Baseball Prospectus

Baseball Prospectus, sometimes abbreviated as BP, is a think tank focusing on sabermetrics, the statistical analysis of the sport of baseball. Baseball Prospectus has fathered several popular new statistical tools which have become hallmarks of baseball analysis.

Baseball Prospectus was founded in 1996 by Gary Huckabay, who recruited the initial contributor group of Clay Davenport, Rany Jazayerli, Christina Kahrl, and Joe Sheehan, with the publication of the first annual set of forecasts. The analysis and statistics favored by Baseball Prospectus has in various forms gained significant acceptance by the management of many Major League Baseball clubs, notably the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians. BP has often been considered the modern successor to Bill James' "Baseball Abstract" series of books in the 1980s. [See, for example, James Fraser, "'Baseball Prospectus' — Escaping Bill James' Shadow," "By the Numbers" (Newsletter of the SABR Statistical Analysis Committee) 10, No. 2 (May 2000).]

Prospectus Entertainment Ventures, LLC

As a legal entity, the organization is known as Prospectus Entertainment Ventures, LLC. Reflecting its legacy as a group of sabermetricians who met over the Internet, BP has no "main office." Working for BP is a second or part-time job for most of the regular staff, who conduct their work for BP in their own home or professional offices.

Prospectus Entertainment Ventures partners with Football Outsiders for the publication and promotion of "Pro Football Prospectus" (ISBN 0452288479).

On October 10, 2007, BP launched [http://www.basketballprospectus.com BasketballProspectus.com] , a new website for the analysis of men's college and pro basketball, with Joe Sheehan taking the role of [http://basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6 Managing Editor] and announcing the lineup of principal writer-analysts for the site. Unlike BaseballProspectus.com, this website is free and does not require a subscription for full access. BP also plans to begin publishing an annual book, "College Basketball Prospectus", beginning with the 2008 season. [Nate Silver, "BasketballProspectus.com Launches in October," [http://baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=521 BaseballProspectus/Unfiltered] , September 10, 2007.]

Products

Baseball Prospectus creates several products:

* The web site [http://www.baseballprospectus.com BaseballProspectus.com] , which contains articles, statistical reports, and fantasy baseball tools. The site contains some free content, although it has become increasingly available only by paid subscription. A dozen authors write regular bylined columns on the site and numerous other writers contribute occasional articles. The site also covers baseball history as well as current issues and events, including games and series, injuries, forecasts, player profiles, baseball finance, and the player marketplace. [ Tim Lemke, [http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20061210-121834-2632r.htm "Baseball Prospectus Finds Niche,"] "The Washington Times" (December 10, 2006)] .] In December 2006, the site introduced a blog called [http://baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/ "Baseball Prospectus: "UNFILTERED"] ."

* A best-selling annual book (current edition [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/book/ "Baseball Prospectus 2008"] ) that contains statistics and analysis of the past season and forecasts of the upcoming season.

* Other baseball-related books, such as "Mind Game: How the Boston Red Sox Got Smart, Won a World Series, and Created a New Blueprint for Winning" (2005) (ISBN 0-7611-4018-2) and "Baseball Between the Numbers" (2006) (ISBN 0-465-00596-9). The latter was chosen by the editors of Amazon.com as the best book on baseball (and third best on sports in general) published in 2006. [ [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/1000024431/ Best Books of 2006: Sports ] ]

* A syndicated and podcasted radio show, [http://www.bbp.cx/radio/ Baseball Prospectus Radio (BPR)] . In June 2007, the regular weekly programming of BPR ended. However, the site continues to provide podcasts, online audio and video, and to explore how to integrate such features into more of its regular content. As of September 2007, a daily podcast of approximately five minutes was provided, called the "Baseball Prospectus Rundown".

* The annual [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/iba/index.php?mode=history Internet Baseball Awards] , started in 1996, based on fan voting for the Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player in each of the two major leagues. [For the 2007 results, see Greg Spira, "The 2007 Internet Baseball Awards: Results and Wrap-Up," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6897 BaseballProspectus.com, November 1, 2007] .]

Development

The website BaseballProspectus.com began in 1997 primarily as a way to present original sabermetric research; publish advanced baseball statistics such as EqA, the Davenport Translations (DT’s), and VORP; and promote sales of the annual book. Beginning in 2003, the site placed most of its new articles, its PECOTA forecasts, and some of its statistical databases in a “premium” section that could be accessed only by subscription.

Until 2007, when the site began to post general advertising, the premium subscriptions and book sales were Baseball Prospectus' main source of revenues. Baseball Prospectus does not publish a financial report or information about its subscriber base, but it appears to be using its income to expand its breadth of coverage to attract new customers, [Nate Silver, "The State of the Prospectus: Now Serving Beer . . . and Tacos," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=4800 BaseballProspectus.com, February 27, 2006] ; and Nate Silver, "State of the Prospectus: New Features," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5736 BaseballProspectus.com, December 1, 2006] .] and it has not increased its subscription prices since initiating its premium service. It also offers a subscription to those interested in fantasy baseball, at a lower price than the premium subscriptions and giving access to fewer features and articles.

BaseballProspectus.com has a corps of staff writers who publish articles on a regular (typically weekly) basis under a featured heading (see list of "Regular Writers" below). In addition, occasional articles are published by other BP staff or freelance authors. Some former regular writers no longer appear on the site but can be found writing for other media or employed on the staffs of major league baseball organizations, including as of 2007 the Cleveland Indians [Keith Woolner is [http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=cle Manager of Baseball Research & Analytics] for the Indians. From 2001 to 2007 he wrote "Aim For The Head" columns for BP.com. Woolner invented Value over replacement player and a variation on Pitcher Abuse Points. Woolner left BP in May 2007 to join the front office of the Cleveland Indians.] , the Tampa Bay Rays [James Click is a [http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=tb Coordinator of Baseball Operations] and Chaim Bloom is an Assistant Coordinator of Baseball Operations for the Tampa Bay Rays.] , and the Pittsburgh Pirates. [Dan Fox joined the Pirates front office in April 2008 to become their Director of Player Systems Development. See Dan Fox, "Schrodinger's Bat: Opus 100," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7380 BaseballProspectus.com] , April 17, 2008] .] [In addition, Keith Law, formerly a writer for BaseballProspectus.com and now an ESPN columnist, in 2002 moved from Baseball Prospectus to work on [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1318 player evaluation] in the front office of the Toronto Blue Jays.] Some current regular BP writers also appear simultaneously in other media including ESPN.com and ESPN Radio, FoxSports.com, Sports Illustrated and SI.com, the New York Sun, the New York Times, Playboy Magazine, and the YES Network.

Although the site maintains its sabermetric core and has expanded its statistical databases (most of which are open to non-subscribers), it now regularly attends to issues such as baseball prospects (the First Year Player Draft and minor league baseball), international baseball, the economics and business of baseball (valuation of players, team and stadium finances, the player marketplace) [This carries on the tradition established by the late Doug Pappas, who wrote regularly for BP from 2001 until his untimely death in 2004.] , and fantasy baseball (PECOTA, the "Fantasy Focus" series of articles, forecast manager and other fantasy tools). As BP has begun in addition to publish monographs on specialized topics, it has delved into the application of sabermetric analysis to historical topics – an emphasis clearly seen in "Mind Game" (2005 – a history of the Boston Red Sox), "Baseball Between the Numbers" (2006 – which addresses some historical comparisons), and "It Ain’t Over 'til It’s Over" (2007 – about historical pennant races).

Theories

Baseball Prospectus writers promote several theories on proper baseball management and analysis, many of which are contrary to those of conventional baseball wisdom.

Clutch hitting

Baseball Prospectus researchers have concluded that there is no repeatable ability of clutch hitting. As writer Joe Sheehan said, "Over the course of a game, a month, a season or a career, there is virtually no evidence that any player or group of players possesses an ability to outperform his established level of ability in clutch situations, however defined." [cite news|title=The Concept of "Clutch"|first=Joe|last=Sheehan|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2656|work=Baseball Prospectus Basics] They cite studies which find that there is insignificant correlation between year-to-year performance in clutch situations.

In an article published in 2006, Nate Silver argued that clutch hitting ability does exist to a degree. He argued that although not as important as traditional baseball analysis would suggest, clutch hitting ability was more significant than other sabermetric studies had shown. The article also found there to be a connection between clutch hitting ability and situational hitting, or the ability to adjust a hitting approach to fit the given situation. [cite book|last=Silver|first=Nate|editor=Jonah Keri|title =Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know about the Game Is Wrong|year=2006|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York|isbn=0-465-00596-9|pages=14-34]

Views on traditional statistics

Baseball Prospectus writers often argue that traditional baseball statistics such as RBIs, wins, and Batting Average are poor reflections of a player's true contributions. For example, they have argued that RBIs are too dependent on factors outside of the player's control, namely the production of other hitters in the lineup. [cite book|last=Keri|first=Jonah|editor=Jonah Keri|title =Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know about the Game Is Wrong|year=2006|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York|isbn=0-465-00596-9|pages=1-4] [cite news|title=Measuring Offense|first=Dayn|last=Perry|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2562|work=Baseball Prospectus Basics] They similarly argue that wins are too affected by factors such as the team's offense and bullpen. [cite book|first=Dayn|last=Perry|coauthors=Woolner, Keith|editor=Jonah Keri|title =Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know about the Game Is Wrong|year=2006|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York|isbn=0-465-00596-9|pages=49-50]

Closer usage

Baseball Prospectus writers assert that teams are typically inefficient in their use of their best relievers. Teams typically assign their most effective reliever to the position of closer, using him in only save situations (when the team is leading by fewer than four runs in the 9th inning). According to many Baseball Prospectus writers, a team's best reliever should be used when the opposing team has its best chance at increasing its chances of winning. [cite news|title=How to Run a Bullpen|first=Derek|last=Zumsteg|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2603|work=Baseball Prospectus Basics]

Views on sacrifice bunts and stolen bases

Many writers argue that the sacrifice bunt and stolen base are overused in baseball. Teams will often attempt these plays when the score is close. Writers for Baseball Prospectus often argue that teams are, on average, actually lowering their expected number of runs scored. They argue that stolen base attempts are not completed frequently enough for them to be beneficial to the offense. [cite news|title=Stolen Bases and How to Use Them|first=Joe|last=Sheehan|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2607|work=Baseball Prospectus Basics] For sacrifice bunts, they argue that the team is giving up more by sacrificing an out than they gain by advancing a runner one base. Their thinking is derived from the grid of expected runs in an inning based on the outs and runner situation, which shows that the sacrifice is detrimental to a team given average players in most of the situations in which it is typically used. [Run expectancy matrix available [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2844 here for all users] and [http://baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=100051 here for paid subscribers] .]

In a series of articles in 2004, James Click argued that sacrifice bunts are beneficial in some situations, dependent on the quality of the batter at the plate and the situation in the game. [cite news|title=When Does it Make Sense to Sacrifice?|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2844|first=James|last=Click|format=links to part 1 of series]

tatistical tools

Baseball Prospectus writers use a wide variety of sabermetric tools. Among the major tools that they are credited with inventing are:
*Value over replacement player (VORP) - a measurement of the number of runs contributed by a player over the expected level of performance the average team can obtain if it needs to replace a starting player at minimal cost. [cite news|title=Introduction to VORP: Value Over Replacement Player|url=http://www.stathead.com/bbeng/woolner/vorpdescnew.htm|first=Woolner|last=Keith]
*Pitcher Abuse Points (PAP) – a measure of the impact of a particular start by a pitcher on his arm, based on pitch count.cite news|title=How We Measure Pitcher Usage|first=Rany|last=Jazayerli|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2633|work=Baseball Prospectus Basics]
*Equivalent average (EqA) – a combination of various hitting numbers designed to express a player's overall offensive contribution. [cite news|title=About EqA|first=Clay|last=Davenport|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2596|work=Baseball Prospectus Basics]
*Peripheral ERA (PERA) – a pitcher's expected ERA based on park-adjusted hits, walks, strikeouts, and home runs allowed. [ [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?mode=viewstat&stat=126 Baseball Prospectus | Glossary ] ]
*PECOTA - a system of player projection based on similarity to previous player seasons. [cite news|title=The Science of Forecasting|first = Nate|last=Silver|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2659|work=Baseball Prospectus Basics]
*Equivalent Baserunning Runs (EqBRR) – a statistic indicating a player's rate of run production resulting from his baserunning. [This new statistic was incorporated into BP's regular daily and seasonal statistical reports effective with the 2008 season but also calculated for previous seasons. It has also been incorporated into PECOTA estimates for 2008. The fundamental work on this metric was developed in a series of columns by Dan Fox. See, for example, Dan Fox, Schrodinger's Bat: The Running Man," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5495 BaseballProspectus.com, September 7, 2006] , "Schrodinger's Bat: The Baserunning Edition," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6845 Baseball Prospectus, October 18, 2007] , and "A Running Comparison," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=675 Baseball Prospectus/Unfiltered, November 14, 2007] . Also see Dan Fox, "The Tortoise, the Hare, and Juan Pierre: Translating Baserunning into Runs," in S. Goldman and C. Kahrl, Eds., "Baseball Prospectus 2008" (New York: Plume, 2008): 558-563.]
Voros McCracken's pathbreaking article on Defense Independent Pitching Statistics also first appeared on the BP website. [ [http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=878 Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Pitching and Defense ] ]

Regular writers

* Jim Baker – joined BP in 2004 and writes the "Prospectus Matchups" weekly column, in which he discusses upcoming series. Baker contributed to the first edition of Bill James' "Historical Baseball Abstract" and also writes for ESPN.com, primarily on ESPN's "Insider" and "Page 2."

* Alex Carnevale – in 2006 took over over the "Week in Quotes" column, a collection of quotes from baseball personalities from the previous week.

* Will Carroll – a Senior Writer for BP who since 2003 has written the "Under The Knife" daily column, a summary of injury news, and is a host of Baseball Prospectus Radio. In the preseason, he writes "Team Health Reports" and "Positional Health Reports." He also has published "Saving the Pitcher" (ISBN 1-56663-578-0), and "The Juice" (ISBN 1-56663-668-X), which won the 2005 Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award. He is a contributor to MLB.com's Fantasy 411 and writes a weekly column on NFL injuries for [http://www.rotowire.com RotoWire.com] . He used to also write about NFL injuries for ESPN.com which was entitled the "Carroll Injury Report" and appeared on the The Fantasy Show on ESPN.

* Clay Davenport – a co-founder of BP who is responsible for many of the website's behind-the-scenes operations, including its advanced statistics, statistical reports, and play-off odds simulations. [Alan Schwarz, "Computers Are a Good Bet on Figuring Playoff Odds," "New York Times", August 6, 2006.] Davenport invented Equivalent average, the Pythagenport Formula (a variation on the Pythagorean expectation) [cite news|title=Revisiting the Pythagorean Theorem: Putting Bill James' Pythagorean Theorem to the test|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=342|first=Clay|last=Davenport|coauthors=Woolner, Keith] and "Davenport Translations" or "DT's", which translate minor league and international baseball statistics into American major league baseball equivalents and place all statistics on the same scale, regardless of era. [cite news|title=DTs vs. MLEs - A Validation Study|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=49|first=Clay|last=Davenport]

* John Erhardt – has been a lead editor for BP, and through most of 2006 wrote "The Week In Quotes" column.

* Dan Fox – from April 2006 to April 2008, wrote a weekly "Schrödinger's Bat" column, usually employing hard-core quantitative sabermetric techniques. Fox is a former author for The Hardball Times. In addition to innovative analyses of pitch-by-pitch data and creating new metrics accounting for baserunning, [Dan Fox, "Schrodinger's Bat: Taking Advantage," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6731 BaseballProspectus.com, September 20, 2007] .] he has developed and distributed software for charting the locations of balls in play. [Dan Fox, "Schrodinger's Bat: Always Increasing, [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6958 BaseballProspectus.com, November 29, 2007] .] He also expounds on sports, technology, history and other curiosities in his blog, [http://danagonistes.blogspot.com/ Dan Agonistes] . On April 17, 2008, in the publication of his 100th "Schrödinger's Bat" column, Fox announced that he was leaving BP to take a position as Director of Player Systems Development in the front office of the Pittsburgh Pirates. [Dan Fox, "Schrodinger's Bat: Opus 100," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7380 BaseballProspectus.com, April 17, 2008] .]

* Steven Goldman – since 2004 has written "You Could Look It Up" columns, discussing baseball's history using new statistical tools. Goldman edited BP's book "Mind Game" as well as authored his own book "Forging Genius: The Making of Casey Stengel." (2005 — ISBN 1-57488-873-0) (2006 — ISBN 1-57488-874-9). Goldman also writes the [http://www.yesnetwork.com/teams/pinstriped.jsp?oid=36019&cat=bible "Pinstripe Bible"] and [http://www.yesnetwork.com/teams/pinstriped.jsp?oid=36019&cat=blog "Pinstripe Blog"] for the YES Network as well as regular columns on the New York Yankees and New York Mets for the New York Sun.

* Kevin Goldstein – since 2006 has written multiple-times-per week "Future Shock" columns on high school, college, and minor league player prospects, with an emphasis on scouting rather than sabermetrics. He also covers Winter League baseball, Spring training, the Major League Baseball draft, scouting, personnel development, and the baseball player marketplace. Before joining BP, Goldstein was a writer for Baseball America.

* Gary Huckabay – founder and former Executive Vice-President of Baseball Prospectus, announced his return as a regular contributor to BaseballProspectus.com with an "Unfiltered" post on August 2, 2007. [Gary Huckabay, "An Unforgiving Foe & Gratitude," [http://baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=472 BaseballProspectus.com, Aug. 2, 2007] .] He resumed his "6-4-3" bylined columns on September 4, 2007. However, this was one of only two such columns contributed during the 2007 season.

* Derek Jacques – since 2006 has written on a variety of topics including the "Prospectus Game of the Week" feature in 2006, the Caribbean Series, and most recently the on-going "Prospectus Toolbox" series in which he explains advanced sabermetric tools in layman's language.

* Jay Jaffe – since 2005 has written a weekly "Prospectus Hit List" column, which "power ranks" all major league teams and comments on the rankings. In July 2007, Jaffe debuted a second weekly column, "Prospectus Hit and Run," which took over some of the content that previously was included in the "Hit List," while allowing him to expound his interpretation of trends more fully. Jaffe created the JAWS score for evaluating Baseball Hall of Fame Prospects. [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=3674 and http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?mode=viewstat&stat=477] He also maintains the [http://www.futilityinfielder.com/home.php Futility Infielder] blog.

* Rany Jazayerli – a co-founder of BP who writes occasional "Doctoring the Numbers" columns for Baseball Prospectus.com. For many years he also compiled BP's annual Top 50 Prospects list and was the inventor of the concept of Pitcher Abuse Points.

* Christina Kahrl – one of the co-founders of BP, is the Managing Editor of BaseballProspectus.com and the group's annual book. She also writes the bi-weekly "Transaction Analysis" columns, listing and then commenting on the roster activity of all 30 major league teams. She has also written for SportsIllustrated.com, ESPN.com, the New York Sun, Salon.com, Slate, Playboy, and the Washington Blade, and is an associate editor of "The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia." She is the former Acquisitions Editor of Brassey's Sports, a mid-list publisher that focused on sports history and analysis. [ [http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000070131,00.html Christina Kahrl] on Penguin Group (USA)]

* David Laurila – since late 2006 has taken the main responsibility for the "Prospectus Q & A" column, in which he interviews personages from the baseball community: players, managers, and analysts/writers. He is the author of the book "Interviews from Red Sox Nation" (2006) (ISBN 0977743616).

* Marc Normandin – joined the BP staff in 2006 and writes the weekly "Player Profile" column in which he analyzes the record and performance of a particular player from a sabermetric perspective. Beginning in Fall 2007 he has also written weekly "BP Fantasy Beat" columns, offering strategic advice to fantasy baseball players. Normandin also writes for [http://heatermagazine.com/ HeaterMagazine.com] .

* Caleb Peiffer – contributes the daily Prospectus Preview, highlighting interesting daily matchups from a sabermetric perspective, a recent addition to the BP website.

* John Perrotto – since 2007 has enhanced BP's weekend coverage with his "Every Given Sunday" column as well as a mid-week "On the Beat" column. He is on the staff of "Beaver County and Allegheny Times" and some of his other work can be found online at [http://www.timesonline.com/ TimesOnline.com] . Perrotto also writes a regular "Around the Rim" column for [http://www.basketballprospectus.com Basketball Prospectus] . He is a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

* Dayn Perry – rejoined the BP staff in 2008, resuming his weekly "Can of Corn" column after a two-year hiatus. Author of the book "Winners: How Good Baseball Teams Become Great Ones" (2006), Perry is also a regular contributor to FoxSports.com.

* Joe Sheehan – a co-founder and a BP Senior Writer who discusses an important topic from the previous day's action in the almost-daily "Prospectus Today" column. Sheehan co-edited the first "Baseball Prospectus" annual volume, which appeared in 1996, as well as several subsequent editions. In October 2007, he assumed an added role as Managing Editor of [http://basketballprospectus.com/ Basketball Prospectus] .

* Nate Silver – is Managing Partner of BP and since 2003 has written a weekly "Lies, Damned Lies" column, which often debunks current common baseball opinion. He is the creator and steward of the PECOTA forecasting system. He also writes a blog on elections, [http://www.fivethirtyeight.com FiveThirtyEight.]

* Bryan Smith – joined the BP staff in 2007 after merging his "Wait 'Til Next Year" blog into "The Baseball Analysts" in 2005. Writes on college baseball, the minor leagues, and major league prospects under the "Wait 'Til Next Year" feature heading. Smith has also written for SI.com, Baseball America, and other media outlets.

Criticism

Baseball Prospectus, as well as other sabermetric analysts, are criticized for taking the human aspect out of the game of baseball. For example, Murray Chass of the New York Times wrote in an article that he did not want to hear or read about new-age baseball statistics any more (referencing Value over replacement player specifically), saying:

"I suppose that if stats mongers want to sit at their computers and play with these things all day long, that’s their prerogative. But their attempt to introduce these new-age statistics into the game threatens to undermine most fans’ enjoyment of baseball and the human factor therein. People play baseball. Numbers don’t." [cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/sports/baseball/27chass.html?ex=1178683200&en=9d1d9a339e780519&ei=5070 |title=As Season Approaches, Some Topics Should Be Off Limits |publisher=New York Times |date=2007-02-27 |accessdate=2007-05-07]

Nate Silver responded to this criticism in "An Open Letter to Murray Chass," including offering to meet Chass to watch a ballgame. [Nate Silver, "An Open Letter to Murray Chass," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=233 BaseballProspectus.com, February 27, 2007] .] He expounded on the case for a positive impact of sabermetrics on the game of baseball in an article "How Sabermetrics Helps Build a Better Ballgame," published on Baseball Analysts.com. [Nate Silver, "How Sabermetrics Helps Build a Better Ballgame," [http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2007/05/how_sabermetric_1.php Baseball Analysts, May 10, 2007] .]

Another type of criticism comes from those who believe that by broadening its coverage and audience, Baseball Prospectus is becoming more like the mainstream media and losing what made it unique. In response to a question along this line in an on-line chat, Silver wrote:

From a brand standpoint, we're more concerned about differentiation based on quality than differentiation based on where we fall on sort of the "saberpolitical" spectrum. We brought people like Kevin [Goldstein] and Bryan Smith on because [they're] the absolute best at what they do. [Nate Silver, "Chat," [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/chat/chat.php?chatId=321 BaseballProspectus.com, June 27, 2007] .]

Books published by Baseball Prospectus

The Annual

*"Baseball Prospectus ’96". Joe Sheehan, Clay Davenport, and Gary Huckabay, Eds. Self-published. 1996.

*"Baseball Prospectus '97". Joe Sheehan, Clay Davenport, and Gary Huckabay, Eds. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books Inc. (former Brassey’s Inc.), 1997. ISBN 0-9655674-0-0.

*"Baseball Prospectus: 1998". Gary Huckabay, Ed. Washington D.C.: Potomac Books Inc. (former Brassey’s Inc.), 1998. ISBN 1-57488-177-9.

*"Baseball Prospectus: 1999". Clay Davenport, Chris Kahrl, Keith Law, Rany Jazayerli, and Joseph Sheehan, Eds. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books Inc. (former Brassey's Inc.), 1999. ISBN 1-57488-192-2.

*"Baseball Prospectus 2000". Chris Kahrl, Clay Davenport, Joseph S,. Sheehan, and Rany Jazayerli, Eds. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc. (former Brassey’s Inc.), 2000. ISBN 1-57488-214-7.

*"Baseball Prospectus 2001". Joseph S. Sheehan, Chris Kahrl, Clay Davenport, Eds. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books Inc. (former Brassey’s Inc.), 2001. ISBN 1-57488-323-2.

*"Baseball Prospectus 2002". Joseph S. Sheehan, Ed. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books Inc. (former Brassey’s Inc.), 2002. ISBN 1-57488-428-X.

*"Baseball Prospectus 2003". Gary Huckabay, Chris Kahrl, Dave Pease, Eds. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc. (former Brassey’s Inc.), 2003. ISBN 1-57488-561-8.

*"Baseball Prospectus 2004". Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts on Baseball Talent. New York: Workman Publishing Co., 2004. ISBN 0-7611-3402-6.

*"Baseball Prospectus 2005". Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts on Baseball Talent. New York: Workman Publishing Co., 2005. ISBN 0-7611-3578-2.

*"Baseball Prospectus 2006". Steven Goldman and Christina Kahrl, Eds. New York: Workman Publishing Co., 2006. ISBN 0-7611-3995-8.

*"Baseball Prospectus 2007". Steven Goldman and Christina Kahrl, Eds. New York: Penguin (Plume), 2007. ISBN 0-452-28825-8.

*"Baseball Prospectus 2008". Steven Goldman and Christina Kahrl, Eds. New York: Penguin (Plume), 2008. ISBN 0-452-28903-3.

Monographs

*"Mind Game: How the Boston Red Sox Got Smart, Won a World Series, and Created a New Blueprint for Winning". Steven Goldman, Ed. New York: Workman Publishing Co., 2005. ISBN 0-7611-4018-2.

*"Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know about the Game Is Wrong". Jonah Keri, Ed. New York: Basic Books, 2006. ISBN 0-465-00596-9 (hardback) and ISBN 0-465-00547-0 (paperback).

*"It Ain't over 'til It's over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book". Steven Goldman, Ed. New York: Basic Books. Hardback 2007 (ISBN 0-465-00284-6); paperback 2008 (ISBN 0-465-00285-4).

External links

* [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ BaseballProspectus.com]
* [http://www.basketballprospectus.com/ BasketballProspectus.com]
* [http://www.footballoutsiders.com/ FootballOutsiders.com]

Notes