available now at Amazon for $28.99 (paperback) and $9.99 (Kindle)
588 pages.
Hardball Retroactive” is a modest collection of selected articles that I have written for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog since 2010. Each piece is chosen based on audience response – a combination of social media “likes”, replies to a particular essay along with my personal favorites. Exclusive content is incorporated into the book – additional charts and graphs that were omitted from the original posts as well as three new compositions.
“General Manager Scorecard” and the “Worst Trades” chapters evaluates the front office acumen of top MLB executives since 1950. “Taking the Extra Base” examines the art of base running on an individual and team basis. Trivia for one of the most breathtaking plays in baseball is chronicled in “Fun Facts About Inside-the-Park Home Runs”. “The Journey From Expansion to Competitive Team” chronicles the path to success for each franchise established since 1960. “Rotisserie vs. Reality” measures organizational performance by the standard Fantasy Baseball categories. The “Best Pitchers Who Never Threw a No-Hitter” are determined based on Sabermetric principles, “BABIP By Location” is a comprehensive look at individual and league statistics with regards to batted balls in play. The WBC is re-imagined back to the dawn of professional ball in “Baseball Birthplaces and the Retro World Baseball Classic”. Rediscover your favorite hardball arcade and simulations in “Play Retro Baseball Video Games In Your Browser”. “Minors vs. Majors” assesses every franchise’s minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations.
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Praise for Hardball Retroactive
“If you ever wanted to know how your favorite team has fared over the years when it comes to the outcomes of trades they have made or the success of their farm system and the players drafted by the team to stock the system, then this book by Derek Bain is for you… Bain breaks down the performance of scores of general managers who have run Major League teams throughout the years. The results and rankings, based on statistics like Win Shares, may surprise some readers. For those who have seen Bain’s earlier book, “Hardball Retrospective”, this book is in the same format and design. It just is now concentrating on trades and farm systems, along with some other fun concepts such as getting extra bases by hustle from singles.” – Lance Smith, Amazon reviewer
