Rob Neyer

Preeminent baseball analyst Bill James and ESPN.com baseball columnist Rob Neyer compile information on pitches and their origins, nearly two thousand pitchers, and more in this comprehensive guide. Pitchers, the pitches they throw, and how they throw them—they’re the stuff of constant scrutiny, but there's never been anything like a comprehensive source for such information…until now. Bill James and Rob Neyer spent over a decade compiling the centerpiece of this book, the Pitcher Census, which lists specific information for nearly two thousand pitchers, ranging throughout the history of professional baseball. Their guide also includes a dictionary describing virtually every known pitch, biographies of great pitchers who have been overlooked, and top ten lists for fastballs, spitballs, and everything in between. James and Neyer also weigh in on the debate over pitcher abuse and durability, offer a formula for predicting the Cy Young Award winner, and reveal James’s Pitcher Codes. Learn about the origins and development of baseball’s most important pitches and more knuckleballers and submariners than you ever thought existed! Baseball’s action always starts with the pitchers. Begin to understand them and join in on entertaining debates while having a great deal of fun with the history of the game that captivates so many with this one-of-a-kind guide.

Dale Scott’s career as a professional baseball umpire spanned nearly forty years, including thirty-three in the Major Leagues, from 1985 to 2017. He worked exactly a thousand games behind the plate, calling balls and strikes at the pinnacle of his profession, interacting with dozens of other top-flight umpires, colorful managers, and hundreds of players. Scott has enough stories about his career on the field to fill a dozen books, but what makes Scott’s book truly different is his unique perspective as the only umpire in the history of professional baseball to come out as gay during his career, after decades of maintaining a public facade of straightness. He navigated this obstacle course at a time when his MLB career was just taking off-and when North America was consumed by the AIDS epidemic. Scott’s story isn’t only about leading a double life, then opening himself up to the world and discovering a new generosity of spirit. It’s also a baseball story, filled with insights and memorable anecdotes that come so naturally from someone who spent decades among the world’s greatest baseball players, managers, and games. Scott’s story is fascinating both for his umpiring career and for his being a pioneer for LGBTQ people within baseball and across sports.

Dale Scott’s career as a professional baseball umpire spanned nearly forty years, including thirty-three in the Major Leagues, from 1985 to 2017. He worked exactly a thousand games behind the plate, calling balls and strikes at the pinnacle of his profession, interacting with dozens of other top-flight umpires, colorful managers, and hundreds of players. Scott has enough stories about his career on the field to fill a dozen books, but what makes Scott’s book truly different is his unique perspective as the only umpire in the history of professional baseball to come out as gay during his career, after decades of maintaining a public facade of straightness. He navigated this obstacle course at a time when his MLB career was just taking off-and when North America was consumed by the AIDS epidemic. Scott’s story isn’t only about leading a double life, then opening himself up to the world and discovering a new generosity of spirit. It’s also a baseball story, filled with insights and memorable anecdotes that come so naturally from someone who spent decades among the world’s greatest baseball players, managers, and games. Scott’s story is fascinating both for his umpiring career and for his being a pioneer for LGBTQ people within baseball and across sports.

"Winner of the 2018 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year." The former ESPN columnist and analytics pioneer dramatically recreates an action-packed 2017 game between the Oakland A's and eventual World Series Champion Houston Astros to reveal the myriad ways in which Major League Baseball has changed over the last few decades. 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 this was only one regular season game, the match-up of these two teams demonstrated how Major League Baseball has changed since the early days of Athletics general manager Billy Beane and the publication of Michael Lewis' classic book. 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--culminating in a 9-8 Oakland victory in 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 latest installment in a popular series furnishes a tribute to most of twentieth century baseball's highest achievers, in a treasury that examines legendary events from a historical perspective while investigating the truth behind famous stories. Original. 50,000 first printing.

A chronologically arranged collection of baseball history's most notorious mistakes and bad decisions cites the factors contributing to such events as the Yankees' fall from first place during the 1960s and the loss of millions of owner dollars in 1985. Original. 50,000 first printing.

You love to argue about the game and its players, delving into baseball history and lore in search of support for your points of view. You'll find plenty of food for thought -- and argument -- in Rob Neyer's "Big Book of Baseball Lineups." - All-time Red Sox starting pitcher -- Pedro or the Rocket? - Gold Glovers -- who "looked" like one, who "was" one, and who "ought" to have been one? - Lopsided trades that'll sting forever, and phenoms who seemed so real - Classic nicknames -- from "Charlie Hustle" to "Big Hurt" to "The Mad Hungarian" Neyer presents a series of lineups for each franchise -- from the All-Time and the All-Rookie to the All-Bust and the Traded Away. In notes, sidebars, and essays, he explores the careers of players both famous and obscure. The book includes information on all thirty current teams, as well as a special section covering legendary clubs like the Brooklyn Dodgers and Washington Senators. Neyer's "Big Book" is an unparalleled reference for settling the debates that arise every day in the lives of baseball fans.

It's a debate nearly as old as the sport itself. Sure, there have been plenty of great baseball teams--but which was the best ever? While it seems like an unwinnable argument, the authors of Baseball Dynasties have risen to the challenge. They took the top fifteen teams of the twentieth century, ran them through rigorous statistical analysis, and threw in some good old-fashioned opinion in their quest to determine, definitively, who was the greatest team in the history of baseball. Looking at continued brilliance over time (no one-season wonders allowed), Hall of Famers on the roster, offensive and defensive production, performance in the postseason, and numerous other tangibles and intangibles, Eddie Epstein and Rob Neyer put each team under the microscope--and picked a winner. Who will come out on top? Was it the 1927 Yankees, the legendary squad blessed with both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig? Or how about Earl Weaver's 1970 Orioles, who over a three-year span dominated their opponents at a higher level than any other team this century? Full of anecdotes, intriguing facts, and scores of statistics, Baseball Dynasties is a fascinating look at baseball history certain to provoke, entertain, and edify baseball fans of all ages.