Interesting Material!
583055
"Baseball Between the Numbers" contains 29 provocative questions handled with numbers and critical thinking.  One of the first topics involves deciding whether Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds is the best player.  The first step was to determine how much each was relative to his league, after taking park effects into account.  Doing so demonstrates that Ruth was the superior hitter relative to his time.

However, athletes are bigger, better than they used to be - eg. gold-winning time in the men's Olympic 100-meter swimming even fell over 40% between 1896-1996.  At the same time technology has improved - baseball bats, gloves, and sports medicine and nutrition.  Meanwhile, the U.S. population roughly doubled from Ruth's time til today, and blacks and players from Latin America have also been added to the player pool.  (Foreign-born players now make up close to 30% of major league players; in '30 there were about 300,000 people/major league player - now it is close to 900,000.

The authors addressed these problems by tracking and comparing performance of players remaining in a league from one year to the next - generating an index of difficulty change, and also comparing one league to another.  Doing so shows Bonds far superior to Ruth (even though he undoubtedly would have benefited from better nutrition and not drinking for his depression, while Bonds has benefited from surgery not available to Ruth).  Two more adjustments later (for factors not well explained), it is concluded that Ruth was the better.

Then there is the question of steroids.  Bonds' post 2000 performance was compared to that expected based on his stats to that point.  Conclusion:  Bonds produced 142 more H.R. between 2000 and 2004.

Bottom Line on Ruth vs. Bonds:  Who knows; however, if you can follow all the math you probably belong on Wall St, if you're not already there.

Players' Salaries vs. Ticket Prices:  Salaries averaged less than $30,000 in 1970.  Then an arbitrator ruled that players could play out their "option year" and become free agents.  Since '76 (first year of free-agency), average player salary went from $51,501 to $2,632,655.  Average ticket prices during the same period rose 68% above inflation to $19.82 - the big event was the 6/89 opening of Toronto's Sky Dome with 161 luxury suites and a concession mall.  Attendance skyrocketed there.  But 12 teams without new stadiums raised prices about 50%, after inflation, from '91 - '05.

Analysis found that the only segment attending more games in the '90s than the '80s was households with over $50,000 income (plus those in the new skyboxes).  Normally this new demand would be met with increased supply - but not in the closed world of baseball.  Bottom Line: No link between player salaries and ticket prices.

Another particularly interesting chapter was titled "Are New Stadiums A Good Deal?" (for taxpayers).  The short answer - "No," the money would be spent elsewhere anyway and be more likely to stay within the area (vs. rich team owners, players).  In addition, creating room for skyboxes has resulted in cheap seats being located further away.  As for revitalizing the area, there are too many "dark nights" for local businesses to grow and thrive.  Finally, auditors have found that new stadiums don't even cover the costs of construction and operation - subsidies are required.  Yet, it goes on - N.Y. city plans about $400 million in subsidies (free land and infrastructure; foregone taxes, etc.) for both the Mets and Yankees to build new stadiums.

And then are are almost 20 other chapters!
289222
This is my disertation topic, so I found this book really interesting! I would love to have done a research such as this, but it's great somebody else had the chance to do it!
2739635
Very interesting indeed!  An offering of perspective for anyone that has an interest in the music of the spheres, vibration, sound healing, and particularly the planetary healing forks and gongs.  Good stuff!
4506309
I found the material to be better than the other books I have read about this subject.
3819991
A lot of new and interesting informations. Many details and according to my point of view very well investigated! If you're interested in history, and if you're willing to go to the time and effort of getting new knowledge of an important part of history, you should my that book!
3028925
This is excellent material.  I am using it in my High school class and will be using in an adult small group as well.  Please be aware it does go very quickly through things so in the end this may be an introduction to get people interested in digging deeper.
4705283
My favorite part of the book are the interesting stories Chris is able to tell based on the interviews and interesting people he's met. The stories are inspiring. The book is laid out well. the material is good, and it's worth a read albeit maybe not at the top of your list.
1812705
This is a very interesting presentation of archaeological findings in light of the Scriptures.  It will challenge you to re-think some things that are of incredible proportion in these last days!
4398759
As a new interest of mine it is more than I expected, although as you know this material isn't a one time read and you are done. I'm still studying it. But so far, so good.
4610010
A friend of mine was recommending this book to another friend and I was intriqued by what she was saying.  I had no idea that the book would contain as much information as it does, fascinating information.  I am loving it!
4301175
This was an enlightening read on a topic I found surprisingly interesting! If it is something that peaks your interest you should definitely check it out.
862667
Interesting read. I can appreciate the authors premise. However, at times he comes across almost militant in his effort. I am sure this is due to his passion for expressing his view. There is a great deal to be learned by reading this material.
641872
It is good to get an inside look! Interesting!!!
169152
I have enjoyed the summary of the Text chapters.  Very helpful in learning understand this amazing material.
4652646
Enjoyed going through and skimming pages. I am def going to find more time to read it. And I hope to make a change in my diet to benefit me for a lifetime! Well written material!
1890403
I'm really enjoying this literature!
It has selections from the religious and philosophical writings of India, Greece, Rome, Israel, and many others!
It's fascinating!
2990878
This information is given in an interesting and colorful fashion. I liked the Question and Answer format because you learn more and are an active participant in the learning process.