Notice: Trying to get property 'display_name' of non-object in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/generators/schema/article.php on line 52
keyboard_arrow_uptop

The first line of LaTroy Hawkins' comment in Baseball Prospectus 2015 says, "Hawkins is the only pitcher in every Baseball Prospectus Annual ever." You can take this as a testament to the Annual or as a testament to Hawkins. Let's look at the tale of the tape over the last 20 years:

LaTroy Hawkins Baseball Prospectus
Relief pitcher Relieved the taco place is still open
1000 games pitched Many thousands of games attended
6-feet-5 Two left feet
13 WARP Can calculate a course for the warp drive
949 strikeouts Same, except at bars
$45 million in earnings $45 million spent on beer

So when you really sit down and you think about how hard it is for a pitcher to survive and thrive for one year, for one game, for one pitch, how much the game has changed in the last 20 years, how many players have suffered career-ending injuries, the answer is clear: it's way way more impressive that the Baseball Prospectus Annual is still around. The Annual is real

and if you order it today you'll be holding it in your hands … well, we're just the editors, not Amazon, so we have no idea when you'll be holding it in your hands. But soon. Look!

There it is! In the wild! It's real! People have it! Look, everyone is proud of their baby. "Look how cute!" "Look how smart!" Except our baby really is gorgeous and intelligent and funny and all the things any discerning baseball fan wants from a baseball book. I mean, have you seen the contributor list? Essays are bylined again this year, as they were last year, and we got an incredible crop. And for the first time, comment sections are bylined as well (though it's worth noting that the comment bylines are more rough guides than a guarantee that the names at the top of the chapter wrote each and every word in the comments; there's more of a team aspect to comments than there is to essays):

Team Essay author Comment author(s)
Angels Daniel Volmar Ryan Ghan
Astros Ted Walker Matt Sussman & Ryan Ghan
A's Philip Michaels Doug Thorburn
Blue Jays Andrew Stoeten Adam Sobsey & Andrew Koo
Braves Alex Remington R.J. Anderson
Brewers J.P. Breen J.P. Breen
Cardinals Howard Megdal Ken Funck
Cubs Sahadev Sharma Sahadev Sharma
Diamondbacks David Raposa Tommy Rancel & Craig Goldstein
Dodgers Molly Knight Dustin Nosler
Giants Grant Brisbee Daniel Rathman
Indians Bryan Joiner Mauricio Rubio Jr. & Doug Thorburn
Mariners Patrick Dubuque Patrick Dubuque
Marlins Bryan Grosnick Bryan Grosnick
Mets Ted Berg Will Woods
Nationals Chris Cwik Bret Sayre
Orioles Jeff Long Matt Sussman & Craig Goldstein
Padres Miles Wray Geoff Young
Phillies Michael Baumann Paul Sporer
Pirates Sarah Sprague R.J. Anderson
Rangers Russell Carleton Bret Sayre
Rays Adam Sobsey Tommy Rancel & Adam Sobsey
Reds R.J. Anderson J.P. Breen
Red Sox Tim Britton Ben Carsley
Rockies David Roth Andrew Koo
Royals Andy McCullough Ken Funck
Tigers Ken Funck Matt Sussman
Twins Steve Neuman Ken Funck
White Sox Tim Marchman Mauricio Rubio Jr. & Ben Carsley
Yankees Ben Lindbergh Patrick Dubuque

I mean, come onnnnn. Look at that list! Throw three darts at that list and the three names you land on will be worth the price of admission. (Which as of this writing is a measly $17.79.) And then you've still got the other 27 chapters, which are amazing. And that's not even the end of it. The book also has:

  • Manager comments by R.J. Anderson
  • A foreword from Brian Bannister
  • Essays from Russell Carleton; Dan Brooks, Glenn Fleisig, and Harry Pavlidis; and Robert Whiting
  • Top 101 Prospects, with writeups from the BP Prospect Team

Oh, and Peter Gammons wrote the preface. NBD.

(!!!!!!)

When you can put an All-Star team like the one listed above together, more than anything you just want to let them flourish. We think they did. The book is full of the usual trenchant analysis and thought-provoking, innovative comments and essays that have kept the book going for 20 years. It also has, and this is a money-back guarantee, at least 479 jokes, one shrug guy ¯_(ツ)_/¯, one piece of post-apocalyptic short fiction, and 17 meditations on death. We are, in short, as proud of it as LaTroy Hawkins' mom is of him. LaTroy Hawkins will not come to your house for 20 bucks. The book will.

Thank you for reading

This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.

Subscribe now
You need to be logged in to comment. Login or Subscribe
faztradamus
1/28
Ordered mine at a local Barnes and Noble (I support the brick & mortars, maybe I'm an outlier). Is there a SOS (strict-on-sale) date, or will I be able to purchase as soon as their shipment arrives?
dpease
1/28
Thanks for buying it! No SOS date--as soon as stores have them they'll be moving them out.
faztradamus
1/28
Best news ever.
rgrunder
1/28
Will there be an e-book version?
dpease
1/28
Yes there will... it should be available soon.
jimfurtado
1/29
Love the e-book version. Which e-book formats will be available.
dpease
1/29
I see the Nook e-book is already being sold. Should be on Amazon, itunes bookstore, and all the usual places any day now. Thanks Jim
markprior22
1/29
Nook version is still showing preorder when I look it up. Am I missing something obvious?
dpease
1/29
Sorry, I didn't look closely enough. It's already fixing to be sold, I guess, by being listed. The e-book has been prepared for all the usual sales channels and it should show up there soon. Thanks!
BurrRutledge
1/29
I've yet to purchase an e-book of any kind, but this year I'm planning to get the Annual in that format. Can read it on the train during my commute, and look up players at any time/place. Hoping there will be a version I can use easily on my phone...
NFABrian
1/28
My book is out for delivery today. Hoping to find it in the mailbox/on the steps when I get home.
sfrischbp
1/28
Me too!
NFABrian
1/29
it was there and the tests that needed grading took a back seat last night
Oleoay
1/29
For the record, I think both Hawkins and the Annual are equally impressive.
marshaja
1/29
I'm sad. Amazon said mine was supposed to be delivered yesterday and it was not. Hopefully it comes today. I need to tear into it this weekend.
Michael
1/29
Now I'll be looking for the shrug guy when I receive my copy of the book. You just had to mention him, didn't ya?
wthomson
1/30
It's wonderful, but the print size is tiny. The money you guys save on production will surely fly out of the hands of purchasers and into the grips of optometrists!
dpease
1/30
Thanks for buying and for letting us know--the layout and print size is different this year and we're interested in everyone's feedback on it.
adrock
2/19
Hi Dave, I'd like to echo this comment. What is the font, 8 point? I have to be somewhere that's particularly well-lit to be able to read it without discomfort.

I suppose you're saving 8% or something on the printing costs, but if it's the same font size next year, I may not purchase it (after having had it as a no-brainer purchase every year since 2009).

The content is as excellent as ever (the intro to Adam Stoeten's essay on the Jays clarifies one of the central 'urban legends' of our time), it's just a pain in the ass to read on the page.

johnjmaier
2/03
Hopefully my experience is not common. I received mine on 1/28 and by 1/30 at least 20 pages started to come loose from the binding. I will ask for an exchange from Amazon but thought you should know. For me the print size was still very readable.
Palmetto
2/04
I'm still not finding the Kindle version available at Amazon. This is the version I've gotten the last two years, partly because it was faster to get it that way...
mbk311
2/08
Can we get a legitimate estimate on when the Kindle versions will be available?
dpease
2/09
We've asked them for an update. I'm not sure what the issue is. Sorry for the delay.
mbk311
2/11
Thanks, it's there now as a heads-up if anyone's looking for it. They still don't have it as an edition on the main product page on Amazon but if you search the Kindle store it's there and also listed as Nook on Barnes/Noble.

HarleyBK3
2/13
The good news is that it's there, and I've downloaded it. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be either a team index or player index, which (at least for me) makes it more challenging than it should be to find players. You can search for them, but in many cases you have to swim through numerous search results to find a player (e.g. to find Matt Cain you have to figure out which is his actual comment/PECOTA page as opposed to any occurrence on tables in the leaderboards, any time he shows up as a player comp, or is simply part of another comment or article. I really appreciated the past version with indexes.
mbk311
2/14
Not sure if it's the same as you mean but there IS a table of contents that lets you jump from team to team. I'm doing that from an Android app, not sure if it's there on all versions.

Yes, a player index would be nice too though.