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Joe Posnanski recently released his book, "The Machine", on the 1975 Cincinnati Reds with specific emphasis on the lineup.  I will let Joe describe, as he does best, the Reds lineup in his article about the book on cnnsi.com:

There had never been a lineup quite like it. Yes, the famed 1927 New York Yankees had four Hall of Famers in their Murderers' Row -- including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig -- and averaged more than six runs per game. The Boys of Summer Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950s had Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella and were a beautiful blend of power and speed. But the lineup Sparky Anderson put on the field on July 4, 1975, had something more. The Reds had power and speed too. More, though, there were three African-Americans in the lineup, three Latin Americans and two white Americans -- and Bench had Native American blood. They were the Great American Ballclub.

To find the quality of players on the teams mentioned, I decided to use Rally's WAR rankings to see how the 1975 Reds stood up to the 1927 Yankees and the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. To make the comparison I added the lifetime WAR of all the players on the teams and here are the results:

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Random House has been kind enough to provide a free copy of Satchel to one BtB reader. All you have to do is make a comment on your favorite Negro League player. In a week, I will randomly choose a name and Random House will send that reader a free copy of the book

I've received several requests to review books since going BtB. Between my own writing and two toddlers to contain, I barely have time to sleep, yet alone read a book. When I was contacted to do a review of "Satchel", I jumped at the opportunity, though. I've always been interested in the Negro Leagues, mainly because Kansas City has embraced  their history, given the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City and the Monarch's Pennant and Championship flag flying at Kaufman Stadium, and I was happy to do a review of the book.

The book was outstanding and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Satchel Paige, Negro League history or what baseball was like when it was being integrated in the middle part of the last century. I don't want to just rehash what is in the book so I have decided to highlight some areas I found interesting and include an interview wtih the book's author, Larry Tye.

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While we here at Beyond the Boxscore feel we do an excellent job, its important to remember there is a ton of baseball information out there. Most of you have probably heard of The Hardball Times and their excellent annual they release with stories and research.

But for the past two years they've also released a second book before each season, The Hardball Times Season Preview.

via www.actapublications.com

While it has projections similar to the ones you can find from Bill James or Baseball Prospectus, even they will admit the projections don't set them apart from the other preview books. What they do have is a group of excellent writers covering each team, with in-depth analysis and insightful commentary about your favorite baseball club. BtB's own Harry Pavlidis wrote the section on the Chicago Cubs, and if it's anything like his work here or on Cubs f/x I think THT made an excellent choice.

The 2009 edition just went to print, and for further explanation I suggest David Gassko's recent article, which includes a couple sample pages about the Philadelphia Phillies. You can purchase the book from the ACTA website. 

As today we honor a man who stood up for the rights of everyone, I felt it would be the perfect day to review a book about the man who stood up for the rights of baseball players, and athletes everywhere really, to become free agents. That man is Curt Flood, and Brad Snyder's A Well Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports is the definitive book on his fight.

For those unfamiliar with Flood's story, he was the St. Louis Cardinals star CF of the 1960s, a 3 time All-Star, 7 time Gold Glove winner and career OPS+ of 100. On October 8, 1969 he was traded as part of a package to the Philadelphia Phillies. He refused to report to his new team though, and according to the reserve clause rules at the time if he would not sign a contract for the Phillies he would have to effectively retire at age 31. For more on the reserve clause, I suggest this article by former BtBer Peter Bendix, an excellent read in its own right.

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It's that time of year again -- Baseball Annual season is upon us and, as luck would have it, just in time for Christmas.

Traditionally, Baseball Annuals have been filled with a plethora of statistics; a smattering of commentary about players and teams; a sprinkling of Division, Pennant and World Series round-ups; and, if we were fortunate, a couple of thought provoking essays about the state of game.

Since 2004 there has been a new kid on the block that has turned, in my opinion, the world of Baseball Annual writing on its head: The Hardball Times Baseball Annual, or THT Annual for short. And a couple of weeks ago those kind folks across the blogosphere pressed print on the 2007 incarnation. Lucky us.

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David Studenmund has posted an article detailing the essays and statistics contained in The Hardball Times Annual 2007. I have seen the final product, and it's spectacular (I know I'm biased, but honestly, it is). If you like The Hardball Times website, or if you simply like great baseball writing and research, I suggest you buy the Annual...now.

Recently I read Behind-the-Scenes Baseball: Real-Life Applications of Statistical Analysis Actually Used by Major League Teams...and Other Stories, and I came to a realization while going through it. I really have no idea what those with the position of statistician do for a major league franchise. I understand that they provide analysis (no kiddin') but I never really thought about the day-to-day things, or how exactly the information was presented, and how the manager reacted to it. Doug Decatur's book certainly helped to answer a few of those questions.

Decatur worked as a statistical consultant for the Reds, Brewers, Cubs and Astros, as well as for player agent Myles Shoda. The first section of the book details some of his stories from his time with those clubs, from particular analysis he gave that worked out -- such as sugggesting Greg Vaughn be put in the Brewers starting lineup -- to various other ideas, like dealing for Ron Gant (Braves minor leaguer) and Cecil Fielder (playing in Japan) and putting them on the 1990 Reds, who would win the World Series even without the help of those two players.

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