Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups: A Complete Guide to the Best, Worst, and Most Memorable Players to Ever Grace the Major Leagues

by Rob Neyer

Book Overview

You love to argue about the game and its players, delving into baseball history and lore in search of support for your points of view. You'll find plenty of food for thought -- and argument -- in Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups.
- All-time Red Sox starting pitcher -- Pedro or the Rocket?
- Gold Glovers -- who looked like one, who was one, and who ought to have been one?
- Lopsided trades that'll...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743241746
• ISBN13: 9780743241748
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Big Book of Baseball Lineups

This book is a blast! I'm in my mid 40's, and this book brings back lots of childhood memories of listening to baseball games on the radio and collecting those oh-so-precious baseball cards. Lots of fun and interesting facts about players that I remember, and many that I had forgotten about.

The sum is greater than its parts

This is not a book to be read in a few sittings or over the course of a week. Of course, that didn't stop me. Neyer's comprehensive lists, anecdotes and essays capture baseball's most alluring charm: the stat. No other sport can be catalogued, compared, debated like baseball. And very few writers or fans break down the details better than Neyer or deliver the results in a more manageable and reader friendly manner (by very few writers I really mean Bill James and that's only when it comes to breaking down the numbers).Breaking teams and organizations into multiple categories (iron glove stands as my favorite) is a simple idea that Neyer flushes out with nuanced details and sound logic. Just get the damn book. It's really good.

Choosing Up Sides

Rob Neyer's newest book should appeal to all baseball fans, young and old. Neyer selects a series of all-time lineups for each baseball team, ranging from the best to worst. His personal selections will amuse many and anger some. Some players, like Paul Molitor, pop up several times within the same team chapter at different positions, as well as for different teams, while some Hall of Famers barely make the Number 2 all-time best team for their respective teams. Each player listed is accompanied by a short sentence explaining the selection.A minor criticism of the book is that the selections appear more heavily weighted towards players of recent vintage, especially the all-time bust teams. Neyer does more properly accomodate the old-timers for teams such as the Athletics and Braves who played in several cities throughout their existence by having an abridged section following the current team line-ups.The best part of the book may not be the actual player selections, but each chapter's several short essays focusing on an individual selected player or group of players. Without resorting to somewhat uncomprehensible Sabremetric-like statistics commonly found in many new baseball books, Neyer provides the reader with information about the ballplayers that is new and/or amusing. He even disagrees with his former employer Bill James, the eminent baseball Sabremetrician, on a few selections and issues, with factual proof in support of his position. Overall a very good baseball book for the casual or fanatic fan.

Will End Some Arguments, Start Some Others

Among baseball fans, it's always fun to "pick" the "all-time best players" at any position. And Neyer in this book has taken what he feels to be the all-time best lineups for every current major league team, as well as teams that started in one location and moved elsewhere (like the Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Brooklyn/LA Dodgers, NY/SF Giants, Wash Senators/Texas Rangers, etc.). While you may not always agree with his choices, Neyer in my opinion has done a wonderful job with these "lineups." He also has a lineup of 'best individual seasons,' a gold glove team and an "iron glove" team (for worst fielders), his "all-bust" teams, rookie teams, traded away teams, and his "used to be great" teams. Having followed baseball since the late 1960s, I vividly remember many of the names in this book, as well as knowing numerous others whose names appear here. Some of the associated vignettes with each team are also fascinating. Like the story of David Clyde, the 18-year-old pitcher for the 1973 Rangers, or "Generation K" of the 1995 Mets. Or how the Devil Rays' management philosophy in Neyer's opinion has contributed to them having some terrible teams. Or how the famous line about the late, lamented Washington Senators, "first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League" really isn't all that true.Neyer gives a lot of credit where credit is due. His "iron glove" teams are at times a hoot. Neyer mentions the infamous Johnie LeMaster of the Giants at shortstop on their "iron glove" team, Jose Offerman his counterpart for the Dodgers, Eddie Matthews at first base for the 1967 Astros, and so on. His all-rookie teams include notables like Mark McGwire for the '87 A's (well doh) and Stan Musial for the 1942 Cardinals. For some long-time teams, he lists 2 greatest lineups. At the end of the book is a section that features each team and its starting lineup from year to year, along with their manager.Any fan, whether they be casual followers or students of the game are going to love this book! It's a good one.

He knows his stuff -- and you will too after you read this!

Rob Neyer has been entertaining and enlightening me for years on ESPN.com. This book delivers the goods and I believe it will continue to deliver for a long time time. Whenever I find myself in need of a few minutes reading (and who doesn't find themselves in that position at least two times a day) I can count on this book to occupy my time. As I believe has been said by another reviewer, this is the ultimate argument ender and argument starter. You will like this book.