≡ Libro Rob Neyer Big Book of Baseball Blunders A Complete Guide to the Worst Decisions and Stupidest Moments in Baseball History Rob Neyer 9780743284912 Books

Rob Neyer Big Book of Baseball Blunders A Complete Guide to the Worst Decisions and Stupidest Moments in Baseball History Rob Neyer 9780743284912 Books

Download As PDF : Rob Neyer Big Book of Baseball Blunders A Complete Guide to the Worst Decisions and Stupidest Moments in Baseball History Rob Neyer 9780743284912 Books

Rob Neyer Big Book of Baseball Blunders A Complete Guide to the Worst Decisions and Stupidest Moments in Baseball History Rob Neyer 9780743284912 Books

Rob Neyer's book of baseball blunders is sure to please any baseball fan with a sense of history. Neyer analyzes 50 trades and decisions from 1917 through 2003. They range from well-known events such as Grady Little's decision to lift Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of the 2003 American League Championship series and the trade of Roger Maris from the Kansas City Athletics to the New York Yankees in 1959 to lesser-known events such as the sale of Pee Wee Reese from the Boston Red Sox to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1939 and the Kansas City Royals' signing of pitchers Mark and Storm Davis in 1989.

Neyer astutely analyzes these events, challenging long held opinions and impressions by looking at the facts. Neyer is a keen observer of baseball history and his analyses are interesting and sound. His sidebars in the margins of chapters are irresistible. Baseball fans can open this book to any chapter and start reading.


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Rob Neyer Big Book of Baseball Blunders A Complete Guide to the Worst Decisions and Stupidest Moments in Baseball History Rob Neyer 9780743284912 Books Reviews

This one is very well written baseball book about some very famous and some not so famous decisions made throughout the history of the game. As a baseball fan, and I think you would have to be one too to really enjoy this book, I was looking forward to read about recent blunders , things that I had witnessed in my lifetime or be familiar with, so when I saw that it started with the 1917 Chi Sox swapping firstbasemen I thought I wouldn't enjoy it that much. Well, wrong I was, that first story set the tone of the book and from then on I just couldn't put it down until I finished it.

One of the stories that touched me more was the one about the Oakland A's pitching staff of the early 80's. As an A's fan I clearly remember the Billy Ball era, the A's had a great starting rotation (Norris, Keough, Langford, Kingman, McCatty) and Billy Martin had them pitched some 96 complete games in 1980, after the strike shortened season of 1981 these 5 guys just disappeared from baseball , all of them plagued with arm injuries, undoubtly they had paid the price for all those complete games for an Oakland team that finished 83-79 that year, in a far second place from Kansas City.

This is a great book from Rob Neyer, you won't regret to get it
Given the title, one might think that this is a book where Neyer spends 250 pages criticizing boneheaded decisions, but it's not. Instead, Neyer takes the time to examine about 50 blunders, taking the time to analyze each decision instead of simply pointing fingers at those making the blunder.

While the first blunder examined took place in 1917, this book is heavily weighted towards modern times. Only 15 take place before 1960, and almost half take place after 1970. Each incident is given about 4-7 pages of analysis, and many of the entries include side stories that Neyer includes in the margins. Many of the entries will be very familiar to baseball fans - the selling of the Babe, the trade of Roger Maris, and the Bagwell-Andersen deal. There are, however, many that aren't nearly so famous, like Tom Runnells' decision to shift Tim Wallach across the diamond, or the Pirates' benching of Kiki Cuyler during a stretch run. It's a good mix that Neyer has created.

Along with the regular entries, there are several "interludes" to break things up, including a couple about bad trades, and a funny entry about managers who never should have been in that position.

Neyer is, in my opinion, the most improved baseball writer over the past several years. He's always been a brilliant baseball mind, but now he seems to have found his touch as a writer. This book is enjoyable not only because of the cases he chooses to discuss, but also because of his style. There's plenty of analysis, some good humor, and little in the way of ridiculing or finger-pointing, which would have been easy to do in such a book.

An excellent book, and it's tough to beat the price. I'd recommend it for any baseball fan, even if not everything in here is new to you.
If you've been a baseball fan for 20 or more years, many of the blunders will sound very familiar, no new ground broken. On the other hand, if you're a rookie, you may find it very enjoyable. I appreciated Neyer's placing certain transactions in their proper context, especially the Brock trade, for which the Cubs have never been forgiven. Neyer, however, sorts outs all the facts and the trade, at that time, was about equal. Later on, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, the media blew it way out of proportion while conveniently ignoring the proper context of this deal. The use of win shares in analyzing selected transaction adds a new insight into the long range evaluation of whom got the edge in trades. A bunch of blunders are given real short treatment and one wonders why the author even bothered to include them. There were two baseball history errors in this book, which are inexcusable, especially by such an authority as Neyer. Curt Simmons is described as a right-handed starter while Dale Murray is listed as a left-handed reliever...now that's careless research. In brief, if you a veteran baseball fan, you could pass on this one; however, if you value win shares, you may enjoy its application to certain trades.
What I really enjoyed about this book is that it was all in bite size chunks. It reads like a collection of columns from a website or magazine. There are some really good stories here and some great analysis. The only thing that detracted from the book was there was a lot material that was pre-1980's which is when I was growing up. If you know a lot about baseball in the 1940's-1960's, this book will be more appealing. That being said, he does make the time period more accessible, it just really isn't my main area of interest.
Rob Neyer's book of baseball blunders is sure to please any baseball fan with a sense of history. Neyer analyzes 50 trades and decisions from 1917 through 2003. They range from well-known events such as Grady Little's decision to lift Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of the 2003 American League Championship series and the trade of Roger Maris from the Kansas City Athletics to the New York Yankees in 1959 to lesser-known events such as the sale of Pee Wee Reese from the Boston Red Sox to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1939 and the Kansas City Royals' signing of pitchers Mark and Storm Davis in 1989.

Neyer astutely analyzes these events, challenging long held opinions and impressions by looking at the facts. Neyer is a keen observer of baseball history and his analyses are interesting and sound. His sidebars in the margins of chapters are irresistible. Baseball fans can open this book to any chapter and start reading.