The New Ballgame

Description

Watching a game of baseball today means witnessing phenomena that would have been novel, if not completely unheard of, not so long ago. Starting pitchers sling 100 mile-per-hour heat for just four or five innings before departing; third basemen often station themselves much closer to second (to say nothing of the shortstop's whereabouts); home runs and strikeouts dominate at-bats; all while the length of contest tips toward the four-hour mark. There's no getting around it: the game looks different now. And as Major League Baseball scrambles with rule changes, equipment modifications, labor negotiations, and more, fans are left grasping for the true essence of this beloved pastime among the moving pieces. In The New Ballgame, Russell Carleton (The Shift) deftly identifies and examines the many levers and inflection points that have shaped the game into what we see on the field today. Through a singular blend of statistical analysis, history, and cognitive science, readers will trace the rapid evolution of the modern game while contemplating the sport in an entirely new way. Blending incisive research with affable storytelling, Russell Carleton delivers a kaleidoscopic view on modern baseball in this welcome, revelatory work.

Russell A. Carleton is a baseball writer, researcher, and fan, living in Atlanta. He has been a regular contributor to Baseball Prospectus since 2009, writing about advanced statistical analysis in baseball, with an emphasis on the gory mathematical details. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from DePaul University in Chicago, and has provided statistical consultation to several teams in Major League Baseball. He is the author of The Shift: The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking.