By Joseph Adler
First Edition
January 2006
Pages: 467
Series: Hacks
ISBN 10: 0-596-00942-9 |
ISBN 13: 9780596009427
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)
Whether you're a fantasy baseball fanatic, casual fan, or just a statistically inclined mathematician, Baseball Hacks has something for you. This comprehensive guide walks readers through the sport's core statistical categories, and then demonstrates how to use this data to truly understand baseball. Statistical analysis, data mining, probability, forecasting, and other valuable tools are examined.
Full Description
Baseball Hacks isn't your typical baseball book--it's a book about how to watch, research, and understand baseball. It's an instruction manual for the free baseball databases. It's a cookbook for baseball research. Every part of this book is designed to teach baseball fans how to do something. In short, it's a how-to book--one that will increase your enjoyment and knowledge of the game.
So much of the way baseball is played today hinges upon interpreting statistical data. Players are acquired based on their performance in statistical categories that ownership deems most important. Managers make in-game decisions based not on instincts, but on probability - how a particular batter might fare against left-handed pitching, for instance.
The goal of this unique book is to show fans all the baseball-related stuff that they can do for free (or close to free). Just as open source projects have made great software freely available, collaborative projects such as Retrosheet and Baseball DataBank have made great data freely available. You can use these data sources to research your favorite players, win your fantasy league, or appreciate the game of baseball even more than you do now.
Baseball Hacks shows how easy it is to get data, process it, and use it to truly understand baseball. The book lists a number of sources for current and historical baseball data, and explains how to load it into a database for analysis. It then introduces several powerful statistical tools for understanding data and forecasting results.
For the uninitiated baseball fan, author Joseph Adler walks readers through the core statistical categories for hitters (batting average, on-base percentage, etc.), pitchers (earned run average, strikeout-to-walk ratio, etc.), and fielders (putouts, errors, etc.). He then extrapolates upon these numbers to examine more advanced data groups like career averages, team stats, season-by-season comparisons, and more. Whether you're a mathematician, scientist, or season-ticket holder to your favorite team, Baseball Hacks is sure to have something for you.
Advance praise for Baseball Hacks:
"Baseball Hacks is the best book ever written for understanding and practicing baseball analytics. A must-read for baseball professionals and enthusiasts alike."-- Ari Kaplan, database consultant to the Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, and Baltimore Orioles
"The game was born in the 19th century, but the passion for its analysis continues to grow into the 21st. In Baseball Hacks, Joe Adler not only demonstrates that the latest data-mining technologies have useful application to the study of baseball statistics, he also teaches the reader how to do the analysis himself, arming the dedicated baseball fan with tools to take his understanding of the game to a higher level."
-- Mark E. Johnson, Ph.D., Founder, SportMetrika, Inc. and Baseball Analyst for the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals
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Book details
First Edition: January 2006
Series:
Hacks
ISBN: 0-596-00942-9
Pages: 467
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 2 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
Very Good Indeed!, March 03 2007
Walking into my favorite bookstore last summer I was surprised as all get out when I saw an O'Reilly book - being very familiar with the look of their books - and being a baseball fan, I picked it up. I loved it! Not only did it give me a chance to further my enjoyment of the great American pasttime, I was introduced to several new data analysis tools - which I have subsequently used in my job.
Well written and perfectly detailed - I recommend this book highly.
Take Me Out to the Bookstore!, March 24 2006
I have to say that I have only read four or five chapters thus far, and yet this is the best book I have read in a long, long while. The breadth is both deep and wide: it covers a lot of ground regarding baseball's rules, statistics, history, etc.; and somehow no subject is given short shrift.
The writing is lively--Mr. Adler's love for the game shines through on every page. But here is the best part: if you are a new fan of baseball, or a diehard who remembers the pre-DH days, there is something for you. So far, all the code examples I have tried are correct. I am just not seeing much "first edition"-isms in this book. Again to be fair, I have not read the whole book yet, but what I have read is truly excellent.
Can't wait for opening day!
O'Reilly Staff Pick - March 2006
I love baseball and analysis. Baseball Hacks gives me both in a very
accessible format. I'd like to figure out, before the 2006 season
starts, if my favorite team will be better this year than last year.
Who is going to be the best pitcher in the majors? Which team will
score the most runs? How often does a team that scores more runs beat
a team with a lower ERA? These are some of questions I am using hacks
8, 10, 18, 40, 46, 47, 49, 54, 55 to answer. This is great stuff!
Impressively, this book provides the tips, tools, and techniques for
me to do this analysis. With the first games of the season less than a month away, this book is a welcomed sign that Spring is just around the corner. Statter Up!
-- Mike Hendrickson, Associate Publisher
Media reviews
"...an exceptional guide for finding, graphing, and analyzing the stats at the heart of the game...this book is fun, even for the casual fan (I am not a seamhead). Behind every hack one can clearly see Mr. Adler sharing the pleasure of discovery."
-- Marc Garrett, Since1968.com
"This is a book for the computer whiz/sports fan combination. For those who love new ideas, trigger points for testing a theory, angle, betting proposition, the book may unearth a treasure trove of potential material. I can't guarantee you a winning baseball season as a bettor, but this marvelous time-saving, love-of-the-game-through- numbers compendium should keep mind and fingers busy for countless, enjoyable hours."
-- Howard Schwartz, Casino City News
"While I'm not a diehard baseball fan, there is a certain appeal (or perhaps nostalgia) about "America's Pastime". And there isn't another sport around that takes their statistics as seriously as baseball does. Even I, a non-baseball fanatic, can appreciate the appeal of this book...Seriously, a very well-done book that will appeal to both the baseball fan interested in statistics, as well as the computer geek who loves his (or her!) baseball recordkeeping.
"
-- Thomas Duff, Duffbert's Random Musings
"I initially was a bit skeptical about the book when Joseph Adler proclaimed himself a New York Yankees fan, but it doesn't deter from the hacks. In fact, it's nice to see credit being given to other teams and players throughout the league. In general I'm also impressed with the use of R, and how much how much is done with SQL in queries against MySQL. Adler's (and contributor's) query-writing is impressive, some pretty nasty stuff in these pages. I'm glad to have this on my shelf and will no doubt draw on it many times over the years as I attempt to figure out what's going on. It seems like every game the announcers say something, or something happens on the field that I wonder about and Baseball Hacks comes in handy in making sense of it all."
-- Mike Kruckenberg, mike.kruckenberg.com
"Are you a baseball aficionado or fanatic who is interested in statistics and want to know how to load this data into a database for analysis? If you are, then this book is for you! Author Joseph Adler has done an outstanding job of writing a book about how to watch, research, and understand baseball...This most excellent book is an instruction manual for the free baseball databases. More importantly, this book is a cookbook for baseball research."
-- John Vacca, Amazon.com
"...along with the smell of spring in the air and the crack of bats hitting balls, is Baseball Hacks by Joseph Adler, which helps even losers like me aim high as we usher in another season of fantasy baseball."
-- Mike Berman, Jocgeek.com
"From fantasy baseball leaguers to numbers crunchers, there's much in Baseball Hacks to appeal to any geek. Whether you're seeking an inside edge for your rotisserie team or simply love America's national pastime, you're sure to discover a new numerical perspective of the game if you spend any time with Adler's book."
--Erik Eckel, TechRepublic.com, March 2006
"… a brisk and illuminating tutorial in how to load those public databases onto your own computer's database, and then how to access them for statistical analysis."
--Joshua Scharf, Blogcritics.org, March 2006
"Baseball Hacks is the ultimate book for the database/baseball nerd in all of us. If you are looking for a way to merge your profession with a hobby, look no further than picking up a copy of Baseball Hacks."
--Craig S. Mullins, DBAzine.com, February 2006
"The game was born in the 19th century, but the passion for its analysis continues to grow into the 21st. In Baseball Hacks, Joe Adler not only demonstrates that the latest data-mining technologies have useful application to the study of baseball statistics, he also teaches the reader how to do the analyses himself, arming the dedicated baseball fan with tools to take his understanding of the game to a higher level."
--Mark E. Johnson, Ph.D., Founder, SportMetrika, Inc. and Baseball Analyst for the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals
"Baseball Hacks is the best book ever written for understanding and practicing baseball analytics. A must-read for baseball professionals and enthusiasts alike."
--Ari Kaplan, database consultant to the Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, and Baltimore Orioles
