Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game

Baseball fans love statistics. Box scores, batting averages and pitching records are published on the backs of baseball cards and in books, revised daily on Web sites and newspapers and quoted easily and authoritatively by sportscasters and in casual conversation. But how to make sense of all this information? Curveball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game by Jim Albert, professor of mathematics and statistics at Bowling Green State University, and Jay Bennett, principal scientist with Telecordia Technologies both former chairs of the sports section of the American Statistical Association and lifelong Philadelphia Phillies fans has 273 scary-looking charts and tables (and some bothersome formulas), but will be welcomed by many fans seeking to better understand the numbers. ( Aug.)