Baseball season starts today

Okay, so it actually started last night, but the Braves’ first game is today, so it feels like the season starts today.  I’m pretty swamped here at work, so I won’t have time to follow the game closely, but if you’re needing something to read while you watch the game, check out J.C. Bradbury’s excellent NY Times article on what really “ruined” baseball starting in the 1990s (hint: it wasn’t steroids).  I think he actually makes the case that baseball hasn’t really been “ruined,” but that’s another story.

I’ll be trying to read J.C.’s new book, The Baseball Economist, within the coming weeks, and when I do, I’ll post a review.  I anticipate that it will be very good, especially if you’re into sabermetrics.  Knowing his writing, it will probably also be good if you’re not into that.  If you want to buy it, go through the links at his Sabernomics site.  I think he gets some sort of referral credit if you buy it after clicking through there.

Also, if you want a different kind of live view of the game, check out what FanGraphs is doing this year with Live Win Probability.  If you remember, I started tracking a few win probability-related stats on this site last year (actually, it was a different site then, but those posts can be found here now), but FanGraphs has done an excellent job making what I was doing somewhat obsolete.  David Appelman keeps improving the site all the time, so check it out.

Have a great Opening Day!