Recommend a good annual baseball book.

[Jimplication]

Buying Baseball Prospectus has become a semi-annual tradition for me, and with the baseball season slowly approaching, I did some searching and found that it's being offered at a great pre-order price ($13.57) at Amazon.

Instead of paying for shipping, I want to buy another book that will make my order eligible for free Super Saver shipping.

Thus, I am seeking recommendations of baseball books that are annual in nature and might compliment Baseball Prospectus nicely.

I welcome any and all suggestions, but generally am not looking for stories (fiction or non-fiction) about the game of baseball, but instead books that are annual in nature, and possibly serve as a means for introducing the new, or recapping the past, season.

As an example, last year I ordered The 2006 Hardball Times Baseball Annual, and while I didn't really read it entirely, I'm glad I purchased it instead of paying shipping on Baseball Prospectus.

Realistically, I think The Hardball Times compliments Baseball Prospectus quite well, as BP focuses more on projecting players and the future, whereas The Times tends to be more about recapping the past season.

In fact, this post is likely more about seeking a recommendation for a book that is better than The 2007 Hardball Times Baseball Annual, and if there is no such book, I will likely just get it again instead.

Anyway, if anyone has recommendations, I look forward to hearing them.

[Sandman42]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

From my experience I felt Baseball Prospectus was the best and most complete annual out there. The only other annuals I have purchased are the Athlon or Lindy's annuals. They aren't as in depth as BP, as they mainly have a few articles about the upcoming season or some players, and then an overview of the team for the next season. They also have a fantasy baseball section in the back where they rank the players at certain positions.

I haven't heard of the Hardball Times Annual so I may get that this year, since the Athlon or Lindy's annuals aren't that in depth. Athlon and Lindy's both generally have about 2-3 pages per team to preview for the upcoming season. How many pages does the Hardball Times annual have for each team's coverage?

[Jimplication]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

I haven't heard of the Hardball Times Annual so I may get that this year, since the Athlon or Lindy's annuals aren't that in depth. Athlon and Lindy's both generally have about 2-3 pages per team to preview for the upcoming season. How many pages does the Hardball Times annual have for each team's coverage?

The Hardball Times is a book, and much more in-depth than the annaul magazines. The 2006 edition has approximately 330 pages, and is broken up into various sections. From the table of contents, there is an Introduction, followed by The 2005 Season, which is 36 pages of division reviews, as well as a post-season recap (each about four pages in length). The next section is called 2005 Commentary, which contains baseball-related articles that cover anything from managing styles, a GM overview/interview, Japan's influence on the game, to the steroid scandal. This section is approximately 50 pages in length. The next two sections are History (20 pages, articles about the 2005 season in historical perspective, the Hall of Fame and those that may not be deserving, and an analysis of Bert Blyleven and his inability to win games) and Analysis (40 pages, featuring articles discussing the "worth" of batted balls, an analysis of modern ballparks, and whether players are able to control batted balls, to name a few). The last section is titled Statistics and predictably deals with statistics from the previous year, frist broken down across leagues, and then individual teams. In total, this section is approximately 150 pages in length, with each individual team receiving approximately 4 pages of coverage.

The book is quite long and in depth, though it is not big on predictions. The team statistics primarily involve charts and statistics. The articles generally serve as a review of the previous season, instead of a prediction of the upcoming one. Thus, I find the book compliments Baseball Prospectus nicely. Hardball Times is actually a nice book to have now, through winter, so one can read about the past season, and then move on to Baseball Prospectus when it is released closer to the start of the season. Thus, I might end up ordering the Times and another book now, and BP and another book on pre-order. That way, I can read the Times now and BP closer to the start of the season; as Amazon tends to hold off shipment on pre-orders until all books are available, and can be sent in a single shipment.

[Wheele8]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

If you're in to prospects, I would recommend the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. It keeps getting better every year as they add more and more content. the one thing it's missing: actual articles. It's much more about the scouting reports.

[nyisles16]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

If you're in to prospects, I would recommend the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. It keeps getting better every year as they add more and more content. the one thing it's missing: actual articles. It's much more about the scouting reports.

i usually get the BA Almanacs every year.. they give a boatload of stats from the prior year, all the way to foreign leagues & college..

[chippered]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

Yeah, I'd recommend the BA prospect handbook. Good read and a great look into the future of the bigs. Also on my list would be the Bill James Baseball Abstract, however it covers the games past and has player rankings and such, so its not much of an annual i guess.

[sportsdude]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

casual reading: Fantasyland, Moneyball, Three Nights In August, Eight Men Out

fantasy geek: Baseball Forecaster, How To Value Players For Rotisserie Baseball

makes love to baseball: The Fielding Bible, The Graphical Player, The Bill James Handbook, Baseball America 2007: Prospect Handbook

[The Chef]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

After having just picked up the Baseball Forecaster 2007 edition I am blown away by the fact that there are no projections for walks for pitchers and no projections for doubles and triples for hitters. After going onto their website it appears that they will have this information available there for a premium, at this point Im really turned off by this book, hopefully someone else can recommend something they think is a little bit better.

[10-27-04]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

I'd recommend the Bill James 2007 Handbook. It a number of interseting statistics, a career register for every active MLB player, and measures areas that maybe considered "grey", i.e. baserunning, fielding. Just a heads up though, it has every stat under the sun for every player under the sun, however, there is not too much in the way of textual analysis.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

I just bought the 2007 Hardball Times based on suggestions here. Hopefully I'll enjoy it. It looks VERY thorough.

[CWood2]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

BA's Prospect Handbook is a must for me. I've gotten the last 4 years now and picked up this years the other night.

[Sandman42]

Re: Recommend a good annual baseball book.

I think I'm going to go with BP and the BA Prospect Almanac this year. The others I'm considering are the Bill James Handbook and the Baseball Forecaster. I really only want 2 this year though so I think I'll stick with Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America as they seem to give more analysis in text along with the stats, while Bill James and Baseball Forecaster seem strictly statistics based.