Winter is officially over.
For me, anyway.
I received my copy of this year's Baseball Prospectus yesterday, one of the few annual events that actually elicits a feeling of bliss. It was the first day of March, the first "Spring" month. Temperatures this week are supposed to be in the 50s and 60s. I shaved off my winter beard. Winter is done.
Okay, so there will probably be a handful of days where snow is an actual possibility, but as far as I'm concerned, with the arrival of the Prospectus comes the arrival of Spring. For those of you who aren't familiar with this publication, the annual Baseball Prospectus is a book that gives an overview of each major league baseball team, every player on each major league roster, and a handful of the best minor league prospects for each team. This is a large book. Over 500 pages. And once it hits my hot little hands, I read it from cover to cover. For me, it contains the essence of Spring.
For each team it has a couple of pages briefly reviewing the previous year, analyzing the off-season moves, and speculating on the coming years fortunes. Then, there's a listing for each player, complete with the previous several years' important statistics, a forecast for what they project the player will do this year, and a small written review for that player. In addition to the team and player overviews, there are various articles on the research done by the folks at Baseball Prospectus and the new (or improved) stats they've come up with and an article ranking the top 50 prospects in baseball.
What's really great about reading Baseball Prospectus is that it contains the most up-to-date and relevant statistical information available. It takes the concepts that were exposed to the world in Michael Lewis' "Moneyball" and takes them to another level. It's highly progressive and analytical, yet it is incredibly humorous, too. They have very talented writers along with brilliant analysts and statisticians. Reading this book is enjoyable to both sides of the brain.
But most importantly, it opens the gateway to the start of a new baseball season. It allows me to start dreaming about the slim possibility that the Royals may flirt with a .500 record: "If Greinke pitches like a young Saberhagen and Hernandez throws as well as he did two years ago and Anderson takes to his new mechanics and Pickering gets 450 at-bats and Sweeney stays free of injury and Teahen and Gotay burn up the minors and get promoted, maybe, just maybe, we can compete!" It allows me to think about how cool it will be when Barry Bonds blows past Babe Ruth and inches closer and closer to Hank Aaron. And it starts me wondering what the chances are of repeating my feat from last year of seeing both World Series teams play in their home parks.
Spring is here and I couldn't be more excited.
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7 comments:
What a great book. How did you find out about it & how did you subscribe to it?
I probably learned about it reading Rob Neyer's column at ESPN.com. He has his own website, too, where he discusses the Royals with his friend Rany Jazayerli who works for Baseball Prospectus. I probably went to baseballprospectus.com and learned even more there. It's great!
Shame on me for not thinking it thru about how you found the book. I should know better that whatever it is about baseball, you'll find out about it. Nick, you are indeed a true "fan" of the game.
"In 32 games with the Sea Dogs, Hanley Ramirez batted .310 with five home runs, 15 RBI and 12 stolen bases. He also dazzled with his defense at shortstop, showing great range and a cannon arm."
I'm danged excited for spring and baseball too. I got all charged up this weekend reading about Hanley Ramirez, a Sox prospect at SS, and the chance to watch him play in Portland this summer. I'll take a story about Hanley Ramirez over a story about the "juice" anyday!!
By the way, I'll furthermore be known as Jeff.
I'd love to come see Ramirez suit up for the Sea Dogs, too. His progress may be blocked, though, with the addition of Edgar Renteria in the offseason. Hopefully the Sox don't go the way of the Yankees and trade all their prospects away for veteran talent. Hey, how about a "Hanley Ramirez on the Juice" column?
Consider the invitation to Portland extended. August afternoons with the SeaDogs in Portland--How do you like them apples?! And I must say that I'm kind of glad to have Renteria in Boston if it means that I get to see Ramirez play the entire season in Portland. Not to mention that Renteria could be a nice addition to World Series trophy deuce!
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