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State of Play

Audiobook
Nonfiction: Sports & Athletics
Unabridged   5.5 hour(s)
Publication date: 09/01/2020

State of Play

The Old School Guide to New School Baseball

Available from major retailers or BUY FROM AMAZON
Digital Download ISBN:9781696600200

Summary

Advanced statistics and new terminology have taken hold of baseball today, but do they accurately reflect the reality of the game? A baseball lifer states his case.

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Product Description

America's favorite pastime is undergoing an operations-to-field transformation. In recent years, the sabermetrics and analytics craze has infiltrated Major League Baseball—from its front offices to dugouts to clubhouses to media covering both, inciting a baseball culture war. New phrases like "launch angle," "spin rate," and "pitch framing" have entered the vocabulary, often with little real meaning when it comes to how the game is actually played on the field. No more.

In State of Play, twelve-year Major League veteran, Emmy Award–winning MLB Network analyst, and bestselling author Bill Ripken breaks down these modern statistical methods to explain which ones make sense in the game's historical context, bringing them together with proven old-school strategies. He simplifies those sabermetric terms hastily added to the baseball lexicon without being fully realized, taking new-school confusion out of old-school baseball's tried-and-true common sense. In the end, he unites the teachings of each school to show fans of both how to listen to and understand the game as it's played today and how it should be played moving forward.

From a true baseball lifer, State of Play offers a fascinating insider's look at how to reconcile years of historical tradition with the rules and trends of the new millennium.

Reviews/Praise

"For twelve major league seasons Bill Ripken was a very good baseball player. Since then he has been a brilliant teacher of the game’s nuances. With this book, readers who have not yet seen him, and especially his ‘Bill’s Blackboard’ segments on the MLB Network, can share the fun that the rest of us have been having thanks to him." ―George F. Will

Author Bio

Bill Ripken is an MLB Network studio analyst, appearing on MLB Tonight and other programs. A twelve-year Major League veteran, he began his career in 1987 with the Baltimore Orioles and later played for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Detroit Tigers. He lives in Maryland.