"The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, like the original, is really several books in one. The Game is a history of baseball, decade by decade, from the 1880s through the 1990s. For each decade, the New Abstract offers a bulleted summary incorporating the obvious - highest batting average, best won-lost record by team - and the eccentric. Included in the latter are such categories as Heaviest Player (for the 1930s: Jumbo Brown, a 6'4" 295-lb. pitcher), Most Admirable Superstar (for the 1960s: Roberto Clemente), Worst-Hitting Pitcher, Best Minor League Player, innovations in equipment, and dozens more. Also in each decade/chapter are essays on How, Where, and by Whom the game was played; uniforms; Best Minor League Teams; articles on forgotten achievements such as Wally Moses's remarkable 1936 campaign, or Jim Baumann's 72 home runs for Roswell, Texas (the minor league home-run record) in 1954." "In The Players, James ranks - and writes about - the top 100 players at each position in major league baseball history. To support these rankings, he introduces a remarkable new statistic called "Win Shares," a way of quantifying individual performance and equalizing the offensive and defensive contributions of catchers, pitchers, infielders, and outfielders. If you've ever wondered whether Rogers Hornsby or Eddie Collins was the greatest second baseman in history (answer, neither); who made the greatest contribution to his team entirely based on his defense (Bill Mazeroski and it's not close); how Mike Piazza, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and other superstars of today stack up against the legends of baseball; who were the greatest infields and pitching staffs in baseball history; or who had the career home-run record before Babe Ruth (Roger Connor, ranked #22 among the first baseman in baseball history), then The Players is the greatest argument starter - and settler - ever." "And there's more: Reference sections covering Win Shares for each season for every player who gained at least 300 shares; and Win Share charts for twenty-four representative teams, from the 40-120 1962 Mets to the 114-48 1998 Yankees."--BOOK JACKET.