Book Reviews: Astroball by Ben Reiter

Anyone who has followed baseball in the last fifteen years knows about Moneyball: the book, the strategy, the buzzword. It has consumed baseball and ushered in a new way of thinking about the game, and frankly struck quite a divide between new school and old school ways of thinking. After reading Moneyball, this divide was my biggest criticism of the book. The black and white nature of Lewis’s portrait of how a team can win, and frankly his derision of scouts in general was too often overlooked in critiques and praise for his work.

Enter Jeff Luhnow and Astroball, and the balance brought to the front office relationship between scouts and data gurus. Ben Reiter’s chronicle of the Astro’s journey from league laughing stock to the class of Major League Baseball has become the new blueprint for the modern game, and the missing link that lacked from Moneyball. A symbiotic relationship between data and scouting, Reiter takes us deep into the details of how the two entities can co-exist, and perhaps most importantly: just because something isn’t quantifiable doesn’t mean it is in insignificant. While the story is cut and dry, almost Hollywood-esque in a rags to riches sort of way; Astroball is extremely important to modern baseball and the new direction of the game. Astroball is a must read for all baseball fans, and a satisfying joy that triumphantly breaks down the barrier between the scout and the nerd.

Grades

Readability: 70- A well knit story, tying in a unique cast of characters from the city of Houston, a motley front office, and of course the players who left it all out on the field. My only criticism would be, I wish there was a deeper dive into some of the analytic tools they used to maximize their player’s potential. For example, why and how did Charlie Morton completely revamp is repertoire, and why would anyone have Lance McCuller’s throw 20+ sliders in a row? Even some small insights like this would have added to the already strong legitimacy of the story.

Historical Importance: 70- Essentially its Moneyball v2, but it can be argued that it surpasses Moneyball, considering the Astroball brought a World Series victory to Houston, and a continuous pipeline of top talent.

Uniqueness: 55- On its surface its just another story of how a team went against the odds and made it to the World Series. However, Astroball elevates beyond the classic rags to riches story in that teams are copying of the formula, the Orioles going as far to bring on Mike Elias and Sig Megdal to bring their magic formula to Eutaw Street.

Pace: 65- The story reads well, and Reiter never dwells on a certain topic for too long. There is a nice back and forth between the back stories of key characters, and the players that made Astroball a true success get their due. Correa’s bio segment was excellent, and my highlight of the story.

Author Bias: 60- Its hard not to have a bias towards the people you write about and develop a strong relationship with. Reiter toes the line nicely, and isn’t quick to highlight some of Luhnow’s failure in bringing the Astros to the top. Discussing the failure of not retaining JD Martinez, brings realism to the story, and proves that Luhnow was imperfect and did not walk on water.

Overall: 70- As I mentioned above, Astroball is a must read for all baseball fans, or as Sig Megdal might say its like hitting a 20 in blackjack every time the dealer hits a 7, nearly a guaranteed win. And perhaps most importantly, Reiter does what Lewis couldn’t even do in Moneyball, bring the clashing entities of scouts and analysts together for a synergy rather than oneupsmanship.

Book Review: The Bad Guys Won by Jeff Pearlman

With all the throwbacks coming out this year about the ’69 Mets, I felt it was appropriate to finally pick up the book about the ‘Mazin’s other World Series victory. I bought Jeff Pearlman’s The Bad Guys Won a couple of years ago, and until now it had just been collecting dust on my shelf. And what a shame I waited this long! The 1986 Mets were larger than life, and at times seemed completely dysfunctional. With an aloof manager (albeit a good strategy), pranksters, drunks, users, and prima-donnas the Mets seemed more like a 108 loss team, instead of a 108 win team. But it worked, and Pearlman captures all of it, masterfully.

Everyone knows the story of the most legendary ground ball of all time, coming weakly off the bat of Mookie Wilson, and through the shaky legs of Bill Buckner, making this most famous of events a compliment to the story, rather than the focal point. The Bad Guys Won is a nice back and forth between actual season events and live look-ins to player lives, and wild personalities. In fact, its quite remarkable how vivid of a picture Pearlman paints for so many players in so few pages. Davey Johnson, Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Kevin Mitchell, Ray Knight, Lenny Dykstra, and more come to life, each with their own arcs, that unfortunately for many climaxed here in 1986.

Which is what makes this story so important. More than a story of the ’86 Mets, it is a story of the cyclical nature of baseball. Dynasties never last, human nature and ego will eventually come in front of the team, and contingency is always needed. But when you have it, you gotta soak it in, and go for it. If your team can dethrone the Yankees as the Kings of New York, you know you’re doing something right.

Grades

Readability: 70- Perfect back and forth between season events and player stories. Players are afforded their own chapters for their personalities and stories to shine through, all culminated at the end with the eventual victory, and ultimate break-up. He brilliantly ties in the city of Houston and Mike Scott as the antagonist for the Mets throughout their 86 run.

Historical Importance: 60- A classic World Series is brought to life, in an era that at times gets overlooked for lack of star-power and dynasties.

Uniqueness: 50- Season stories for World Series teams are quite common, but the blending of micro-biographies of interesting characters and players adds a layer that is sometimes overlooked in team stories.

Pace: 70- Good chapter lengths, does not dwell on topics, and does an excellent job of using humor to tell his story.

Author Bias: 50- Pearlman tells everyone off the bat that he grew up a Mets fan, and at times you can tell he struggles to pan the idols he grew up with. He is back and forth with Darryl Strawberry, and at times feels the need to qualify his poor conduct with stories of benevolence.

Overall: 65- I thoroughly enjoyed The Bad Guys Won. It is the perfect combination of baseball and raucousness, and goes beyond the Wilson/Buckner event that 1986 seems to gravitate towards. Pearlman is an excellent, humorous storyteller, and it is obvious that his passion for the Mets and baseball in general were in these pages.

A Baseball Detox

The other day I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Tropical MBA (highly recommended), where the guest for the week was a gentleman named Cal Newport. Cal Newport is a computer scientist who focuses his studies on a very dangerous crossroads: society and advanced technology. Or in blunter terms, he studies the perils of excessive social media use. As I was listening, I was agreeing with most of the points he was making, until he enunciated a point that truly hit home. Cal was discussing the personal decision making habits of people, and whether they should choose to partake in a meaningful activity, or put off an activity to check what is happening online; or specifically in his example he used: to find out if anything new that happened on MLBTradeRumors.

I heard this literally as I was scrolling through MLBTradeRumors!

Now I’m not an ardent social media user, I have a Facebook, and can barely figure out how to use Twitter, but this really struck a chord. With technology we get consumed by what is artificially happening on the internet. Sure MLBTradeRumors will let me know the minute Robbie Grossman signs with the Athletics, but do I need to know right now? Of course not, but its easy, and worse, it was easy to trick myself into thinking this is scouring the internet for trade news and prospect reports is value-add activity, since it involves both baseball and current events.

But ultimately in the end, even this type of social media use is a time drain, its weakening our brains and willpower to pursue true value-added activities. Instead we need to find ways to strengthen ourselves and break free of the shackles of social media and constant internet information consumption. I see the irony in this post, but my ultimate goal of this website is to share the vast world of baseball literature with as many people as possible. And if that means I lead them to a book they enjoy reading, I will feel accomplished.

Now with Spring Training having started, we can start to put winter in our rear-view mirrors, and start fresh. I for one am excited to continue my pursuit of value-added time, whether it be reading, exercise, or learning a new hobby, and I urge everyone to do the same. There is no reason to be “on” all the time. Learn to de-plug from technology, and learn to let your mind wander towards what it truly wants.

For those interested in the podcast reference above: Click here

Book Reviews: The Eastern Stars by Mark Kurlansky

Latin Baseball is of deep intrigue to me, so I try to consume as many books as I can find on the subject. Kurlansky’s Eastern Stars: How Baseball Chnged the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macorís is an interesting take on the Dominican town that has truly become a baseball powerhouse. The concept is interesting, the pace is good, the connections to individual players, and the encapsulation of San Pedro as a sugar, fishing, and baseball town make the book a good introduction to those who want to explore baseball in the Dominican. However, it comes with flaws, strange compilation of statistics, and too many head scratchers that makes one wonder just think: is anything else made up that would be too hard to fact check?

I can understand explaining certain concepts for someone not into baseball, like diagnosing why a curveball curves, what a grandslam is, and a slew of other seemingly simple baseball concepts. However the historical inaccuracies and misdirections are too much. Off the top of my head:

Julio Franco a career .298 hitter, Kurlanksy references that Franco successfully got a hit in 1 out of 3 at-bats (which would be .333 for anyone who can do math)

In the appendix, he incorrectly states that Pedro Guerrero, Joaquin Andujar, and Juan Samuel all won MVP awards

Falsely claimed that Manny Alexander stole Derek Jeter memorabilia from his locker, while he played in Pinstripes. Alexander never played for the Yankees

Constantly throws out asinine stats; like Alfredo Griffin hit .500 for the Indians one year…. in 4 at-bats (conveniently omitted). Frankly his love affair with Griffin was slightly annoying, calling him a reliable hitter over his career even though his career OPS was .604 (yawn)

I’m sure I could find more, if I dug deep enough, but finding this many without even having to think too hard is crazy. It’s kind of shocking that this product was only 90% put together. It had true potential, but came up short, kind of like Alfredo Griffin’s career, middling and good enough to maintain relevancy.

Grades

Readability: 60- Kurlansky is a good story teller, and he covered a bunch of different topics all tied to San Pedro and baseball in one way or another

Historical importance: 55- Modern baseball would be completely different without the DR’s influence over the years. This is articulated well, showing the transformation of the nation from the struggles of Rico Carty and the early players to the scouting machine the DR has now become.

Uniqueness: 50- Baseball and the Dominican Republic is not a new subject, but focusing on San Pedro gives the book bonus points.

Pace: 50- Concise stories that do not drag. The consistent explanation of common baseball terms did get tiresome at times.

Author Bias and Accuracy: 30- Too many errors that are easy to cross check. Kurlasky was also very quick to pan those he obviously does not like. Sammy Sosa came off poorly, and digs were even thrown at Kenesaw Mountain Landis (Baseball’s first commissioner) even though he had no connection to the story.

Overall: 50- I really had to squint to give this book a 50. In one sense, I marched through the book due to more often than not captivating stories, and learned a good deal about San Pedro and the unique Cocolo traditions that have arisen there. But on the other hand, the blatant errors and inaccuracies are too much to go any higher, perhaps forgivable for a casual fan, but more seasoned baseball readers: olvidate.

Book Reviews: Jeff Passan’s The Arm

Although “The Arm” was released nearly two years ago, its relevance still rings true, and will continue to do so, as pitcher velocity continues to rise, and proper arm usage remains a mystery. Jeff Passan paints a vivid image on the confusion that surrounds elbow injuries, the mental agony it takes to come back from one and sometimes two Tommy John surgeries, and some of the crazy techniques being employed all over the map. “The Arm” follows Todd Coffey and Daniel Hudson as they come back from their second Tommy John surgeries, and the hardships they endure to make a successful comeback, or in Coffey’s case maintain relevancy.

Bouncing back and forth between our main protagonists, Passan brings us all over the world to the swamps of Mike Marshall’s avant-garde pitching school, to Kyle Boddy’s biometric velocity lair, and even to Japan to teach us the ways of yakyu. We have reached a point in the game, where we don’t even bat an eye when a pitching prospect goes under the knife for Tommy John surgery. The surgery is so commonplace, and successful enough, that it is almost a rite of passage for pitchers; however, Passan implores in us to not accept, but to look for solutions. Highlighting the epidemic it has caused in youth ball, “The Arm”is a warning sign of what can come if baseball does not take a step back and second guess its methodology in overusing pitchers and turning the sport into a year round popularity contest. Surgery has become complacency, and Passan’s warning is a necessary message to improve baseball’s health, not only at the Major League level, but more importantly at the youth level.

Grades

Readability: 70- captivating story with a large breadth of anecdotes all tied to arm health

Historical importance: 60- well researched and directly ties to one of the most important issues in the game today

Uniqueness: 75- in a class of its own, or perhaps the trailblazer for injury epidemics

Pace: 50- the stream of conciousness between stories is a little confusing at times, but the book never drags, and chapters are a good length for reader engagement

Author Bias and Accuracy: 70- No obvious bias, and Passan has a slew of connections that make for excellent first hand sources. Takes some digs at the Perfect Game Machine (but they are warranted!)

Overall: 70- Every baseball fan and parent of a young player should read this book. It simultaneously paints a picture of the game’s current state, and forecasts what it could become if we don’t do something now to curve arm injuries and overuse in youth baseball.

Baseball Book Review Methodology

In honor of the scouting grading scale, I will be grading books on a similar scale. For those who are unfamiliar, scouts rate players and tools on a 20-80 scale; with 20 being a dog, and 80 being the second coming of Barry Bonds (why they don’t just go 0-100 is beyond me). But books like players have intangibles, serve different purposes, and must be judged accordingly.

It would be ridiculous to compare Norman Macht’s Connie Mack biography (Vol 1) to Michael Lewis’s “Moneyball”. They are two excellent, yet entirely different books; so I hope to judge them in a most accurate manner that captures what the author wanted to tell his audience.

Since there are 5 tools in baseball, there will be 5 tools in book reviewing:

1. Readability- is the book engaging, is it easy to follow, are the players brought to life, could a non-baseball fan enjoy the book? Similar to the hit tool, this is a book’s most important attribute, and will carry the most weight in terms of overall weight.
2. Historical Importance- does the content teach the reader, is the material unique, does the book encapsulate the era, and is the main theme of the book culturally significant either to baseball or society?
3. Uniqueness- does the book cover a topic that has not already been beaten to death, but at the same time is relevant enough that it can command a large audience?
4. Pace- is the book succinct, does it drone on about topics that are unnecessary, is there a good chance that the reader will give up after 70 pages?
5. Author bias and accuracy- naturally all authors will be partial to their subjects, but is it obvious that the book is not balanced, are extraordinary claims made that are easy to dispute?

The five above will judged on the following 20-80 scale:

20: Horrific- MLB equivalent: 2018 Chris Davis (ouch!)

30: Poor- MLB equivalent: Ryan Flaherty

40: Below Average- MLB equivalent: Trey Mancini

45: Trending up Toward Average- MLB equivalent: Max Kepler

50: Average- MLB equivalent: Gregory Polanco

55: Trending to All Star Level- MLB equivalent: Aaron Hicks

60: Good- MLB equivalent: Mitch Haniger

70: Excellent- MLB equivalent: Manny Machado

80: World Class- MLB equivalent: Mike Trout