Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game
Oct 2018 · HarperCollins
4.0star
1 reviewreport
Ebook
403
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
Casey Award Winner for Best Baseball Book of the Year: “Deep knowledge and punchy prose . . . a treat for dedicated fans.” —Publishers Weekly
On September 8, 2017, the Oakland A’s faced off against the Houston Astros in a game that would signal the passing of the Moneyball mantle. Though it was only one regular-season game, the match-up demonstrated how Major League Baseball had changed since the early days of Athletics general manager Billy Beane and the publication of Michael Lewis’ classic book. In Power Ball, former ESPN columnist and analytics pioneer Rob Neyer dramatically recreates this action-packed game to reveal those myriad changes.
Over the past twenty years, power and analytics have taken over the game, driving carefully calibrated teams like the Astros to victory. Seemingly every pitcher now throws mid-90s heat and studiously compares their mechanics against the ideal. Every batter in the lineup can crack homers and knows their launch angles. Teams are relying on unorthodox strategies, including using power-losing—purposely tanking a few seasons to get the best players in the draft.
As he chronicles each inning and the unfolding drama as these two teams continually trade the lead right down to the bottom of the ninth, Neyer considers the players and managers, the front office machinations, the role of sabermetrics, and the current thinking about what it takes to build a great team, to answer the most pressing questions fans have about the sport today.
“The scope of this book ranges . . . engagingly, from the potential impact of climate change on the game and the influence of social media on players, to the evolving fashions of player uniforms and hair styles . . . [The] prose is sharp and colorful and based on a deep understanding of the game.” — The Wall Street Journal
“Pure baseball brain candy.” —Dirk Hayhurst, author of The Bullpen Gospels
“Captures the humor and humanity in the game, as well as what makes the revelry and rivalry of baseball so special.” —Library Journal
On September 8, 2017, the Oakland A’s faced off against the Houston Astros in a game that would signal the passing of the Moneyball mantle. Though it was only one regular-season game, the match-up demonstrated how Major League Baseball had changed since the early days of Athletics general manager Billy Beane and the publication of Michael Lewis’ classic book. In Power Ball, former ESPN columnist and analytics pioneer Rob Neyer dramatically recreates this action-packed game to reveal those myriad changes.
Over the past twenty years, power and analytics have taken over the game, driving carefully calibrated teams like the Astros to victory. Seemingly every pitcher now throws mid-90s heat and studiously compares their mechanics against the ideal. Every batter in the lineup can crack homers and knows their launch angles. Teams are relying on unorthodox strategies, including using power-losing—purposely tanking a few seasons to get the best players in the draft.
As he chronicles each inning and the unfolding drama as these two teams continually trade the lead right down to the bottom of the ninth, Neyer considers the players and managers, the front office machinations, the role of sabermetrics, and the current thinking about what it takes to build a great team, to answer the most pressing questions fans have about the sport today.
“The scope of this book ranges . . . engagingly, from the potential impact of climate change on the game and the influence of social media on players, to the evolving fashions of player uniforms and hair styles . . . [The] prose is sharp and colorful and based on a deep understanding of the game.” — The Wall Street Journal
“Pure baseball brain candy.” —Dirk Hayhurst, author of The Bullpen Gospels
“Captures the humor and humanity in the game, as well as what makes the revelry and rivalry of baseball so special.” —Library Journal
Ratings and reviews
4.0
1 review
About the author
Rob Neyer worked for fifteen years as a columnist and blogger for ESPN, from 1996 to 2011, and later worked as a national writer and editor for SB Nation and FOX Sports. A Kansas City native, Rob has lived in the Pacific Northwest for more than twenty years. This is his seventh book.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
