Talk:Bill James

Professionalism
This article reads more like a poorly written child's school report than an encyclopedia entry.

"Red Sox GM Theo Epstein also turned out to have a sabermetric bent."

The grammar in this is bad and it's more like a fluff piece. Removing this one sentence but I suggest a rewrite. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.84.28.149 (talk) 00:42, 21 September 2011 (UTC)

Runs Created Formula
I think it should be mentioned that that version of the RC formula shown is the "basic version" as there are more detailed versions. Also, James usually refers to the RC formula as ((Hits+Walks)*(Total Bases))/(At Bats+Walks). Not that it is that important, but I don't think he ever refers to it in the way it is written in the article, with Total Bases before hits+walks and with plate appearances being divided by. Not that it really matters but just because that is how he refers to it.

I changed "possibly the most influential sportswriter in baseball history," since Alexander Joy Cartwright implemented most of the changes in what became modern baseball. -Sam


 * That could probably be changed, since James I don't believe would profess to being a "sports writer". A more accurate statement might be "possiblt the most influential person in modern baseball statistial analysis". 64.186.39.4 18:42, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Can I sound out The Community about the possibility of condensing the material devoted to navel-gazing about the 2004 Red Sox bullpen? To the best of my knowledge, nobody really knows what role James played in its various troubles and tergiversations, and yet about 20% of this article is devoted to carefully NPOV-tested, spit-polished speculation about the subject (which seems doubly pointless in view of the way the season ended). -cosh 19:13, 13 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Maybe, but I think it's more a case of the article needing to be generally expanded. James is really a more important figure than he's being given credit for here. WilyD 13:45, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Minor Point
I think that SABR does much more than "scientifically evaluates statistical data in attempting to determine why teams win and lose." From their website: "Our mission is to foster the study of baseball past and present, and to provide an outlet for educational, historical and research information about the game."Chocaholic 06:27, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Article should note Bill’s opinion of the rule changes.

https://ballnine.com/2022/10/26/qa-with-bill-james — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.181.192.29 (talk) 20:10, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

Non-notable book
A reference to Covering the Bases: Making Sense of Bill James' Statistical Nonsense‎ was deleted from this article after the book's article was deleted. I agree that the book itself is not notable enough for its own Wikipedia article, but I would argue that it's notable enough to be included in this article. It's the only book-length retort to his work that I know of, and I think it's important to note. What are some other views? Rmj12345 18:14, 5 March 2007 (UTC)


 * The book didn't make enough impact to warrant extended discussion, but a brief mention seems reasonable. DwaynefromME (talk) 17:52, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Deletions of Bill James projections
Those who are interested in Bill James may be interested in the ongoing discussion re deletion of urls that include his projections, which can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Baseball#Deletions_by_Tecmobowl_of_hundreds_of_baseball_urls_w.2Funique_information.3B_failure_to_discuss.3B_edit_warring. --Epeefleche 20:50, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Kansas City Royals Fan
I'd suggest adding a section about how James was a Kansas City fan. His essay in his 1986 Baseball Abstract about attending the 1985 World Series (won by the Royals, and which included a brief history of Kansas City major league baseball) was a wonderful piece. Hanksummers (talk)hanksummers —Preceding comment was added at 15:51, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Rob Neyer mention
It might be worth mentioning somewhere in the article that noted ESPN columnist Rob Neyer began his career working for James. Gilbertine goldmark (talk) 23:23, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Sandy Alderson
"Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the late 1990s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball. In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox."

Should read, "When he took over as GM of the Oakland Athletics in the late 1990s, Billy Beane continued the work of Sandy Alderson, (a huge fan of Bill James) who was the first to apply sabermetric principles to running a major league baseball team."

83.85.130.224 (talk) 17:34, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

"Attacks on Dick Allen" section
I think this section of the article is extremely problematic. First of all, the very title is arguably not NPOV. Furthermore... it is true that James has written that Allen was such a bad clubhouse influence as to be a worthless player (although it should also be noted that James has since largely backtracked on that). That might be worth mentioning, as might Tanner's response (although BTW, it'd be nice to have a cite for that response). However, the discussion gets into serious original research and non-NPOV when it attempts to prove that Allen wasn't a bad influence. Firstly, whether he was or not, a lot of his contemporaries thought he was. It was the defining story of his career, not unlike a Milton Bradley or Terrell Owens of today. Moreover, it just isn't the point of a Bill James article. DwaynefromME (talk) 17:52, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

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