Once again, the irrepressible Bill James has gone deep into the numbers and come up with a volume that will strain your bank book, inflame your hernia--and, if you really love baseball--offer countless hours of delight and debate. The enormous companion to STATS All-Time Major League Handbook, the Sourcebook slides into corners that the 2,500-plus-page Handbook somehow overlooked.
There are complete rosters and player stats for every major-league team since 1876, year-by-year league and team-leader boards in hitting and pitching, and career- and team-leader hitting and pitching stats. Though James and company manage to push the statistical limits, the real fun of the Sourcebook begins on page 1,524, with complete box scores for every postseason game ever played. Want more? All-Star game boxes begin on page 2,326; year-by-year Hall of Fame balloting on page 2,374 (down to journeymen who managed only to eke out a single vote); complete Most Valuable Player, rookie of the year, and Cy Young Award voting on page 2,411; a set of STATS-imposed retroactive annual all-star teams (page 2,450) culminating in an all-time all-star team that should flare a few tempers; and, most fun of all, box scores for more than 150 great games, with the authors' explanations of why each is notable, on page 2,470. These, of course, cry out for debate--if not all-out thermonuclear war--as well.
If your pulse isn't jangling yet, the Sourcebook may be an extravagance that will only bow your bookshelves and break your back. But if your heart is racing, you're probably halfway out the door already, off to the bank in search of a small loan. --Jeff Silverman
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