Book Review: Graphical Player 2007
At my apartment complex here in snowy Lincoln, Neb., packages are delivered to the office and the manager signs for them. I’ve become well-known as the guy who gets a package 5-6 times a month, and I think the manager has grown quite tired of calling me to let me know I have another brown box waiting for me. Most of these parcels are books I’ve ordered, and most of them are about… you guessed it, baseball.
The latest delivery made to the weary apartment manager was the 2007 edition of the Graphical Player. Last year it was just the Graphical Pitcher, but batters made their way into the pages of this year’s copy. Published by the fine folks at BaseballHQ.com, it’s the work of John Burnson, a baseball thinker that I believe doesn’t get enough credit for what he does.
If you like charts, as I do, this book is pure gold. Craig Brown, Marc Normandin and Jeff Sackmann write short blurbs for each hitter in the book, but the meat of the thing is in how much info is conveyed with graphics. The charts are ingenious, though a tad busy. At a glance, I can tell the trends that a pitcher showed on several rates such as strikeouts, walks and groundballs. For the hitters, I can tell that there’s a little polishing and revision to be done, but it’s still very good.
My only criticism of the book is that for hitters, the three variables that are graphed along a season progression are strikeout percentage, power, and batting average. K% and Px are calculated on a rolling game basis, meaning that the last 20 games are what determines the data point. The batting average is season to date, though, rendering any changes in batting less and less noticeable the later in the season you get, since at-bats have piled up enough to buffer and trends. I’d like to see that changed to a 20 game rolling rate, so it will coincide with the K% and Px numbers.
I’d highly recommend buying the book for anyone who’s a baseball fan. It’s slightly aimed at the fantasy crowd, but it’s very useful for anyone who’d like to see trends in player performance. Doesn’t everyone want to see that, though?