Many thanks to BB reader Amal for this link. It's a 50 minute interview with Bill James, from "The Connection" on NPR last Friday. Also joining host Michael Goldfarb for part of the fascinating conversation is Dan Okrent, an accomplished author and editor-at-large for Time, Inc., who will always be more famous for inventing Rotisserie baseball.
Great interview.
Part of what makes James so beloved is his classic deadpan sense of humour. It comes out in this interview.
The abstract is the same way. I like to think that I'm a big baseball fan, but honestly I don't think I could get through the abstract without that dry wit.
BTW - how prophetic would it be if the Sox win the series this year? The messiah of the new religion of baseball, the youngest GM in the history of the game, the curse of the Bambino...Costas must be licking his chops.
Part of what makes James so beloved is his classic deadpan sense of humour. It comes out in this interview.
The abstract is the same way. I like to think that I'm a big baseball fan, but honestly I don't think I could get through the abstract without that dry wit.
BTW - how prophetic would it be if the Sox win the series this year? The messiah of the new religion of baseball, the youngest GM in the history of the game, the curse of the Bambino...Costas must be licking his chops.
Thanks for posting the link.
One caller wanted to standardize baseball fields like they do in basketball; James argued it was a mistake even for basketball to standardize its courts.
One caller wanted to know if James would preach OBP to star-hitting 12-year-olds. No, but James told a story from when he was an assistant coach of 9-year-olds.
James didn't bother to correct all the erroneous statements made him about him in the introduction by the interviewer, e.g. attributing stats to him he didn't invent.
I mentioned this a few months ago, but James did some interviews on MLB Radio last year. The one I liked best was his Aug 21 interview on baseball rules and how to speed up the game.
One caller wanted to standardize baseball fields like they do in basketball; James argued it was a mistake even for basketball to standardize its courts.
One caller wanted to know if James would preach OBP to star-hitting 12-year-olds. No, but James told a story from when he was an assistant coach of 9-year-olds.
James didn't bother to correct all the erroneous statements made him about him in the introduction by the interviewer, e.g. attributing stats to him he didn't invent.
I mentioned this a few months ago, but James did some interviews on MLB Radio last year. The one I liked best was his Aug 21 interview on baseball rules and how to speed up the game.