Touring the Bases with…Rob Neyer

Matt Sisson recently sat down with Rob Neyer, ESPN columnist and author of the new book Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Legends , to talk baseball.

(Matt Sisson) Rob, you have sort of a famed and unorthodox history in your evolution as a baseball writer. Can you talk a little of the path you took to becoming the writer you are today?

(Rob Neyer) Today the path seems like ancient history, as I’ve now been working for ESPN for more than 12 years. Before that, I: dropped out of college, roofed houses, worked for Bill James for four years, was the world’s worst freelance writer for ten months, and worked for STATS, Inc. for two-and-a-half years.

(MS) Being known for your in-depth analysis of baseball statistics, what would you say remains to be the biggest statistical unknown with the data available today?

(RN) How to keep young pitchers healthy.

(MS) What are your top 5 favorite baseball websites?

(RN) Oh, that’s not fair, because I’m going to offend whoever’s No. 6. I do check Baseball Think Factory’s Newsstand many times every day, and of course Baseball-Reference.com, but for my other recommendations I would just ask readers to check the links in my ESPN.com blog. And it’s constantly a work in progress, as I’m discovering new blogs and bloggers all the time.

(MS) What kind of influence do you see sites like Baseball Prospectus, The Hardball Times, etc, having on the game?

(RN) We’re still in the middle of that story, so it’s awfully hard to say. But we know that various writers for those sites have actually been hired by major league teams, and it’s reasonable to assume that they’ve played roles in significant, far-reaching front-office decisions. Again, though, it’s too early to know for sure. I’ve said that in 20 years, every general manager in professional sports will have read (and probably been intoxicated by) Moneyball. Well, in 20 years nearly every general manager in baseball will have grown up reading BP and THT, too.

(MS) What record in baseball history would you say is the most unlikely to be broken?

(RN) Anything related to starting pitchers’ workloads: starts, innings, complete games, wins, losses, etc.

(MS) Your newest book , Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Legends, is the third in the “big book” series. Can you tell the Seamheads.com readers a little about the book?

( RN) I would love to! When I worked for Bill James, he invented something he called the “Tracer,” which essentially meant finding an old baseball story, then checking to see if it actually happened. Of all the things I did for Bill in my four years with him, researching those stories was my single favorite. So when I was casting about for a book idea a few years ago, I returned to those Tracers and thought I’d like to come with a book full of them. Which gave me an excuse to touch on all sorts of things throughout baseball history.

(MS) You were recently featured in an article on baseball statistic on The Onion. Did you see the article and what did you think of it?

(RN) Well, of course it fostered the ridiculous notion that I care about nothing but numbers, and I thought the idea could have been executed with a bit more flair. But I was in The Onion. How can I complain, really?

(MS) It was stated by the election board of the BBWAA, that the reason you were not granted membership, is that you do not attend enough games. How many games do you go to a year and what would you say is their magic number? I have some tickets to the Sox if you’re ever in Boston without a press pass.

(RN) Oh, I don’t know. I probably average a dozen minor-league games, and 15 or 20 major league games per season. Not as many last year when I was trying to finish the new book. But that’s really irrelevant. I could have attended 50 games last year and I’d still have been blackballed. That whole thing about not attending games was simply a post hoc justification for a decision that had already been made. I’ve written a lot of inflammatory things about various BBWAA members over the years, and it’s hard to blame them for taking a small measure of revenge when they finally got their chance. Chickens do come home to roost (unless a fox or a raccoon gets them first).

(MS) First word or words that come to mind when you think of these players:

Ted Williams

Hitter

Joe DiMaggio

Graceful

Bert Blyleven

Terribly, terribly unappreciated

Derek Jeter

T erribly, terribly overrated … but still great

Barry Zito

Toast

David Ortiz

Best free agent signing, ever

(MS) If your name could replace the name associated with any event in the history of sports (Rob Neyer wins third Super Bowl with New England Patriots, Rob Neyer hits walkoff HR in game 1 of 1988 World Series), what would it be?

(RN) Hmmm. If only the Vikings had won a Super Bowl … I guess I’ll hit the upper-deck homer in Game 3 of the 1980 ALCS at Yankee Stadium, off the Goose’s best fastball.

(MS) What is the one piece of sports memorabilia you would like to have?

(RN) I love to look at old jerseys, but I wouldn’t know to feel about owning one of them. I have a baseball that Stan Musial signed for my grandfather 60 years ago, and that’s plenty for me.

(MS) 2008 World Series predictions?

(RN) I’m on record: Dodgers over Indians. Which is really stupid, because the Dodgers have a real good shot of not even making the playoffs, and because if they are in the World Series they’ll be big underdogs.

I’d like to thank Rob for taking the time to talk baseball with me. Be sure to check out his new book, Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Legends.