Books - Smart Baseball by Keith Law

Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball by Keith Law
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book, as suggetsed by the subtitle, is broken down in three primary parts.

First, Law shows how so many of the traditional statistics utilized in baseball over the years - batting average, pitcher wins, runs batted in - don't really provide nearly as much as information as people think they do, and they rarely tell us what so many claim they do. As anyone who follows Law on Twitter is accustomed to, Law takes down these statistics and their adherents with his usual snark, making the read humorous at times.

The second section of the book examines the prevalence and usage of various "sabermetric" stats in today's game, from the basic OPS (On-Base Avergae plus Slugging Percentage) to the advanced RC (Runs Created), wOBA (weighted On Base Average), and FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching). Law does a good job explaining how the stats are created and what they measure, so that any fan of baseball is able to get a better understanding of how to view the game.

The final section of the book examines the "future" of stats, based on Major League Baseball's investment in the Statcast system. That system measure events from every single game beginning in 2016 - from every player's position at the beginning and end of each play (thus allowing to better track defensive range), to exit velocity (the speed at which the ball leaves the bat when hit), to the revolutions on a pitcher's fastball or curveball, and even the right lift amount on a launch angle to hit home runs. While Law is good in the other sections of the book, his writing in this third section really stood out to me. He was clear and concise, and as a baseball fan, makes you excited for how you can analyze games in the future.

All in all, I really, really enjoyed reading this; and while it is certainly not for everyone, I think its a must-read for any baseball fan.

View all my reviews