SABR member Gabriel B. Costa is a catholic priest and a professor of mathematical sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Michael R. Huber is a professor of mathematics at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He has been studying sabermetrics for more than 20 years and is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. John T. Saccoman is a professor in the department of mathematics and computer science at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.

• Table of ContentsPrefacePart I—One Way of Looking at the IssuesIssue 1. The Best Team of the Deadball EraIssue 2. How Good Were the 1927 New York Yankees?Issue 3. How Good Were the 1929–1931 Philadelphia Athletics?Issue 4. How Bad Were the St. Louis Browns?Issue 5. Four Consecutive Championships: The New York Yankees of 1936 Through 1939Issue 6. Five Consecutive Championships: The New York Yankees of 1949 Through 1953Issue 7. The Great Brooklyn Dodger Teams of the 1940s and 1950sIssue 8. How Good Were the 1961 New York Yankees?Issue 9. How Bad Were the 1962 Mets?Issue 10. How Good Were the Los Angeles Dodgers Teams of the 1960s?Issue 11. How Good Were the St. Louis Cardinals Teams of the 1960s?Issue 12. How Good Were the 1969 New York Mets?Issue 13. How Good Were the Baltimore Orioles Teams of the 1960s and 1970s?Issue 14. Three Consecutive Championships: The Oakland Athletics of 1972 Through 1974Issue 15. How Good Was the Big Red Machine of 1975 and 1976?Issue 16. Were the 1986 New York Mets Better Than Their 1969 Counterpart?Issue 17. How Good Were the Toronto Blue Jays of 1992 and 1993?Issue 18. Three Consecutive Championships: The New York Yankees of 1998 Through 2000Issue 19. How Good Were the 2004 and 2007 Versions of the Boston Red Sox?Part II—Let’s Debate the IssuesIssue 20. Is On-Base-Plus-Slugging the Best Offensive Statistical Measure?Issue 21. What Is the Best Way to Measure the Efficiency of a Pitcher?Issue 22. Baseball’s Second Greatest PlayerIssue 23. Baseball’s Greatest HitterIssue 24. Baseball’s Greatest Base StealerIssue 25. Baseball’s Greatest Offensive First Baseman (After Lou Gehrig)Issue 26. Baseball’s Greatest Defensive First BasemanIssue 27. Baseball’s Greatest Offensive Second BasemanIssue 28. Baseball’s Greatest Defensive Second BasemanIssue 29. Baseball’s Greatest Offensive ShortstopIssue 30. Baseball’s Greatest Defensive ShortstopIssue 31. Baseball’s Greatest Offensive Third BasemanIssue 32. Baseball’s Greatest Defensive Third BasemanIssue 33. Baseball’s Greatest Offensive OutfielderIssue 34. Baseball’s Greatest Defensive OutfielderIssue 35. Baseball’s Greatest Offensive CatcherIssue 36. Baseball’s Greatest Defensive CatcherIssue 37. Baseball’s Greatest Starting PitcherIssue 38. Baseball’s Greatest Relief PitcherIssue 39. Baseball’s Greatest Fielding PitcherIssue 40. Baseball’s Greatest Designated HitterIssue 41. Baseball’s Greatest ManagerIssue 42. Who Should Have Won the American League MVP Award in 1941?Issue 43. Was Cal Ripken, Jr., More Valuable as a Shortstop or a Third Baseman?Issue 44. Who Would You Rather Have on Your Team, Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols?Issue 45. If You Had to Win a Game, Who Would You Pitch?Issue 46. If You Needed a Hit to Win a Game, Who Would You Want at Bat?Issue 47. Who Was the Better Lead-Off Hitter: Rickey Henderson or Ichiro Suzuki?Issue 48. Comparing Four Top Rookie Position PlayersIssue 49. Comparing Four Top Rookie PitchersPart III—Quantifying the Impossible?Issue 50. What About Steroids?Issue 51. Who Are the Most Underrated Players in the Hall of Fame?Issue 52. Should Pete Rose Be in the Hall of Fame?Issue 53. Why Wasn’t Joe DiMaggio a First-Ballot Hall of Famer?Issue 54. Who Are the Best Position Players Not in the Hall of Fame?Issue 55. Who Was the Best Athlete Ever to Play Major League Baseball?Issue 56. Who Was the Best Nineteenth Century Ballplayer?Issue 57. Who Were the Best Players of the Negro Leagues?Issue 58. In the Final Analysis, Does Sabermetrics Make a Difference?Appendix: Abbreviations and FormulasReferencesIndex