by Rob Neyer
To anyone with even a passing interest in baseball, Rob Neyer's Big Bad Book of Baseball Lineups is a must read. In the book, Neyer blends statistical analysis, with opinions, and anecdotes to create a wonderful resource. In short, he creates the lineups for every Major League team that would meet several criteria. For example, there is the best rookie lineup, or the iron glove lineup, or the lineup of players traded away. These lineups are each short and sweet, meaning that one can jump in and out of the book in shorts periods of time. For example, I first opened and read the section on the Minnesota Twins (obviously). From there, I read about each team whenever they were the Twins' opponent. In this way, I enhanced my baseball knowledge (as if it really needed it) and learned some great baseball stories.
Neyer does an excellent job of painting a historical picture of each franchise and supporting all of his opinions with facts. After all, who is the greatest Yankee center fielder of all time? Mantle or DiMaggio? Well I will not give away the answer, but his explanation is convincing. Also, he continues to plead Bert Blyleven's case for the Hall of Fame. I'm glad that there will always be someone out there fighting the good fight for Bert.
Finally, there is a certain bodily function that occurs on occasion and takes a few minutes at a time. Rob Neyer's Big Bad Book of Baseball Lineups ably fills this duration and gives one something to read. While I typically am not one to endorse books that are just short, choppy sections, this book is definitely a must-have for anyone looking for any extra information on baseball.