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| Author | Rob Neyer, Eddie Epstein |
|---|---|
Publication date | April 2000 |
| ISBN | 9780393320084 |
Baseball Dynasties: The Greatest Teams of All Time is a non-fiction baseball book, co-written by Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein. It was published in April 2000 by W. W. Norton & Company.
15 different MLB "dynasties" (defined as teams with exceptional three-year runs) are profiled in separate chapters, all with league records, written accounts of the season, and other related baseball facts in sidebars.
At the end, the clubs are ranked, and a conclusion is reached that the 1939 New York Yankees are the greatest team of all time.
The two authors acknowledged that their work is heavily influenced by baseball statistician Bill James.
George William James is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he named sabermetrics after the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
Carl Owen Hubbell, nicknamed "the Meal Ticket" and "King Carl", was an American Major League Baseball player. He was a pitcher for the New York Giants of the National League from 1928 to 1943, and remained on the team's payroll for the rest of his life, long after their move to San Francisco.
Richard William "Rube" Marquard was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball in the 1910s and early 1920s. He achieved his greatest success with the New York Giants. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.
Rob Neyer is an American baseball writer known for his use of statistical analysis or sabermetrics. He started his career working for Bill James and STATS and then joined ESPN.com as a columnist and blogger from 1996 to 2011. He was National Baseball Editor for SB Nation from 2011 to 2014, and Senior Baseball Editor for FoxSports.com in 2015 and 2016.
James Charles Jacob Bagby Sr. was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Bagby was the first pitcher to hit a home run in a modern World Series, and one of the last pitchers to win over 30 games in one season.
Todd Randolph Hundley is an American former Major League Baseball catcher and outfielder. He was a two-time All-Star who played for 14 seasons with the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs.
Steve Kettmann is a California writer known for his political commentary, including New York Times articles like The Californization of U.S. Politics and The Pirate Party Logs a New Politics The Pirate Party Logs a New Politics, and his Santa Cruz Sentinel columns in support of Christine Blasey Ford, such as I Believe Christine Blasey Ford and Thank You, Dr. Ford. He was a vocal and early critic of the presidency of Donald Trump, organizing and leading a live-reading of George Orwell's 1984 at Bookshop Santa Cruz in Northern California as a protest, and writing this cover article, Orwell in the Time of Trump, in the Santa Cruz free weekly.
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (ISBN 0-7432-6158-5) is a non-fiction baseball reference book, written by Rob Neyer and Bill James and published by Simon & Schuster in June 2004. In the text on its dust jacket, it bills itself as a "comprehensive guide" to "pitchers, the pitches they throw, and how they throw them".
William Crutcher "Big Bill" Lee was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played professionally for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Braves during the 1930s and 1940s.
Edward Joseph O'Brien was an American Major League Baseball shortstop, outfielder and pitcher. He played his entire five-year baseball career for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His twin brother, Johnny, is a former second baseman and pitcher.
John Thomas O'Brien is a former backup second baseman and pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals (1958) and Milwaukee Braves (1959). O'Brien batted and threw right-handed. His twin brother, Eddie, was also a major league infielder. His grandson is pitcher Riley O'Brien.
George Jouett Meekin was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1891 to 1900. He played for the Louisville Colonels, Washington Senators, New York Giants, Boston Beaneaters, and Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1894, he won 33 games for the Giants and helped lead the team to a championship.
The 1935 Boston Braves season was the 65th season of the franchise. The Braves finished with the worst record in the National League and the majors, with a record of 38 wins and 115 losses.
Walter Esau Beall was an American baseball player who played for the New York Yankees on several championship teams in the 1920s.
The 1911 New York Giants season was the franchise's 29th season. The Giants won their first of three consecutive National League pennants. They were defeated by the Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series. The team set and still holds the Major League Baseball single-season record for stolen bases during the modern era, with 347.
The 1912 New York Giants season was the franchise's 30th season. It involved the Giants winning the National League pennant. They were beaten by the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Fred Snodgrass took most of the blame, as he dropped a fly ball in the deciding contest.
The 1913 New York Giants season was the franchise's 31st season. It involved the Giants winning the National League pennant for the third consecutive year. Led by manager John McGraw, the Giants dominated the NL and finished 12½ games in front of the second place Philadelphia Phillies. They were beaten by the Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series.
Eddie Epstein is one of the pioneers of the modern age of baseball analysis, or sabermetrics. He was Director of Research and Statistics for the Baltimore Orioles from 1988 to 1994 and Director of Baseball Operations for the San Diego Padres from 1995 to 1999. He was President of his own baseball consulting company, EBC, Inc., from 2000 to 2011 and in that role consulted on baseball operations and player personnel matters for several major league teams, including the Cleveland Indians, Oakland A's, and Tampa Bay Rays. He wrote the 1995 STATS Minor League Scouting Notebook, co-authored Baseball Dynasties with Rob Neyer, and wrote Dominance - the subject of which was the greatest NFL teams since 1950. The Wall Street Journal review of Dominance claimed that the book was, "Without a doubt the best book on pro football analysis ever written."