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Mind Game: How the Boston Red Sox Got Smart, Won a World Series, and Created a New Blueprint for Winning
Think You Know Baseball?
Think Again.
The Red Sox finally won a World Series, in a triumph of unconventional wisdom. They rethought the batting order and committed to Johnny Damon as lead-off. Saw the talent in David Ortiz that other teams overlooked. Had the courage to trade one of the game’s top shortstops for the good of the team. They knocked over the sacred cows of RBIs, sacrifice bunts, the hit-and-run, and hewed to the new thinking about pitch count—allowing Pedro Martinez, arguably baseball’s best pitcher ever, to excel. Weaving statistics, narrative, personalities, and anecdote, Mind Game reveals exactly how this group of “idiots,” led by Theo Epstein and Terry Francona, was in fact the smartest team in the league, and revolutionizes the thinking fan’s understanding of how baseball games are really won and lost.
Think Again.
The Red Sox finally won a World Series, in a triumph of unconventional wisdom. They rethought the batting order and committed to Johnny Damon as lead-off. Saw the talent in David Ortiz that other teams overlooked. Had the courage to trade one of the game’s top shortstops for the good of the team. They knocked over the sacred cows of RBIs, sacrifice bunts, the hit-and-run, and hewed to the new thinking about pitch count—allowing Pedro Martinez, arguably baseball’s best pitcher ever, to excel. Weaving statistics, narrative, personalities, and anecdote, Mind Game reveals exactly how this group of “idiots,” led by Theo Epstein and Terry Francona, was in fact the smartest team in the league, and revolutionizes the thinking fan’s understanding of how baseball games are really won and lost.
- GenresBaseballSportsNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2005
206 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 18, 2016
If you're looking to relive 2004 (and you probably are, if you're reading it), this is the book for you.
The writing is hard to evaluate because each chapter is written by a different author. Some of the authors (Nate Silver) are better than others. The editing could have been tighter; the same stats are explained in several chapters. The prose itself is full of already-dated references like "John Olerud struck out on seven pitches, Miguel Cairo flied to right field, and the ghosts -- Bucky Dent and Aaron Boon [sic; it's also full of typos], most notably -- moved back to the set of Charmed." and "To put it in standardized-test terms -- winning a championship is to Red Sox fans as OxyContin is to Rush Limbaugh." The volume is edited by a Yankees fan, which gives the narrative an air of objectivity. And there's a fair amount of emphasis on the kinds of things Red Sox fans don't talk about (racism).
The SABR analysis of the trajectory is truly fascinating; for someone whose previous understanding of the 2004 season was based entirely on emotion, the facts are enlightening.
The writing is hard to evaluate because each chapter is written by a different author. Some of the authors (Nate Silver) are better than others. The editing could have been tighter; the same stats are explained in several chapters. The prose itself is full of already-dated references like "John Olerud struck out on seven pitches, Miguel Cairo flied to right field, and the ghosts -- Bucky Dent and Aaron Boon [sic; it's also full of typos], most notably -- moved back to the set of Charmed." and "To put it in standardized-test terms -- winning a championship is to Red Sox fans as OxyContin is to Rush Limbaugh." The volume is edited by a Yankees fan, which gives the narrative an air of objectivity. And there's a fair amount of emphasis on the kinds of things Red Sox fans don't talk about (racism).
The SABR analysis of the trajectory is truly fascinating; for someone whose previous understanding of the 2004 season was based entirely on emotion, the facts are enlightening.
December 3, 2007
Let's be honest - I'll read any book that mentions Kevin Youkilis, my baseball husband. Unlike me, the authors control themselves admirably when it comes to Youk - but they're very, very excited by large tables of statistics. Yeah, statistics. They usually explain the meaning of the large groups of numbers, which means that it's safe to ignore the actual numbers and just read about why they're relevant.
Nothing earthshaking, but an interesting read, and they have a great sense of humor. (for the Sox fans, anyway. They make a great point when discussing Johnny Damon's importance to the 2004 Red Sox defense in balancing out Manny Ramirez, as "Ramirez's range was limited by his tendency to treat every fly ball as if it were a unique, previously unencountered situation." Hee.)
Nothing earthshaking, but an interesting read, and they have a great sense of humor. (for the Sox fans, anyway. They make a great point when discussing Johnny Damon's importance to the 2004 Red Sox defense in balancing out Manny Ramirez, as "Ramirez's range was limited by his tendency to treat every fly ball as if it were a unique, previously unencountered situation." Hee.)
January 26, 2012
read about half of this during today's headache, so i know i didn't absorb all that much. but that's fine, because i still enjoyed it and figured to be rereading it at least once in the future. maybe that time i'll read it with a computer at hand and look up answers to all the stats questions that kept coming to mind. big thumbs up.
January 16, 2012
This book looks in depth at the different moments of the 2004 season and how each effected the season. It is based very much on in depth statistics that might get a little boring to those not very interested in the numbers behind what actually happens.
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November 12, 2013Not a very exciting book, but since I really like baseball, and in particular the Sox, I think it was a good book especially if you're into statistics.
October 5, 2014
Excellent stats driven book about the 2004 World Champion Red Sox. Always love revisiting that special season.
April 9, 2008
Must read for everyone!
February 2, 2009
Interesting, but not exceptional...pretty well known concepts at this point
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August 7, 2017Among other things, the authors mention how important it is to keep a roster from aging. The Phillies need to take this to heart (Rollins, Polanco).
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews