Enjoyable Analysis of How the Red Sox Took the 2004 World Series | Mind Game: How the Boston Red Sox Got...

If They Were Smart in 2004...What Happened in 2006? | Mind Game: How the Boston Red Sox Got Smart, Won a World Series, and Created a New Blueprint for Winning | Steve Goldman, Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts

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	• Mind Game: How the Boston Red Sox Got Smart, Won a World Series, and Created a New Blueprint for Winning Steve Goldman, Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts Workman Publishing Company, 2005 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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Interesting but mostly redundant for BP subscribers

I'm a subscriber to the Baseball Prospectus website and read their sabermetrically-oriented articles every day, so I was looking forward to "Mind Game" to see what new insights they could bring into the construction of the 2004 Red Sox. Alas, having read so much BP material over the last few years, "Mind Game" didn't feel like it had much new to offer me that I hadn't seen before. In a nutshell: compared to the Yankees, the Red Sox spent their money more wisely, including their ability to get value from freely available talent (especially David Ortiz).

There are a lot of juicy stories from the season, especially with the Alex Rodriguez non-trade and the shocking Garciaparra trade, but as some of the other reviewers point out, the narrative doesn't flow nearly as well as in "Moneyball". I still enjoyed having a nice baseball book to tote around and read on the train, but I would mostly recommend "Mind Game" to those baseball fans who aren't already plugged into the sabermetric network, and are interested in the sometimes-surprising results that current baseball research is discovering.

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Enjoyable Analysis of How the Red Sox Took the 2004 World Series

The best thing about reading anything by the team that writes for the Baseball Prospectus is the wit and humor with which they analyze the game on the field. They do this well in "Mind Game" and offer a valuable perspective on how the Theo Epstein led Boston Red Sox was able to capture the World Series in 2004. As might be expected, statheads that they are, this team of writers adores another stathead and celebrates the rise of sabermetrics in baseball management. Epstein is a follower of the legendary Billy Beane in Oakland, the hero of Michael Lewis's "Moneyball" (2003), himself a loyal acolyte of the guru of all statheads, Bill James. By building a team using the statistical measurements advocated by James, according to editor Steven Goldman and his team of writers, Theo Epstein made it possible for the Red Sox finally after 86 years to win the World Series following a series of near misses.

What we learn from this book is that the Red Sox had suffered years of mismanagement through cronyism, racism, and a host of other "isms." When the longstanding Yawkey influence was finally purged from the team's ownership in the early twenty-first century a new clear vision of how to win took root. Epstein pursued it relentlessly, restructuring the team to reflect a philosophy built around big innings, on base percentage, power hitting, and strong defense especially up the middle. Indeed, as the back cover of this book notes, there are several myths exploded in this book:
* A lineup the strikes out a lot can't be a winner.
* There's no such thing as too much offense.
* Until 2004, the Red Sox were habitual underperformers in the post-season.
* Teams play better after an emotionally uplifting brawl.
* Mariano Rivera was the best closer in baseball from 1999 to 2003.
There is a large amount of additional conventional wisdom busted in "Mind Game" as well.

In the end what emerges is an enjoyable, enlightening discussion of how the Red Sox were able to win it all in 2004. It's a satisfying analysis that even the non-stathead will find useful.

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If They Were Smart in 2004...What Happened in 2006?

In retrospect, any team that wins a league championship has done nothing but make the right moves. How could it be otherwise? It could because while the reading is fine, and the data excellent, BP only writes about the right moves the Sox made, and totally ignores their dumb moves, like signing oft-injured Scott Williamson to be a key cog in their bullpen, or having no minor leaguers ready to help the rotation and leaving Derek 'How' Lowe Can You Go in the rotation all year.

Well, they say winners get to write the history books. I guess the same could be said about baseball champs as well. It would be interesting to see how the writers at BP talk about the 2006 Red Sox, who have the same 'Smart' front-office people, but whose team flat out gave up in August.

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Some good analysis, but it's no "Moneyball."

I like to think of Theo Epstein's philosophy as "Moneyball with money." He applies many of the same principles espoused by the sabremetric crowd, but he does so within the context of a fairly rich ballclub so he can afford to make a mistake or two.

What "Mind Game" does very well is analyze what made the 2004 Red Sox different from all the failed clubs that came before it. Theo Epstein had a plan, he stuck to that plan, and he had a manager in Terry Francona who believed in the system and understood how to execute it. He didn't build a collection of superstars in the Yankee mold, but rather a team of players with specific strengths placed in roles that exploited those strengths.

There are some very provocative ideas in the book, several of which have been mentioned in previous reviews. Is Pedro really the greatest pitcher of all time? Is Derek Jeter really overrated? Is Keith Foulke really a better pitcher than Mariano Rivera? The authors make their case, and while you might still disagree after reading it, there is plenty of food for thought.

Like "Moneyball" before it, "Mind Game" challenges some generally accepted baseball principles. Unlike "Moneyball," however, "Mind Game" is an ex post facto analysis. It's much easier to watch the Red Sox win the World Series and then proclaim Theo Epstein a genius than it is to actually sit in the Draft room with Billy Beane and explain why he knows better than the scouts.

Another issue I have with "Mind Game" is that it is a collection of essays as opposed to a cohesive story about a team. Ironically, the book is like the Yankees. The sum of its parts is better than the whole. Each essay focuses on a particular player or moment and does an in-depth analysis of its subject and how it contributed to the overall picture, but the overall picture is sometimes lost in the statistical analysis. Some chapters require multiple readings to gain a clear undertsnding of the statistics involved.

Overall, "Mind Game" is a good book. Red Sox fans will love it because it gives you a million more reasons why that 2004 team was so special. Thoughtful baseball fans will enjoy it for its statistical analysis and challenging ideas. I think even open-minded Yankees fans will gain something from "Mind Game," even if they disagree with some of the points raised. The only people to whom I would NOT recommend this book are the lockstepping Yankees fans who meet even the slightest criticism of the Bronx Bomers with screams of "26 World Championships" and "Jeter is God."

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Simultaneously Smart and Sophomoric

I love reading about baseball, and I'm a huge fan of sabermetric analysis. Plus, I hate the Yankees. So I was prepared to love "Mind Game." But it's a distinct disappointment. It's sloppily written and terribly redundant, as would be expected from a book with so many contributors. But worse than that, the venom with which the Yankees are treated has colored some contributors' opinions so badly that their comments and analysis are wrong. In summation, the book provides the deep statistical analysis and interesting historical perspective I've come to expect from Baseball Prospectus, but it's not nearly as good as I expected.

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Think You Know Baseball?
Think Again.

The Red Sox finally won a World Series, in a triumph of unconventional wisdom. They rethought the batting order and committed to Johnny Damon as lead-off. Saw the talent in David Ortiz that other teams overlooked. Had the courage to trade one of the game?s top shortstops for the good of the team. They knocked over the sacred cows of RBIs, sacrifice bunts, the hit-and-run, and hewed to the new thinking about pitch count?allowing Pedro Martinez, arguably baseball?s best pitcher ever, to excel.? Weaving statistics, narrative, personalities, and anecdote, MIND GAME reveals exactly how this group of? idiots,? led by Theo Epstein and Terry Francona, was in fact the smartest team in the league, and revolutionizes the thinking fan?s understanding of how baseball games are really won and lost.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3