The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches

Pitchers, the pitches they throw, and how they throw them -- these days it's the stuff of constant scrutiny, but there's never been anything like acomprehensive sourcefor such information. That's what preeminent baseball analyst Bill James and ESPN.com baseball columnist Rob Neyer realized over lunch more than a dozen years ago. Since then, they've been compiling the centerpiece of this book, the "Pitcher Census," which lists specific information for nearly two thousand pitchers, ranging throughout the history of professional baseball. TheGuidealso offers:A "dictionary" describing virtually every known pitchThe origins and development of baseball's most important pitchesTop ten lists: best fastballs, best spitballs, and everything in betweenBiographies of some of the great pitchers who have been overlookedMore knuckleballers and submariners than you ever thought existedAn open debate concerning pitcher abuse and durabilityA formula for predicting the Cy Young Award winnerSomething fresh and new: Bill James' "Pitcher Codes"TheNeyer/James Guide to Pitchersis about understanding pitchers, and baseball's action always starts with the pitchers. It's also about entertaining debates and having a great deal of fun with the history of a game that obsesses so many.

Bill James wrote the annual Baseball Abstract from 1977 through 1988. He is the author of nearly forty books, including The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. In 2002, James joined the Boston Red Sox as their Senior Baseball Operations Advisor. Rob Neyer is a senior writer and baseball columnist for ESPN.com. He is the author of Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups, Feeding the Green Monster, and Baseball Dynasties (with Eddie Epstein). His website, robneyer.com, contains additional material related to this book.