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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Perfect!, October 29, 2001
Buy this book if for no other reason than challenging your preconceptions of which are the greatest teams ever...Even though it sometimes wonders into complicated use of some statistics (as sabermatics will usually seem to do if you're not really into them), this book works wonders in presenting numerical and analytical justification for ranking the best dynasties in the game. This is not based on subjective reasoning ("they're my home team!"), but rather on deep study and discussion. You may not agree with all the choices, or with the final rankings (one per author), but you will not be able to say that Eddie and Rob (my favorite ESPN.com writer) didn't do their homework. You'll be surprised to learn lots of information from all these teams that you wont find in many other books (let alone ONE book), and it will leave you wanting more...wanting to see how YOUR favorite teams rank against these dynasties.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
15 of the Greatest Teams Ever, July 22, 2001
I purchased this book because it was written by Rob Neyer, whose columns I'd been reading on the ESPN website for several years, usually with an equal mixture of fascination, amusement, and frustation. I was interested in seeing his sometimes-technical take on baseball applied to the great teams of the past, whereas co-author Eddie Epstein I knew not at all."Baseball Dynasties" is on its face an examination of 15 of the greatest baseball teams ever, ranging from the deadball-era 1906 Cubs, to the "Team of the Century" 1998 Yankees. It's longer and more detailed than most commercially-available "best teams ever" books, and probably the first one I've seen that's not aimed at kids. "Dynasties" is equal part historical research and statistical argument and, depending on where your interests lie, some parts of the book will be more interesting than others. Neyer's sidebars and sidesteps tend to be the freshest. The historical research shows best in the articles with his name attached. His game recounts are fresh, his player biographies are original. The 1906 and 1912 World Series summaries come to life in a way that makes you believe Roger Angell was actually there and sending back reports. He's the first author I've ever seen detail just who Walter Beall was, beyond the fact that he pitched one inning for the 1927 Yankees. Neyer, and mostly Epstein, use the Standard Deviation of a team's runs scored and runs allowed, to compare the great teams of different eras. They never tell us how "SD" is calculated, so those of us with adding machines can't play along at home -- I neglected to take statistics in college but love calculating ERAs and Pythagorean theorems as much as the next baseball nut. I won't blame them for my math shortcomings but they did promise to provide the formula at an early point in the book. Epstein's portions are less interesting. His prose is dry and peevish. His elaborate defenses of Reggie Jackson and Davey Johnson seem unnecessary, his use of the data unoriginal. Boldly proclaiming that a batter with 563 career HRS and 10 different playoff appearances is "productive", strikes of myopia. Worst of all is his discounting of postseason games, and in spite of his saying "Games are not played on paper", he's still trying to reopen the books on the 1969 World Series. Another of the book's rare missteps is a sidebar castigating a factual error about the 1986 Mets in Doc Gooden's autobiography. Fine, fine, but in the same pages Neyer misreports the scores of two playoff games from that same year. On the whole "Baseball Dynasties" is a terrific fit on my baseball bookshelf. It's more interested in presenting the facts, anecdotes and numbers -- unindexed, it's not a handy reference tool, and is best consulted during slow games or phone conversations with friends. Their final rankings of the 15 teams seems desultory -- they reach a logical but unsexy result I've seen argued in other books -- but when it comes to teams such as these, any answer is the "right" answer.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Sure to start an arguement, June 21, 2002
Neyer and Epstein's Baseball Dynasties is an entertaining and easy read that is also a thought-provoking book about baseball. Neyer (a regular columnists on ESPN.com) and Epstein (former managment for Orioles and Padres) introduce a method of measuring the dominance of teams -- the SD score. It is a way of estimating whether a team's success was truly a result of being a giant among men -- or whether it was because the talent in the league was so unevenly distributed. They identify 15 of the most dominant teams and break them down -- offense, defense, pitching, bench, how they were built, how the fell, etc. Each chapter is also graced with several small essays discussing fascinating aspects of each team.The book has its flaws. The attributing of each little section to Rob or Eddie could have been left out and makes the book feel choppy. I think it could have benefited by being written after Bill James' book on Win Shares (then again, so could almost every baseball book). It might even have been preferable for them to talk about lesser-known teams or fewers details but more teams. Do we really need more information on the 1927 Yankees? I didn't think so. I also think they should have looked at different KIND of dynasties. For example, teams like the 90's Braves, 80's Cards, 60's Reds, 60's-70's Pirates or 70's-80's Royals that weren't particularly dominating in any one year or short span of years, but were consistently good for a long span of time. Interviews with old-timers would have been nice but probably impractical. But I guess these complaints fall under one category -- the book is way too short. This subject deserves a "Historical Abstracts"-like tome that you could really wade into over the course of a few weeks rather than one you can zip through on the weekend. But the book makes up for these short-comings with the fairness with it treats the topic. You'll realize that the early 50's Yanks weren't that good, despite their five championships. The league was just poorly balanced. You'll realize the early 70's Orioles were truly a great team. It avoids the common trait in "best teams that ever was" arguements of assuming that whatever team dominated the youth of the authors was the best. It's the best book of its type out there.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
May settle some debates and start others, April 16, 2001
All across the US (and anywhere else major league baseball is talked about), the debate rages on about who the greatest major league team of all-time is. In sports bars, around office water coolers, in classrooms, or even family dinners, fans argue about whether or not the '27 Yankees could beat the '98 version or how would the '75 Reds fare against the '54 Indians? As the authors point out in their forward, we as fans appreciate winning. Well yeah it's boring as hell to watch bad teams.This book takes a look at and attempts to "rate" the greatest baseball teams of the 20th century, starting with the 1906 Chicago Cubs and finishing with the 1998 Yankees. Not only do they list the all-time great teams, they also devote a chapter to teams "just missing the cut." Using a statistical analysis not used before, the authors come to some interesting conclusions. Both authors felt that the '27 Yankees (generally considered to be the best team of all-time) to be number 2 or 3 on their lists, just for example. What I also liked were chapters devoted to the greatest teams of the 19th century, the greatest Negro league teams, and also a section about the team the authors felt was the best minor league team if all-time, the Baltimore Orioles of the 1920s (many players on this team later played for the '29 Philadelphia A's). There's also a chapter devoted to the worst teams of all-time and while one would immediately think of the '62 Mets, amazingly enough, they were only about the fifth worst team. Scary but true. Each chapter also contains sidebars about noteworthy events of that season, the team's descriptions, features on notable players, and even books written about the particular teams. While statistically-oriented, it's still a fascinating and well-researched book devoted to baseball's greatest teams.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Good reference work, entertaining, not penetrating enough, May 23, 2000
The topic of dynasties is one that had not been the subject of a sabermetric treatment before, and while this book is a welcome addition to my baseball bookshelf - and many others', I'm sure - it lacks one or two qualities that one might hope for from two writers who are in the forefront of popularizing a more rigorous study of baseball. While the book contains a nice mix of stats - including a new application of standard deviations that is the central contribution of this book - and anecdotal and descriptive history, the conclusions reached do not hang together convincingly. A tension between valuing and emphasizing peak performance and length of high performance is expected, and often noted by the authors, but the rankings reveal a commitment to not grapple with the admittedly difficult question. Even the issue of which teams to leave out of the book is handled inconsistently. In general, I hoped for more thorough and insistent argumentation, but Neyer and Epstein ultimately seem content with an informed version of a casual, barroom conversation. I should emphasize that I enjoyed the book, and am glad I own it, and encourage hardcore baseball fans to indeed buy the book. It is a good reference, but as a serious study I think it is more of a starting point than anything.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
72-74 A's , August 9, 2004
To Bryan Lutes of Aurora, Illinois: The 72-74 A's are covered in the book. They are covered in Chapter 15. They are one of the fifteen teams that are rated as great dynasties.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
A fine companion to Bill James' Hall of Fame book, August 7, 2000
Neyer worked with Bill James a decade ago, and his shows in this book, much of which shows the same analytical approach to the history of the game that James' terrific book Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame? displayed. A study of 15 teams of the 20th century who maintained a level of excellence for a number of years, it's packed with data on the performance of each team, the individual players, and what made them great in their time. Besides the eponymous Yankee teams are less-well-known teams such as the 1911 Philadelphia Athletics and the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals.Beyond the straight analysis, each chapter includes sidebars about what else was going on in the Majors that year, and whole sections on individual players, including members of the supporting cast who had interesting careers or performed interesting feats. Personalities of the players are discussed, although at a little distance. There are also chapters on the worst teams of all time, and great 19th century and negro league teams. The book's biggest flaw is the brevity of the comparison between the teams in an effort to choose the greatest team of all time. I did not find their arguments persuasive, nor even strongly supported by the evidence elsewhere in the book. Still, it's a terrific and entertaining look at excellence in baseball, and a rich resource of baseball history, with pointers to many other such books.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Great research and writing lead to a surprising answer.., June 8, 2001
Basically, if you read and like Rob Neyer from espn.com, then you will like this book. The book depends heavily on statistics in the decision-making process, including the use of SD score, which Neyer and Epstein developed for this book. It gives an accurate way to compare teams across generations. They also focuse on several seasons around one focus season, rather just looking at the one great season.Even for those not highly interested in stats, this is a good read. The team chapters gives great history, and the sidebars provide info on what was happening around the league in the given year, among other things. There is also a glossary provided to aid in questions about what various statistics mean. The concluding chapter allows the authors to compare and contrast the various teams, as well as to criticize their selections and methods. I feel this lends credibility to the discussion.. And you may be surprised at who they choose as the greatest team of all-time..
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Thorough Treatment of the Subject, but Somewhat Bland, April 8, 2000
I recommend this book for someone who is interested in baseball analysis and also baseball history. I have read a great deal of both Mr. Neyer and Mr. Epstein's work on ESPN.com and elsewhere and as usual they do a solid job with the subject material. Each of the fifteen teams is covered in detail. There are specific questions answered of every team and then a number of short essays describing various interesting aspects of each team. Their analysis is almost always supported by facts and generally on the mark. The writing is easy to follow and not too technical, which can be a challenge in a book of this sort. The language is a touch coarse in a few isolated cases, though that doesn't bother me personally.On the negative side, the book just seems a bit bland. I've been through 70-80% of the book and I don't recall laughing out loud once. The sections dealing with each team are solid, but get a bit formulaic at times. I definitely recommend the book, but it strikes me as being more of a reference than entertainment. As such, I feel certain I will occasionally pull it off my shelf and check out a famous team in the years to come.
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