic thinking on baseball, exposing the power of tradeoffs, competition, and incentives. Utilizing his own “sabernomic” approach, Bradbury dissects baseball topics such as:

• Did steroids have nothing to do with the recent homerun records? Incredibly, Bradbury’s research reveals steroids probably had little impact.
• Which players are ridiculously overvalued? Bradbury lists all players by team with their revenue value to the team listed in dollars—including a dishonor role of those players with negative values—updated in paperback to include the 2007 season.
• Does it help to lobby for balls and strikes?

Statistics alone aren’t enough anymore. This is a refreshing, lucid, and powerful read for fans, fantasy buffs, and players—as well as coaches at all levels—who want to know what is really happening on the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781440635830
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 02/26/2008
Sold by: Penguin Group
Format: eBook
Pages: 352
Sales rank: 1,059,276
File size: 12 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

J.C. Bradbury is an economist and the author of Hot Stove Economics: Understanding Baseball’s Second Season and The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed. He is the department chair at Kennesaw State University’s Department of Exercise Science and Sports Management in Atlanta, Georgia.

Table of Contents

Preface     ix
On the Field
Accidents Happen ... but More So in the American League     3
The Legendary Power of the On-Deck Hitter     19
The Extinct Left-Handed Catcher     27
Lobbying for Balls and Strikes     38
Almost Off the Field
How Good Is Leo Mazzone?     53
The Big City vs. Small City Problem     70
The Marlins and Indians? C'mon     82
The Evolution of Baseball Talent     93
The Steroids Game     108
Way Off the Field
Innovating to Win     125
Scouts vs. Stat-Heads     135
How to Judge a Hitter or a Pitcher     148
What Is a Ballplayer Worth?     176
What Field?
Is Major League Baseball a Monopoly?     201
Bud the Benevolent     210
Expansion and the Invisible Hand     217
Epilogue     228
Acknowledgments     230
Appendices
A Simple Guide to Multiple Regression Analysis     233
Baseball Statistics Glossary     238
Useful Websites     240
Player Values     241
Endnotes     318
Bibliography     324
Index     327

What People are Saying About This

Tyler Cowen

The Baseball Economist is next step after Bill James--and it is about time! It will change how you think about the game of baseball. (Tyler Cowen, professor of economics at George Mason University)

David Berri

Combining sabermetrics with the tools and techniques of economics, Bradbury has done more than just discover "Sabernomics." He has demonstrated that economics can provide fresh and fascinating insights into the National Pastime. (David Berri, co-author of The Wages of Wins: Taking Measure of the Many Myths in Modern Sport)

Alan Schwarz

This book is a Roger Clemens fastball under the chin-it whizzes by screaming, 'Hey, pay attention!' (Alan Schwarz, ESPN.com columnist, New York Times contributor, and author of The Numbers Game)

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