We all know that baseball is a pretty easy sport. I mean, come on… who couldn’t hit a 95 mph fastball, given enough chances? And of course, managing a team would be pretty fun and not too challenging, either. I’ve done it tons of times from my couch, as I watched poor decision making resulting in losses for my beloved team.
OK, that whole last paragraph was sarcastic. But the authors of this book took on a challenge that seems preposterous to anyone who’s played the game at a reasonably high competitive level. These two guys were given the reins to a non-affiliated professional baseball team (the Sonoma Stompers) for an entire season. They had to recruit and draft their own players, pick a manager, and then do whatever they wanted with the team.
As statisticians and writers for the Baseball Prospectus, they chose to test out all the things that the numbers indicated. They employed some unfathomable infield and outfield shifts. They abandoned the closer role in favor of a fireman reliever. They based their batting order on unconventional ideas. They employed players that no one else would give the time of day. And their only rule is exactly what the title of the book implies: It Has To Work.
So did it work? I’ll simply tell you that you have to read the book for yourself to see what conclusions could be drawn from their “wild experiment building a new kind of baseball team.” But I will say this much about my enjoyment of it: there is plenty to love about it. Their story-telling was a bit drawn out at times, as they included minutiae of so many games and plays. However, that aside, it was so much fun to read about their trials and errors, frustrations, triumphs, personality clashes, social awareness, and more.
I would have to say my favorite parts of the book were those that took place off the diamond, as the guys reflected on the impact of some of their decisions. There was definitely a humanistic side to the narrative, and I suppose that balanced nicely with their scrupulous attention to the finest details of the unforgettable season they had with the Stompers.
If you are interested in what trends have changed baseball analysis in recent years, and want to see how they might be fleshed out on the field of play, AND care about issues beyond baseball, then this is a book I would highly recommend to you. And if you don’t like excessive details at times, then this is a good chance for you to practice your skimming and scanning skills, too.