The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers: From 1870 to Today

Rating:
Summary: Bill James Best Book
Review: The five stars I give this book is more impressive when you understand I can't stand the opinionated stat cookers who are trying to take over the game. And Bill James is the worst. But fortunately there aren't a lot of meaningful statistics that relate to mangagers (other than wins of course) and that forced James to do some real research and writing. He's acutally a pretty good writer. His analysis of John McGraw is some of the best baseball history available. If only he'd put his statistical obsessions aside and take another look at baseball greats he might produce more books that are based on reality rather than a manuipulation of numbers to justify irrational prejudices.

Rating:
Summary: A great book about a neglected topic.
Review: There are a few other books that deal exclusively
with baseball managers and I've read most of them.
None deal with the subject as objectively or with as
much detail and enthusiasm as Bill James' new offering. Besides the
celebrated managers of baseball history such as Stengel,
McGraw, Mack and others, there are great pieces on lesser
known managers such as Bill McKechnie, Fred Haney, Spencer
Abbot and Billy Southworth. James also details a few objective
ways to discuss and evaluate a manager's accomplishments.
The book maps out the trends of various managerial strategies
such as the sacrifice bunt and the use of a bullpen. Anyone who
loves baseball will find this book hard to put down. And it'll make
you think. As James says "managers are fascinating people" and this
book makes for many hours of fascinating reading.


Rating:
Summary: A great book about a neglected topic.
Review: There are a few other books that deal exclusively
with baseball managers and I've read most of them.
None deal with the subject as objectively or with as
much detail and enthusiasm as Bill James' new offering. Besides the
celebrated managers of baseball history such as Stengel,
McGraw, Mack and others, there are great pieces on lesser
known managers such as Bill McKechnie, Fred Haney, Spencer
Abbot and Billy Southworth. James also details a few objective
ways to discuss and evaluate a manager's accomplishments.
The book maps out the trends of various managerial strategies
such as the sacrifice bunt and the use of a bullpen. Anyone who
loves baseball will find this book hard to put down. And it'll make
you think. As James says "managers are fascinating people" and this
book makes for many hours of fascinating reading.


Rating:
Summary: Left me wanting more...
Review: This was a good effort from Bill James, butit left me wanting more. There were a lot of key managers that could have been addressed in greater detail

Rating:
Summary: he's done it again
Review: Without a doubt, Bill James is THE man who can best shed light on those forgotten heroes of yesteryear and today along with focusing on what or who are the greats. By tackling the subject of mgrs. he's added another feather in his cap regarding baseball history. The book is simply chock full of astute observations, great stats, and even better off-the-wall stories. The way the book is laid out also does not overwhelm you because it covers the entire history of the game. James breaks it down by decade and gives you a good feel for the eras and the managers who made them. I can hardly wait to see what James tackles next.

Rating:
Summary: he's done it again
Review: Without a doubt, Bill James is THE man who can best shed light on those forgotten heroes of yesteryear and today along with focusing on what or who are the greats. By tackling the subject of mgrs. he's added another feather in his cap regarding baseball history. The book is simply chock full of astute observations, great stats, and even better off-the-wall stories. The way the book is laid out also does not overwhelm you because it covers the entire history of the game. James breaks it down by decade and gives you a good feel for the eras and the managers who made them. I can hardly wait to see what James tackles next.

Rating:
Summary: he's done it again
Review: Without a doubt, Bill James is THE man who can best shed light on those forgotten heroes of yesteryear and today along with focusing on what or who are the greats.By tackling the subject of mgrs. he's added another feather in his cap regarding baseball history. The book is simply chock full of astute observations, great stats, and even better off-the-wall stories. The way the book is laid out also does not overwhelm you because it covers the entire history of the game. James breaks it down by decade and gives you a good feel for the eras and the managers who made them. I can hardly wait to see what James tackles next.