Win Shares

by Bill James, Jim Henzler

Win Shares, a revolutionary system that allows for player evaluation across positions, teams and eras, measures the total sum of player contributions in one groundbreaking number. James' latest advancement in the world of statistical analysis is the next big stepping-stone in the "greatest players of all-time" debate. For as long as baseball has been played, fans have struggled to compare the legends of the game with today's stars. Win Shares by Decade is just one of the many sections you'll find inside to help you judge who ranks where among the pantheon of baseball greats.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction

800 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

George William “Bill” James (born October 5, 1949, in Holton, Kansas) is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose. His Baseball Abstract books in the 1980s are the modern predecessor to websites using sabermetrics such as Baseball Prospectus and Baseball Primer (now Baseball Think Factory).

In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. He is currently a Senior Advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox. In 2010, Bill James was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_James

Reviews

[Tommy /|\ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Win Shares explains the statistical computation of the same named formula created by Bill James. While I found some of the explanations of the seemingly endless formulas and computations that are the under-pinnings of the Win Share system, James goes on and on and on and on about various historical comparisons. Enough so, that the majority of the reading is downright BORING. if you are into baseball stats (I am), you will find the sections discussion the formulas to be invaluable. Otherwise, the book becomes nothing more than James' intense navel-gazing exercises.

[Simeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it but it's heavy baseball stats. It's a good intro to baseball analytics.

[Jay French · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Bill James classic. In this one, Bill rethinks the numbers to assess a team / standings / stadium / era free measure of the good a player has done for his team, offensively and defensively. The beginning of the book rolls out the statistic and its creation, and it is quite complex and has a number of stand-alone rules to make it all work. It's understandable why he had the complexity given the task, and he compares his method to other methods in existence that tend to be less complex or rigorous. The second part of the book is taking the numbers he generated and writing those analysis papers that you expect from James, and he adds some good ones now, given he believes he has a better handle on the numbers to answer questions like who was the best second baseman by season. The final half or so of the book are the generated winshares for players and teams over time. I found it another enjoyable romp into the says who type of arguments you get into about baseball, and provides a well thought out, and often pithy answer.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Bill James deserves full credit as one of the first who began writing about baseball, he doesn't hold up against the more modern sabrmetrics. Win shares as a concept is deeply flawed, firstly by not accounting for defense outside of a positional adjustment. This results in Craig Biggio being one of the best players in history. Most of the value assigned to players comes from simply stepping on the field and and being listed as a 2B or C, rather than how well they actually played. Further, the lack of context to for the values assigned limits the ability to compare between positions. This has been dealt with in usage by using the metric WSAB, by subtracting from the Jamesean WS a 'bench' value. This idea of a replacement level amount of talent has been around since well before this book, and it is rather silly that is wasn't incorporated.

[Chris Palermo · Rating 5 out of 5]

While most will consider his "Historical Baseball Abstract" (HBA) to be James' magnum opus, this is *really* his life's work. Yes, the HBA is a reference tome; but Win Shares turns everything on its head - and provides a formula (albeit, one that takes some 70 PAGES to explain) that can measure everything on near-equal footing.

More than "Isolated Power" or "OPS" or any of the other fads today (that were all spurred by James' initial research), Win Shares is revolutionary. It's as if he saw that everyone was copying him and said, "ok, copy this suckers." No one has.

It's not something you sit and read ... there's no fun anecdotes or the expected James' wit. It's hardcore analysis -- a very different read from his other works. Nevertheless, it's something you just sit in awe of.

[Arthur · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the case for the Win Shares statistic unconvincing. Perhaps it's a more elegant calculation than the kitchen sink approach of Baseball Prospectus' statistics, but it seems less rigorous and powerful.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book cover to cover probably fifteen times. While I don't always agree with his conclusions, the arguments are presented very well and it is an amazing piece of work. The book is no longer in print, but you can read updates to the system at James' website.

[Joshtothemaxx · Rating 1 out of 5]

I learned the Bill James knows absolutely jack shit about statistics.

[Ryan Mulderrig · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most intense piece of baseball research i have ever come across.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another superlative effort by James.

[Jeremy Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

a tad dry

[Marshaferz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also not for the faint of heart, but if the statistics are one of the things you love about the game, this will show them in a whole new light.