George William “Bill” James (born October 5, 1949, in Holton, Kansas) is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose. In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. ^[1] For the baseball writer, see Bill James. ... For other uses, see 5th October (Serbia). ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Holton is a city located in Jackson County, Kansas. ... This article is about the sport. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... SABR redirects here; for Selectable Assault Battle Rifle (S.A.B.R.) see XM29 OICW The Society for American Baseball Research was established in Cooperstown, New York in August of 1971. ... TIME redirects here. ... Time 100 cover for 2007 The Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. ...

Biography

After four years at the University of Kansas residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, and one course short of graduating, James joined the Army in 1971. James was the last person in Kansas to be drafted for the Vietnam war, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas. The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU or just Kansas) is an institution of higher learning in Lawrence, Kansas. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar, known as the year of cyclohexanol. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Bill James Baseball Abstracts

An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style, that answered the question.^{[citation needed]} The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ...

Editors considered James' pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James self-published an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition of the book presented 80 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James' study of box scores from the preceding season. Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... In competitive sports, games or matches are often summarized in a box score. ...

Over the next three years James' work won respect, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. Daniel Okrent (born April 2, 1948) is an American writer, editor and baseball fan. ... The first issue of Sports Illustrated, August 16, 1954, showing Milwaukee Braves star Eddie Mathews at bat in Milwaukee County Stadium. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...

While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James' work spawned a flood of books and articles that continue to this day. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969. ...

In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews; these books include two editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ...

During the years after the annual Abstract ceased publication, James has published several series of new annuals:

• The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely-organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research.
• The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
• The Bill James Handbook (2003-present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players.
• The Bill James Gold Mine (2008-present) is a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.

In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James’ new, original writing and interact with one another—as well as with James—in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new “profiles” of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed “the lost island of baseball statistics.” Fantasy baseball is a game whereby players manage imaginary baseball teams based on the real-life performance of baseball players, and compete against one another using those players statistics to score points. ...

Innovations

Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:

• Runs Created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James' first version of it: Runs Created = (Total Bases * (Hits + Walks))/(Plate Appearances). Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
• Range Factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as RF = (Assists + Put Outs)/(Games Played). The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic Fielding Percentage.
• Defensive Efficiency Record. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability.
• Win Shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.^[2]
• Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. In its simplest form: Winning Percentage equals Runs squared divided by the square of Runs plus the square of Runs Allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage.
• Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
• The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
• Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
• Secondary Average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. The formula is (Extra bases on hits+Walks+Stolen Bases)/At bats. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary widely, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. Extra bases on hits is calculated with the formula (Doubles)+(Triplesx2)+(Homerunsx3).
• Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the "30/30" club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the "40/40" club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the "25/65" club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula: (2x(Home Runs)x(Stolen Bases))/(Home Runs + Stolen Bases).
• Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to his team to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".

Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amidst other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's won-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum," border on being entirely non-statistical. Runs created (RC) is a baseball statistic invented by Bill James to estimate the number of runs a hitter contributes to his team. ... In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i. ... In Major League Baseball history, Ty Cobb had a record 4,191 hits (later revised to 4,189) by 1928; Pete Rose would surpass it 57 years later, and finish with 4,256 career hits. ... In baseball statistics, a base on balls (BB), also called a walk, is credited to a batter and against a pitcher when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. ... Range Factor (commonly abbreviated RF) is a baseball statistic developed by Bill James. ... In baseball, an assist (denoted by A) is a defensive statistic, baseball being the rare sport in which the defensive team controls the ball. ... In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by PO or fly-ball when appropriate) is given to a defensive player who records an out by one of the following methods: tagging a runner with the ball touching a base that a runner on a force play is trying to reach catching... In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player handles a batted ball properly. ... Win Shares is a book (ISBN 1931584036) about baseball written by Bill James, published by STATS, Inc. ... Pythagorean expectation is a formula invented by Bill James to estimate how many games a baseball team should have won based on the number of runs they scored and allowed. ... For the organization which many minor leagues belong to, see Minor League Baseball Part of the History of baseball series. ... In Sabermetrics and APBRmetrics, Similarity Scores are a method of comparing baseball and basketball players (usually in MLB or the NBA) to other players, with the intent of discovering who the single most similar historical player is to a certain player. ... Lou Gehrigs number 4 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1939 Henry Louis (Lou) Gehrig (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941), born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig, was an American baseball player in the first half of the twentieth century. ... Donald Arthur Mattingly (nicknamed Donnie Baseball and The Hit Man) (born April 20, 1961) is a retired first baseman who played for the New York Yankees of the American League from 1982-1995. ... Joseph Jefferson Shoeless Joe Jackson (July 16, 1888 – December 5, 1951) was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. ... Tony Pedro Oliva (born Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique on July 20, 1938 in Pinar del Río, Cuba) is a former Major League Baseball right fielder who played his entire career in the American League for the Minnesota Twins from 1962 to 1976. ... Secondary average, or SecA, is a baseball statistic - more precisely, a sabermetric measurement of hitting performance. ... Batting Park Factor, also simply called Park Factor or BPF, is a baseball statistic that indicates the difference between runs scored in a teams home and road games. ... Secondary average, or SecA, is a baseball statistic - more precisely, a sabermetric measurement of hitting performance. ... Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively. ... Runs created (RC) is a baseball statistic invented by Bill James to estimate the number of runs a hitter contributes to his team. ... In baseball statistics, a run batted in (RBI) is given to a batter for each run scored as the result of a batters plate appearance. ... In Sabermetrics, the Defensive Spectrum is the graphical representation of the positions on a baseball field, arranged from left (the easiest defensive positions) to right (the hardest). ...

STATS, Inc.

In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information. This article is about the year. ... Major Leagues redirects here. ...

While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James' publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data - the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James). This article is about the year. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook is a book written by baseball stat guru Bill James from 1988. ...

The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001. The Fox Broadcasting Company is a television network in the United States. ... This article is about the year. ...

Acceptance in mainstream baseball

For most of his career, James' ideas have either been ignored or rejected by professional baseball teams. James' sabermetrics rejects much of the conventional wisdom that has been passed down by players, executives, and writers over decades. Most teams, managers, and players prefer to continue to follow maxims that were developed decades ago, as well as their gut instincts. Conventional wisdom is a term coined by the economist John Kenneth Galbraith, used to describe certain ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public. ...

In recent years, James' ideas have begun to gain official acceptance. Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the late 1990s, to great effect (as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball), and sabermetricians have penetrated other organizations since then. Major league affiliations American League (1901–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 9, 27, 34, 42, 43, (As) Name Oakland Athletics (1968–present) Kansas City Athletics (1955-1967) Philadelphia Athletics (1901-1954) (Referred to as As) Other nicknames The As, The White Elephants, The... William Lamar Billy Beane (born March 29, 1962 in Orlando, Florida) is a former Major League Baseball player and the current general manager of the Oakland Athletics. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Michael Lewis (born 1960, New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American contemporary non-fiction author. ... Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is a book by Michael M. Lewis in 2003 about the general manager of the Major League Baseball team Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane, and his teams approach to running the organization. ...

In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox. The move generated some controversy, but after 25 years James had finally gained an official position within Major League Baseball. Current Red Sox GM Theo Epstein also turned out to have a sabermetric bent. // World Artistic Gymnastics Championships: Mens all-around champions: Paul Hamm, USA, Yang Wei, China Womens all-around champion: Svetlana Khorkina, Russia Mens team competition champion: China Womens team competition champion: USA April 13 — Rotterdam Marathon, Netherlands Mens Winner: William Kiplagat (KEN) 2:07:42 Women... John Henry is the current owner of the Boston Red Sox. ... Major league affiliations American League (1901–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 27, 42 Name Boston Red Sox (1908–present) Boston Americans (1901-1907) Other nicknames The BoSox, The Olde Towne Team, The Sox Ballpark Fenway Park (1912–present) Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds... Theo N. Epstein (born December 29, 1973 in New York City) is the Executive Vice President/General Manager of the Boston Red Sox. ...

One point of controversy was in handling the Red Sox' relief pitching. James had previously published several analyses of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual, and used him in suboptimal circumstances. Reportedly, James influenced a reorganization of the Boston bullpen, with several moderately talented relievers and no clear closer. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, they were forced to acquire a traditional closer (Byung-Hyun Kim) in order to address the issue. Many writers considered this to be a rejection of James' ideas, and the signing of ace reliever Keith Foulke following the season further suggests this. Others, however, argue that the Boston pen was simply not very talented and that the outcome doesn't necessarily undermine James' arguments. Mariano Rivera is the closing pitcher for the New York Yankees. ... Byung-Hyun Kim (born January 21, 1979 in Gwangju, South Korea) is a right-handed pitcher who has played for the Colorado Rockies since 2005. ... Keith Charles Foulke [FOLK] (born October 19, 1972 in Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota) is a retired Major League relief pitcher. ...

It should be noted that Boston did not implement James' idea of the "relief ace". James did not suggest a "bullpen by committee"; rather, his studies showed that the relief ace should be used in close or tie games as early as the 7th inning, when the outcome of a ballgame is often decided. Boston had no relief ace in 2003. During the 2004 regular season Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the Tony La Russa model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model, perhaps unwittingly, with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason, further demonstrating the efficacy of James's relief ace concept. Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tony La Russa after the 2006 World Series Anthony La Russa, Jr. ... Major league affiliations National League (1962–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 5, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, 40, 42, 49 Name Houston Astros (1965–present) Houston Colt . ... Philip Mason Garner (born April 30, 1949, in Jefferson City, Tennessee) is a former infielder in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants from 1973 to 1988. ... Bradley Thomas Lidge (born December 23, 1976 in Sacramento, California) is an American Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Houston Astros. ...

James is still (2007) employed by the Red Sox, having published several new sabermetric books during his tenure (see Bibliography, below). Indeed, although James is typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage. During his time with the Red Sox, Bill James has received two World Series rings for the team's 2004 and 2007 victories.^[2] Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... For other events named World Series, see World Series (disambiguation). ... David Ortiz (IPA , or roughly or-TEES, according to Latin American pronunciation) (born November 18, 1975 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as David Américo Ortiz Arias), is a Major League Baseball designated hitter who plays for the Boston Red Sox (since 2003). ... Mark Christian Bellhorn (born August 23, 1974 in Weymouth, Massachusetts) is a second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. ... In baseball statistics, on base percentage (OBP) (sometimes referred to as on base average (OBA)) is a measure of how often a batter gets to first base for any reason other than a fielding error or a fielders choice. ...

The Mind of Bill James, a biography-cum-chronicle of James' works was published in the spring of 2006. How Bill James Changed Our View of the Game of Baseball was published in February 2007. He was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30th, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. The Mind Of Bill James: How A Complete Outsider Changed Baseball is a 2006 biography of sabermetrician Bill James by Scott Grey. ... This article is about the CBS news magazine. ... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in Leap years). ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ...

Dowd Report controversy

James was a strong critic of the Dowd Report, which was the most thorough investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James, in his Baseball Book 1990, dismissed Dowd's conclusion (based on the evidence available to Dowd at the time) that the former Cincinnati Reds manager bet on baseball games. (For James to defend Rose was rather ironic: James had been sharply critical of Rose in James's yearly Abstracts, published late in Rose's playing career). James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling.^[3] The Dowd Report is the document describing the alleged transgressions of baseball player Pete Rose in betting on baseball, which precipitated his agreement to a lifetime suspension from the sport in the United States. ... Angelo Bartlett Bart Giamatti (April 4, 1938 - September 1, 1989) was the President of Yale University, and later, the 7th commissioner of Major League Baseball in the United States. ... Peter Edward Pete Rose, Sr. ... Major league affiliations National League (1890–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 5, 8, 10, 13, 18, 20, 24, 42 Name Cincinnati Reds (1958–present) Cincinnati Redlegs (1953-1958) Cincinnati Reds (1882-1953) Cincinnati Red Stockings (1876-1882) Other nicknames The Redlegs, The Big Red Machine...

In 2004, Rose admitted he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct.

Bibliography

• Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977-1988)
• The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985)

• This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989)
• The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990-1992)
• The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?)
• The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993-1996)
• The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
• The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
• Win Shares (2002)
• The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003-present)
• The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
• How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
• The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008-present)

See also: 1976 in sports, other events of 1977, 1978 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto racing Stock car racing: NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough Cale Yarborough won the Daytona 500 USAC Racing - Tom Sneva wins the season championship Indianapolis 500 - won by A.J. Foyt. ... See also: 1987 in sports, other events of 1988, 1989 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing Stock car racing: Bobby Allison won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Bill Elliott CART Racing - Danny Sullivan won the season championship Indianapolis 500 - Rick Mears Formula One Championship - Ayrton... The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract is a reference-type book written by Bill James featuring an overview of baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. ... See also: 1984 in sports, other events of 1985, 1986 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing Stock car racing: Bill Elliott won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Darrell Waltrip Ken Schrader enters NASCAR CART Racing - Al Unser Sr won the season championship Indianapolis 500 - Danny... See also: 1989 in sports, other events of 1990, 1991 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing Stock car racing: Derrike Cope won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt CART Racing - Al Unser, Jr. ... // August 1 — Olympic Marathon, Barcelona (Spain) Womens Winner: Valentina Yegorova (EUN) 2:32:41 August 9 — Olympic Marathon, Barcelona (Spain) Mens Winner: Hwang Young-Cho (KOR) 2:13:23 October 11 — Enschede Marathon, Netherlands Mens Winner: Willie Mtolo (RSA) 2:13:39 Womens Winner: Natalia Repescko... Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame? Baseball, Cooperstown, and the Politics of Glory is a book by famed baseball sabermetrician and author Bill James. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame? Baseball, Cooperstown, and the Politics of Glory is a book by famed baseball sabermetrician and author Bill James. ... See also: 1992 in sports, other events of 1993, 1994 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Athletics February 11 - Irina Privalova sets a new womens 60m indoors world record August 13 - August 22 - World Championships held in Stuttgart Auto Racing Stock car racing: Dale Jarrett won... // June 16 — Enschede Marathon, Netherlands Mens Winner: John Mandu (KEN) 2:15:14 Womens Winner: Mieke Pullen (NED) 2:41:13 July 28 — Olympic Marathon, Atlanta, Georgia (USA) Womens Winner: Fatuma Roba (ETH) 2:26:05 August 4 — Olympic Marathon, Atlanta, Georgia (USA) Mens Winner: Josia... // World Artistic Gymnastics Championships: Mens all-around champion: Ivan Ivankov, Belarus Womens all-around champion: Svetlana Khorkina, Russia Mens team competition champion: China Womens team competition champion: Romania June 8 — Enschede Marathon, Netherlands Mens Winner: Dmitriy Kapitonov (RUS) 2:12:09 Womens Winner: Carla... The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract is a reference-type book written by Bill James featuring an overview of baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. ... See also: 2000 in sports, other events of 2001, 2002 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing Stock car racing: Michael Waltrip won the Daytona 500, a race that also saw the death of seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt in an unspectacular crash during the... Win Shares is a book (ISBN 1931584036) about baseball written by Bill James, published by STATS, Inc. ... See also: 2001 in sports, 2003 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto Racing Stock car racing: Ward Burton wins the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Tony Stewart Indy Racing League - Sam Hornish Jr. ... The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (ISBN 0-7432-6158-5) is a non-fiction baseball reference book, written by Rob Neyer and Bill James and published by Simon & Schuster in June of 2004. ... // On January 28, International Olympic Committee Vice-President Kim Un-yong is arrested on charges of corruption in Seoul. ... Rob Neyer is a baseball author and, since 1996, a columnist for ESPN.com. ...

References

• http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/majors/25thanniversary/261957.html#bjames
• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1187260,00.html
• http://www.slate.com/id/2084193/
• Lewis, Michael (2003-04-10). Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 45-47. ISBN 0393057658. 
• http://www.athomeplate.com/jamesinterview.shtml
• http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2005/02/breakfast_with.php

TIME redirects here. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that IPORT be merged into this article or section. ... Michael Lewis (born 1960, New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American contemporary non-fiction author. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is a book by Michael M. Lewis in 2003 about the general manager of the Major League Baseball team Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane, and his teams approach to running the organization. ... W. W. Norton & Company is an American book publishing company that has remained independent since its founding. ...

See also

• Baseball Prospectus
• Defensive spectrum
• Win Shares
• Similarity Scores
• Keltner list
• Rain Delay (essay)
• Evolution of baseball player evaluation

Baseball Prospectus, sometimes abbreviated as BP, is a think-tank focusing on the statistical analysis of the sport of baseball, which is also known as sabermetrics. ... In Sabermetrics, the Defensive Spectrum is the graphical representation of the positions on a baseball field, arranged from left (the easiest defensive positions) to right (the hardest). ... Win Shares is a book (ISBN 1931584036) about baseball written by Bill James, published by STATS, Inc. ... In Sabermetrics and APBRmetrics, Similarity Scores are a method of comparing baseball and basketball players (usually in MLB or the NBA) to other players, with the intent of discovering who the single most similar historical player is to a certain player. ... The Keltner list is a systematic but non-numerical method for determining whether a baseball player is deserving of election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY[1]. It makes use of an inventory of questions (mostly yes-or-no format) regarding the merit of players relative... Evolution of baseball player evaluation has taken place over many years. ...

External links

• Bill James Online (Interactions with Bill James through statistics, articles, conversations and more)
• Works of Bill James
• Lawrence Journal-World article
• Bill James Interview at Baseball Digest Daily - Part I
• Bill James Interview at Baseball Digest Daily - Part II
• Bill James Interview at Baseball Digest Daily - Part III
• New Yorker Article about Bill James
• WSJ profile