The acclaimed classic on the statistical analysis of baseball records in order to evaluate players and win more games.Long before Moneyball became a sensation or Nate Silver turned the knowledge he'd honed on baseball into electoral gold, John Thorn and Pete Palmer were using statistics to shake the foundations of the game. First published in 1984, The Hidden Game of Baseball ushered in the sabermetric revolution by demonstrating that we were think...

The untold story of baseball's nineteenth-century origins: "a delightful look at a young nation creating a pastime that was love from the first crack of the bat" (Paul Dickson, The Wall Street Journal).You may have heard that Abner Doubleday or Alexander Cartwright invented baseball. Neither did. You may have been told that a club called the Knickerbockers played the first baseball game in 1846. They didn't. Perhaps you've read that baseball's color line wa...

Think you know how the game of baseball began? Think again.Forget Abner Doubleday and Cooperstown. Forget Alexander Joy Cartwright and the New York Knickerbockers. Instead, meet Daniel Lucius Adams, William Rufus Wheaton, and Louis Fenn Wadsworth, each of whom has a stronger claim to baseball paternity than Doubleday or Cartwright.But did baseball even have a father—or did it just evolve from other bat-and-ball games? John Thorn, baseball’s preeminent historian, examines th...

The 1988 cult classic behind football's data analytics revolution, now back in print with a new foreword and preface."The book that started it all. A visionary approach to football two decades ahead of its time." —Brian Burke, ESPN sports data scientist, creator of expected points added, win probability, and win ratesData analytics have revolutionized football. With play sheets informed by advanced statistical analysis, today's coaches pass...

A small town is in need of some help from a dragon who’s causing a whole lot of trouble. Dillion the knight, an outsider, comes to the rescue.. or does he? Get this wonderful bedtime story! A must-read.

Winner of the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball ResearchWinner of the North American Society for Sport History Book AwardNamed a 2005 Choice Outstanding Academic TitleNamed a 2025Choice Outstanding Academic TitleWhen Baseball before We Knew It was first published in 2005, it shatter...

Baseball began as a schoolyard game, brought to America by the colonists. It evolved rapidly over the second half of the nineteenth century, with innovations and rule changes continuing throughout the twentieth century and into the modern era. But why and how did these changes take place?In Strike Four: The Evolution of Baseball, Richard Hershberger examines the national pastime’s development, from the reasoning behind new rules and innovations to the consequences of these changes—...

More than just a lavishly illustrated and highly readable book, Wrigley Field Year by Year, originally published in 2014 and updated through the 2018 season, is the result of a quarter century of meticulous research. Written by a baseball historian and recognized authority on the “Friendly Confines,” this is the first book to detail each year of the storied park’s existence. The book covers not only the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Federal League baseball teams in detail, it touch...

Richard D. Cramer has been doing baseball analytics for just about as long as anyone alive, even before the term “sabermetrics” existed. He started analyzing baseball statistics as a hobby in the mid-1960s, not long after graduating from Harvard and MIT. He was a research scientist for SmithKline and in his spare time used his work computer to test his theories about baseball statistics. One of his earliest discoveries was that clutch hitting—then one of the most sacred pieces of received ...

Game Worn: Baseball Treasures from the Game's Greatest Heroes and Moments is a richly illustrated exploration and first-of-its-kind compendium study of the world's most coveted and precious baseball uniforms worn by Major League ballplayers during the twentieth century. This coffee-table book features many of the most historically significant uniforms, jackets, hats, as well as other treasured baseball collectibles that tell us as much about the history and soul of America as they...

More than just a lavishly illustrated and highly readable book, Wrigley Field Year by Year, originally published in 2014, is the result of a quarter century of meticulous research. Written by a baseball historian and recognized authority on the Friendly Confines,” this is the first book to detail each year of the storied park’s existence. The book covers not only the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Federal League baseball teams in detail, it touches on the Chicago Bears football tea...

BACK ISSUEBase Ball is a peer-reviewed book series published annually. Offering the best in original research and analysis, it promotes study of baseball's early history, from its protoball roots to 1920, and its rise to prominence within American popular culture.Prior to Volume 10, Base Ball was published as Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game. This is a back issue of that journal.