The Mind of Bill James: How a Complete Outsider Changed Baseball

by Scott Gray and Brinda Charry

Book Overview

Gray presents the first book to chronicle the life and ideas of the serious baseball fan's high priest (New York Times), the impact of his brilliant and hilarious writings--and how someone who never... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385514646
• ISBN13: 9780385514644
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 229 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Want to know more about Bill James?

I found this book displayed on a B & N endcap, bought it on a whim, and once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. I first read about Bill James in a New Yorker article a few years ago, and he was such an interesting subject that I'd been on the lookout for a book about him ever since. Based on some of the angrier reviews, I suppose I fall into the "Bill James newbie" category, but this book provided me with everything I was hoping for. In my humble opinion, stating that this book has nothing to offer the Bill James fan is like saying The Tao of Pooh has nothing to offer the student of Taoism. Perhaps the problem is that the reviewers in question were expecting something this book had no intention of providing--and that's hardly the book's fault. If you want to know more about the mind of Bill James, then this is the book for you.

A refreshing take on a complex subject

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, both as a baseball fan and as someone interested in nonfiction work in general. While I had heard a lot about Bill James before reading the book, once I finished reading it I felt as though I really had got to know the man behind the myth. If you're interested in detail and don't need to be spoonfed explanations where none are necessary (see Mr. Levenberg's review below)--and certainly if you are curious about Bill James--then I think you will like this book.

Wonderful

In my early 20's I would visit the local bookstore every day in spring watching for the new Bill James "Baseball Abstract". I would read it from cover to cover the day it was released. As much as I loved James' insight on baseball, I was also engaged by his tangents and outlook on every day life. As I read "The Mind of Bill James", I realized how many of the principals I read about back then have stuck with me to this day. This book was a wonderful reminicance.

A Take-Me-Out-to-the-Ballpark Book

The magic of Bill James' statistical analysis of baseball is its easy accessibility. And it's just that same kind of readability that makes Scott Gray's book sparkle. The subject of sabermetrics always runs the risk of sounding like after-school homework. For Grey-and his subject, James-the tone is more like a fieldtrip to the ballpark. Some of the old-timers may not like it, but Bill James changed the way we understand baseball. And Scott Grey has provided us with a lively, entertaining, and smart way to understand James' importance to the sport. And where else are you going to learn why lemurs matter so much to the national pastime?

Lots of Bill James, and neat biographical technique

This combination biography/compendium of Bill James may not be of much interest to people who aren't Bill James fanatics, but if you are, it is a delight. Mr. Gray does a great job of tracing James' life in fine and lively detail, and much of the biographical information will be new even to his fans. But actually I believe the book is most noteworthy for its creative excerpting of James' work and for its interesting biographical technique. James' story is told in more-or-less chronological order, but not by a usual kind of author's narrative. It is presented in large part through reminiscences and anecdotes from James' friends, acquaintances, and family (with occasional contributions from James himself), interspersed with excerpts from James' own works, all woven together nicely by the author. The biographical material is very well chosen and seems quite complete. Along the way, we get a nice overview of James' work through the years. Also the book has a wonderful and user-friendly appendix that lists and summarizes his major ideas and arguments. The use of the excerpts from James' works is particularly interesting. James' own books often go on tangents where he makes reference to episodes from his life, and Mr. Gray did an excellent job of finding them and putting them in order. I never would have realized that those tangential ramblings by James would almost add up to a biography in themselves, but they just about do. I think the book does have a small weakness, one that I don't mind. The author mentions having been influenced by James, and it shows in his style -- which isn't a weakness in itself, but if you're familiar with James' writings, you'll probably recognize some of this writing as sort of poor imitation James. For example, the first sentence of Chapter 1: "Like William Shatner singing 'Rocket Man,' bad lineups have a perverse appeal." That's exactly the kind of thing Bill James would write, probably the kind of thing that ONLY Bill James would write, but not as good -- although I must admit some of James' own metaphors are pretty lame. :-) But anyway I don't mind because I would smile at ANY Bill James, even imitation Bill James. Overall, a delightful, creative biography, truly a labor of love. I'm sure that in time there will be other biographies of Bill James, but this is a most worthy and welcome first one.