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Bill James (born June 18, 1949 at Mayetta, Kansas) is an important and influential baseball writer, and is its most influential statistician. Since 1977, James has written over two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics, attempts to use scientific data collection and interpretation methods to explain why teams win and lose.
James, an aspiring writer and obsessive fan, began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Unlike most writers, his pieces didn't re-enact games in epic terms, or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?") and then presented data and statistics that answered the question in his understated prose style.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James self-published an annual he titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract in 1977. The first edition presented 80 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season.
Over the next three years, James's work began to win respect. New editions added essays on teams and players, written in increasingly lively and engaging prose. By 1982, sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. These books made the bestseller lists.
While writers had published books about statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook 's Percentage Baseball , in the 1960s), none had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James' work spawned a flood of books and articles that continue to this day.
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews; these books include two editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract .
On two occasions, James has published a series of new annuals; neither duplicated the impact of his earlier work. The Baseball Book was a loosely-organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles and occasional pieces of research. The Player Ratings Book offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball MLB is the highest level of play in professional baseball in North America. More specifically, Major League Baseball ("MLB") refers to the entity that operates North America's two top leagues, the National League and the American Lea's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 19911991 like 2002, is a palindromic year. It also has the same calendar as 2002, including Easter on March 31. It is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January January 2 Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first blac. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data - the 19871987 is a common year starting on Thursday. Events January January 1 Nunavut's capital changes it name to Iqaluit from Frobisher Bay. January 3 Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. January 4 An Amtrak train and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first features writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc. , the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 20012001 is a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar), and also: The International Year of the Volunteer The United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations Events January January 1 A black monolith measuring approximately nine feet tall ap.
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