What do you think?
Rate this book
Baseball Obscura 2026
Dive deeper into the game with Baseball Obscura 2026!
Baseball is more than standings and box scores: it’s about the teams and players, history and future, the arguments and possibilities. Baseball Obscura 2026 brings all of that to life with engaging analysis, bold opinions, and essays that capture America’s pastime in all its messy, fascinating reality. From spring training to the World Series, Baseball Obscura 2026 is the perfect guide to keep fans, fanatics, and fantasy obsessives entertained all the way through the baseball season.
Highlights of the Baseball Obscura 2026 include:
In-depth essays on all 30 major league teams. Explore where your team has been and where it’s going with analysis and engaging commentary that you can’t find anywhere else. From dawning dynasties to rebuilding rosters, these essays will provide fans with a cause for optimism or a cold dose of reality.
Position player and pitcher rankings. Want to know where your favorite player rates among the best in the game? Curious whether it’s Skenes or Skubal as the game’s number one ace? Trying to decide between Corbin Carroll and Julio Rodriguez for your fantasy team? Baseball Obscura has you sorted.
Longform essays that explore baseball’s past and future. From essays that explore the impacts of gambling and the emergence of technology, to an account to the 2025 Speedway Classic in Bristol and a case for fan unions, this book will keep you thinking all season long.
Original statistical analysis and deep dives. Where does Cal Raleigh’s 2025 season rate among the best catcher seasons of all-time? Who are Aaron Judge’s peers in the 200 Club? This year’s edition features improved team stat pages and analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
David Fleming has been writing about baseball for nearly two decades, blending statistical analysis with a fan’s perspective on the big questions around America’s pastime. Now he’s bringing a third annual edition of Baseball Obscura to readers in 2026.
Whether you’re looking for a baseball season preview, a fantasy baseball reference, sabermetrics-driven analysis, or just one of the most engaging baseball books of the year, Baseball Obscura 2026belongs on your shelf.
Check out the newest edition and visit our website to subscribe to free articles and essays throughout the season. Enjoy Baseball Obscura 2026!
Baseball is more than standings and box scores: it’s about the teams and players, history and future, the arguments and possibilities. Baseball Obscura 2026 brings all of that to life with engaging analysis, bold opinions, and essays that capture America’s pastime in all its messy, fascinating reality. From spring training to the World Series, Baseball Obscura 2026 is the perfect guide to keep fans, fanatics, and fantasy obsessives entertained all the way through the baseball season.
Highlights of the Baseball Obscura 2026 include:
In-depth essays on all 30 major league teams. Explore where your team has been and where it’s going with analysis and engaging commentary that you can’t find anywhere else. From dawning dynasties to rebuilding rosters, these essays will provide fans with a cause for optimism or a cold dose of reality.
Position player and pitcher rankings. Want to know where your favorite player rates among the best in the game? Curious whether it’s Skenes or Skubal as the game’s number one ace? Trying to decide between Corbin Carroll and Julio Rodriguez for your fantasy team? Baseball Obscura has you sorted.
Longform essays that explore baseball’s past and future. From essays that explore the impacts of gambling and the emergence of technology, to an account to the 2025 Speedway Classic in Bristol and a case for fan unions, this book will keep you thinking all season long.
Original statistical analysis and deep dives. Where does Cal Raleigh’s 2025 season rate among the best catcher seasons of all-time? Who are Aaron Judge’s peers in the 200 Club? This year’s edition features improved team stat pages and analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
David Fleming has been writing about baseball for nearly two decades, blending statistical analysis with a fan’s perspective on the big questions around America’s pastime. Now he’s bringing a third annual edition of Baseball Obscura to readers in 2026.
Whether you’re looking for a baseball season preview, a fantasy baseball reference, sabermetrics-driven analysis, or just one of the most engaging baseball books of the year, Baseball Obscura 2026belongs on your shelf.
Check out the newest edition and visit our website to subscribe to free articles and essays throughout the season. Enjoy Baseball Obscura 2026!
526 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 12, 2026
My annual Spring Training read. Fleming does a good job taking a look from a bird's eye view as a fan. Which means he's not an expert on every team. I appreciate and enjoy that.
March 11, 2026
This is a terrific read. My favorite baseball annual. Keep up the good work David!
January 20, 2026
Enjoyed this again in its third round. Nice overview of teams' performances and prospects. Interesting essays on a variety of topics by a true fan. Author combines statistical knowledge with baseball sense. I especially appreciated his idea that team fans should form "unions" so that their voice is heard on issues such as salaries, trades, moves, rules... After all, if fans do not watch teams, the franchises have NO value. Get it and enjoy! I'll pass this on to my grandson who loves following baseball.
My only criticism of last year's edition AND the first edition was the poor copy editing. Once again: It can't be that hard to read the book over before sending for publication....
My only criticism of last year's edition AND the first edition was the poor copy editing. Once again: It can't be that hard to read the book over before sending for publication....
March 29, 2026
Baseball Obscura is now one of my annual reads. The team essays are excellent and are the foundation of the book. The rankings are also great , giving the reader insight into the players. The final essays also surprised me. The one quote about technology and why it makes society need baseball even more today really resonated with me. A great read, and I’ll be back next year!
March 15, 2026
My interest with baseball comes and goes (like many things in my life) and I recently got back into it after three or so years away (how things have changed in that time.) After browsing the Athlon Sports MLB 2026 preview I thought I would take a punt on the third edition of the Obscura after finding the Kindle version of the Baseball Prospectus to be formatted to the point of unreadability. I was not disappointed.
I used to eagerly look forward to The Hardball Times annual each year as well as eagerly hoovering up Bill James's output each winter. Baseball Obscura appears to be the natural successor to those mighty yearly tomes, and in some ways surpasses them. The writing style is fresh and breezy, and crucially, does not take itself too seriously. Baseball, especially from a sabermetrical point of view, is often very guilty of that. This isn't.
The team essays, whilst slightly out of date (the book was published late December I believe) are excellent, as are the player profiles/ranking and essays.
If you do buy this book (and you really should) then also go ahead and sign up to the author's newsletter to complement it. I got my first one this week and it was excellent. Better than some of the ones I used to pay for back in the day.
As an English MLB fan you can often find yourself on a bit of an island (I don't know anybody else in 'real life' who shares my interest) but this book make it feel like you are chatting ball with an old mate down the boozer.
Go Phillies!
I used to eagerly look forward to The Hardball Times annual each year as well as eagerly hoovering up Bill James's output each winter. Baseball Obscura appears to be the natural successor to those mighty yearly tomes, and in some ways surpasses them. The writing style is fresh and breezy, and crucially, does not take itself too seriously. Baseball, especially from a sabermetrical point of view, is often very guilty of that. This isn't.
The team essays, whilst slightly out of date (the book was published late December I believe) are excellent, as are the player profiles/ranking and essays.
If you do buy this book (and you really should) then also go ahead and sign up to the author's newsletter to complement it. I got my first one this week and it was excellent. Better than some of the ones I used to pay for back in the day.
As an English MLB fan you can often find yourself on a bit of an island (I don't know anybody else in 'real life' who shares my interest) but this book make it feel like you are chatting ball with an old mate down the boozer.
Go Phillies!
April 17, 2026
This book came up in an online ad while I was covering the Blue Jays spring training camp and it was exactly what I needed: a fun and informative overview of every MLB team.
Some of the entries are laugh-out-loud funny and all of them opened my eyes to different ideas or issues each team is facing.
I will buy the 2027 edition and have already recommended it to many of my friends, including many of my colleagues on the Blue Jays beat.
My one complaint is that it could have used some more copy editing. Then again, maybe that adds to the charm of the book
Some of the entries are laugh-out-loud funny and all of them opened my eyes to different ideas or issues each team is facing.
I will buy the 2027 edition and have already recommended it to many of my friends, including many of my colleagues on the Blue Jays beat.
My one complaint is that it could have used some more copy editing. Then again, maybe that adds to the charm of the book
April 5, 2026
Reading this book is like hanging out at the ballpark with your neighbor who spends a lot of time looking at baseball statistics and wondering what it all might mean. For me, that's a delightful time. "Obscura" contains essays, opinions, tidbits, and ideas about what baseball might be like in the 2026 season.
Words of warning, though. If you're the type of reader that gets upset about typos "Obscura" may not be for you.
Words of warning, though. If you're the type of reader that gets upset about typos "Obscura" may not be for you.
April 7, 2026
Life got in the way and it wasn't until early early February that I remembered how much I had enjoyed Baseball Obscura 2025 and wasn't there probably a new edition I should be reading?
All this time I could have been making a Wisconsin winter less miserable...
Fleming's book is akin to the sound of the first Robin in springtime, but specifically for baseball junkies.
I'll be back in 2027. Just somebody remind me to pick it up earlier next time!
All this time I could have been making a Wisconsin winter less miserable...
Fleming's book is akin to the sound of the first Robin in springtime, but specifically for baseball junkies.
I'll be back in 2027. Just somebody remind me to pick it up earlier next time!
January 17, 2026
Absolutely marvelous. Strong prose from a real point of view. There are books with more fantasy baseball content, or with more player analysis, or with more in depth discussions, but there is no book that makes you feel and see and know, while giving you a healthy amount of baseball information, than this one does
March 31, 2026
A book of the hours; while I broke into it on the tail end of opening-weekend as opposed to the dark days of winter, it still happily absorbed my first day of Spring Break-- and will be a book to which I frequently return right through the long days of midsummer!
April 3, 2026
An updated Field of Dreams
While a book invested in analytics and stats,it addresses the heart and soul of the game
There is so much history in the future, if you know where to find it!⚾
While a book invested in analytics and stats,it addresses the heart and soul of the game
There is so much history in the future, if you know where to find it!⚾
February 23, 2026
Nicely done. Loved the style of his writing. Intelligently written like a fan but opinions based on facts not just feelings. Book is written for fans more than fantasy players. That’s a compliment.
April 3, 2026
Baseball? Statistics? Essay format? Oh my…
I cannot think of a better triangle of analysis. Great read.
I cannot think of a better triangle of analysis. Great read.
May 6, 2026
A perfect offseason read. The author combines interesting baseball info and writes in a casual but not sloppy style. Buy this now!
February 17, 2026
3rd Edition is the best so far. I enjoy the team by team write-ups / analysis as they are interesting and insightful. While I don't necessarily agree with some of the player rankings, it does challenge my own evaluation of the players. Hopefully the 4th edition is not released in the midst of a player lock-out, but I suspect it will happen that way.
And yes, Bill James should be in the HoF!
And yes, Bill James should be in the HoF!
March 10, 2026
Just as last year’s edition, I thoroughly enjoyed Obscura 2026. Dave does an excellent job of incorporating stats and analysis, with a great touch of humor. This is probably the only instance I’d be willing to read about the Rockies. I’m truly sorry my Giants acquired Devers from his team. But not actually.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews