No More STATS Inc. Books

[Max Power]

STATS Inc. has all but suspended it's publishing operation. No more Handbooks as we know them - - the ones that come out in November. Those little red and green babies are history.

Instead, STATS will now beef up TSN's Register and Guide with additional information.

To be honest, with the SBE-CD, the Red Book was not needed anymore - - - I will miss the Green (Minor League) Book - - - the "Player Profiles" book, never did anything for me.

If STATS cancels the Scouting Notebooks, that would really bite. Still trying to confirm that........

[pathogan]

...they are becoming obsolete, though the scouting notebooks are fun[and fuill a void}

[poorme]

Originally posted by Max Power
If STATS cancels the Scouting Notebooks, that would really bite.

that would. i think i have every one of those since they started, 1988 I think. one year another company published it though.

[RichG]

Originally posted by poorme
that would. i think i have every one of those since they started, 1988 I think. one year another company published it though.

John Sickels has announced there'll be a minor league scouting book next year, though he doesn't have a publisher yet. He might end up publishing it himself.

His email address is JSBN01@AOL.COM

[sweaver]

Since Sickels is doing it, it'll be good.

[VNV Nation]

i know of someone who's working to publish a new statistical register. one with like insane splits like vs. L/R at home or w/RISP vs. L/R, etc.

well, it's supposed to be a secret or something, for some reason. but it's someone who's been in the business before and i assume he's looking for a publisher. i hope it does come out -- i know someone who was taping 10 games a night working for this guy.

[SmedIndy]

You know - I was always called a stat geek because I knew the basic stuff and understood James back in the 80's.

I'm glad I have a life now...I don't think I'd really want to read a book with all those damn splits. Where's the analysis? The comments? The way to put it all together?

[CpUltravox]

Originally posted by SmedIndy
Where's the analysis? The comments? The way to put it all together?

Smed, I wouldn't expect to see this coming from you. I thought you were more of a "Draw your own conclusions" type of guy.

I for one, enjoy the statistical register. I trust my eyes and my analysis FAR more than others. It's one of the reasons I've grown to be so annoyed with BP. I was counting on those books this year, because I've sworn off the infernal Prospectus. It's why I like Lee's stats.

[SmedIndy]

Originally posted by CpUltravox
Smed, I wouldn't expect to see this coming from you. I thought you were more of a "Draw your own conclusions" type of guy.

I for one, enjoy the statistical register. I trust my eyes and my analysis FAR more than others. It's one of the reasons I've grown to be so annoyed with BP. I was counting on those books this year, because I've sworn off the infernal Prospectus. It's why I like Lee's stats.

I've always liked analysis with the raw data - my favorite part of the James Abstracts were the player rankings and comments.

You can read the analysis and still draw your own conclusions. Much like reading the news.

[Craig S.]

Originally posted by SmedIndy
I've always liked analysis with the raw data - my favorite part of the James Abstracts were the player rankings and comments.

You can read the analysis and still draw your own conclusions. Much like reading the news.


I'm with you on that one. I like some explanation or point of argument to go with the numbers.

[poorme]

Smed, it's a reference book. You don't sit down and READ it. You REFER to it.

All that data is still going to be available online. I think on the ESPN site. I personally find it sad that books are being replaced by the internet, but then again, I never bought one of them.

[SmedIndy]

Originally posted by poorme
Smed, it's a reference book. You don't sit down and READ it. You REFER to it.


So I was wrong in devouring the Macmillan start to finish when a new edition comes out????

Sorry, it have enough value add to me over traditional reference materials, and now that Lee has his gem, it's gone.

[sweaver]

Rob Neyer's column today was on the demise of the Major League Handbook. Here's the link: http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/neyer_rob/1454225.html

[pwdennis]

Originally posted by poorme
Smed, it's a reference book. You don't sit down and READ it. You REFER to it.





Speak for your self

Maybe you don't sit down and read it but I do !

I treasured the damn thing - couldn't wait to get it home and give it at least a decent once over, and if I picked it up on a weekend, I would spend several hours pouring over it

[Max Power]

Originally posted by RichG
John Sickels has announced there'll be a minor league scouting book next year, though he doesn't have a publisher yet. He might end up publishing it himself.[/email]

FYI - John is doing it himself - - I just ordered a copy:

http://www.mastersball.com/sickels/

[Doc Pontoon]

I'm gonna miss the red book a lot, myself. I used it a ton for reference (in fact, I busted last year's out when arguing with a friend about how Foulke was better than Koch just about every possible way every year).

What I want to know from you, my knowledgable peers, is this:
1) What is the best/closest remaining reference guide?
2) Where can I get player projections in March for my Roto league? (Hey, I don't have time to create projections myself!)

[sweaver]

The answer to question 2 is the Baseball Prospectus, but it isn't set for individual parks, it's park-adjusted. The answer to question 1 may be the Sporting News books, with the merger, but we'll have to see.

Of computer versions, of course, it's Lee Sinins' Sabermetric BAseball Encyclopedia.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by Doc Pontoon
Where can I get player projections in March for my Roto league?

Years ago, I liked this one: http://www.baseballforecaster.com/

[pwdennis]

I miss the red book - I've been having withdrawal symptoms since November, when it always arrived. If we are to be stuck with THE BASEBALL REGISTER, they need to get it published earlier

[Max Power]

I too find my 2003 Baseball America Almanac getting much more use now without the Stats Red Book to take away some of that time. In the past, the BAA usually only last a few days before making the bookcase.

[Skip]

I'd love to see your bookcase someday Max. My in-laws have all been freaking out because I have about a shelf and half of books JUST ON BASEBALL. I told them that I was a total nobody in the baseball library department, i.e. "You should meet my buddies Max, Shawn, etc...."

[Max Power]

It's really not that big Skip - - if you count annuals, handbooks, registers, etc. - it's about 275 books. I know many others here have a lot more.

[sweaver]

Originally posted by Skip
I told them that I was a total nobody in the baseball library department, i.e. "You should meet my buddies Max, Shawn, etc...." :loud:

I have about three shelves, haven't counted the books, but of course the size of the shelves matters.

[daredevil456]

I thought his minor league scouting notebook was a good buy last yr, thanks for the link, I'll defintely be buying it from him again this yr.

[bill wisnosky]

You guys are all great in my book.......agreeing to disagree is intestinal fortitude.......stats will be here forever, how you use them is what really counts

[pwdennis]

Just purchased the 2003 BASEBALL REGISTER - the cover says "published by The Sporting News in assosciation with STATS, Inc. ". That may be true, but it is only a slight improvement over the prior Baseball Registers, and a BIG letdown from the annual statistical "red book" formerly published by STATS, Inc.

It has added a few stat categories to the player pages (but not to the playing records of managers). A section called "Managerial Tendencies" has been added. Missing are all of the current leaderboards, hitters projections, pitchers projections. In other words everything that made the red book unique

Bah Humbug

[gyb13]

Originally posted by pwdennis
Missing are all of the current leaderboards, hitters projections, pitchers projections. In other words everything that made the red book unique sigh

[pwdennis]

To be fair to THE BASEBALL REGISTER , it does include some information that was not found in THE BASEBALL HANDBOOK including a player's minor league stats, and (more importantly) the Japanese stats for the ever increasing numbers of Japanese MLB players

[nyy26wc]

Originally posted by pwdennis
I miss the red book - I've been having withdrawal symptoms since November, when it always arrived. If we are to be stuck with THE BASEBALL REGISTER, they need to get it published earlier

You may not have to be stuck with the register, at least not in future years.

I plan on coming out with my own printed version of the encyclopedia, numbers only--obviously the sorting features can't exist in book format--starting after the 2003 season.

I'll still be coming out with the encyclopedia. The book will just be a printed edition of the active player documents (which by the way are about to also be converted to Adobe, instead of remaining in Word).

[Max Power]

FYI - The Sickels Baseball Prospect Book goes to press tomorrow.

If anyone gets it, before me, start a thread on it here - thanks!

[Wolf Hopper]

From Rob Neyere's ESPN page:

WHAT ROB IS READING:
The Bill James Handbook (ACTA Publications, 2003)
What's this? A new Bill James book? Well, not exactly. Remember the late, lamented STATS Major League Handbook? Well, this is the same book, with a new title and a new publisher but an almost identical, highly usable format. And while I've not actually been reading it, per se, I've certainly been referring to it every day. The only "problem" is that this first edition wasn't released until the middle of July, and now it's more than four months out of date. The real kick comes in November, when the 2004 edition will be released with 2003 statistics, within mere days of the World Series.

Interesting!

If interested: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879462574/netshrinecom-20

[Wolf Hopper]

At least he didn't put a Red Sox on the cover:

[Wolf Hopper]

Just got the BJ Handbook - - boy, does that sound bad.

It's pretty much what the STATS MLB Handbook was - would be hard to tell them apart. What's most promising is that it's done by Baseball Info Solutions (Steve Moyer and John Dewan) - - and, it sounds like they're starting thier own version of what STATS Inc used to be - - that's actually very promising.

[Wolf Hopper]

FYI, in case you missed the latest Gammons and Neyer columns - - the 2004 Bill James Handbook is now out.