Thom reviewed The Only Rule Is It Has To Work by Ben Lindbergh
Review of 'The only rule is it has to work' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I've listened to the Effectively Wild podcast exactly once, so this is my first serious exposure to authors Sam and Ben.
These statheads have some interesting ideas and the numbers to back them up, and this book chronicles their use in a professional league, albeit a small one. To write this book, they alternated chapters, covering the season, the strategies, and the social dynamics of the Sonoma Stompers. There is some humor here, along with some hubris.
At times, the authors range away from their topic, and at other times, they dive too deep. Bill James covers some of the same topics, but in a much more readable fashion. At times, the chapters felt like articles or podcasts that were stitched together. A narrative (of sorts) exists, but it doesn't flow smoothly. Better editing may have helped - not sure.
In summary, I like the idea and liked reading about …
I've listened to the Effectively Wild podcast exactly once, so this is my first serious exposure to authors Sam and Ben.
These statheads have some interesting ideas and the numbers to back them up, and this book chronicles their use in a professional league, albeit a small one. To write this book, they alternated chapters, covering the season, the strategies, and the social dynamics of the Sonoma Stompers. There is some humor here, along with some hubris.
At times, the authors range away from their topic, and at other times, they dive too deep. Bill James covers some of the same topics, but in a much more readable fashion. At times, the chapters felt like articles or podcasts that were stitched together. A narrative (of sorts) exists, but it doesn't flow smoothly. Better editing may have helped - not sure.
In summary, I like the idea and liked reading about it. The 18 reviews on goodreads (so far) are all either 4 or 5 stars, but for me this is basically a high 3.