January 30, 2012

Baseball Prospectus Book News

Extra Innings: More Baseball Between the Numbers Available for Pre-Order

by Steven Goldman

It is my pleasure to announce that, at long last, Extra Innings: More Baseball Between the Numbers, is available for preorder.

Picking up where the original Baseball Between the Numbers left off, Extra Innings delves into some of the softer areas of baseball that are less penetrable via statistical attack (although we have plenty of that as well). We'll be running excerpts as we get closer to the book's publication date. For now, here's a quick look at the table of contents:

Forward (Kevin Goldstein)

Preface and Note on Statistics: Once Aroused to Anger, a Sacred Cow is a Frightening Thing to Behold (Steven Goldman)

1. Introduction: Beyond the Back of the Baseball Card (Steven Goldman)

SECTION I: THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

1. What Do We Really Know About the Effects of Performance-Enhancing Drugs? (Jay Jaffe)
2. How Should the Hall of Fame Respond to the Steroids Era? (Jay Jaffe)
3. What is the Next Stage in Athlete Enhancement? (Corey Dawkins)

SECTION II: QUESTIONS OF TEAM-BUILDING

1. How Are Players Scouted, Acquired, and Developed? (Jason Parks)
2. How Does Age Affect The Amateur Draft? (Rany Jazayerli)
3. How Do Teams Develop Talent in Latin America? (Jason Parks)
4. How Can We Evaluate General Managers? (Rebecca Glass)
5. How Do Teams Like the Pirates and Orioles Get Broken, and How Can They Be Fixed? (Ben Lindbergh)
6. How Can We Measure the Impact of Managers? (Steven Goldman)

SECTION III: QUESTIONS OF PITCHING

1. Why Is Building a Bullpen the Hardest Task a GM Can Undertake? (Ben Lindbergh)
2. Are Relievers Being Used Properly? (Colin Wyers)
3. Could Stephen Strasburg’s Injury Have Been Predicted or Prevented? (Corey Dawkins)
4. What Has Pitchf/x taught us? (Mike Fast)
5. Is Jack Morris a Hall of Famer? (Jay Jaffe)

SECTION IV: QUESTIONS OF FIELDING

1. Is It Possible to Accurately Measure Fielding Without Shoving a GPS Device Up Derek Jeter’s Ass? (Colin Wyers)
2. How Do We Value Hitting vs. Fielding? (Dan Turkenkopf)

SECTION V: QUESTIONS OF OFFENSE

1. How Did Jose Bautista Become a Star? (Colin Wyers)
2. When Does a Hot Start Become Real? (Derek Carty)
3. What Is the Effect of the Increase in Strikeouts? (Christina Kahrl)

SECTION VI: WRAPPING UP

1. Catching Up With Baseball’s Hilbert Problems (Dan Turkenkopf)

The tome's official publication date is April 3, but the book is ready to go and it is our publisher's intention for copies to be in retailers' warehouses and ready for shipping by March 19, so order early and often. There will be an e-book version, though I've not yet been told about formats. I will also be making preview chapters available to select readers beginning next month--I will have more information about that in a subsequent post. Until then, I hope you are looking forward to the book as much as I look forward to your having it so you can share a privilege only I have had to this point, reading the fine work our authors did on this volume.

Steven Goldman is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 
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