Opinions on Bill James?

Question

I'm just curious what everyone thinks of James, the stats guru. Is he a genius? Overhyped? A guy who has way too much time on his hands and can't see past the numbers?

What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

Bill James has been a staff consultant of the Boston Red Sox since 2003, soon after Henry bought the team, and the less alcohol-laced brains around here will recall readily those same Red Sox now own two championship trophies during the Henry (with James) administration.

So there goes one ill-informed opinion down in deserved flames.

James was (and still is, but his biggest bang was 20-25 years ago) a pioneer, an iconoclast (more then than now), a visionary, a man blessed with brilliant horse-sense and no interest in accepting the standard, received common wisdom, and a darn entertaining writer who is capable of clearly communicating his thoughts. That's quite a package. He has MADE A DIFFERENCE, both in the sport of baseball and to thousands, possibly millions, of baseball fans everywhere. It is hard to make that sort of lasting impact. Bill James has.

His work changed how I approach the great game, and I thank him for that.

Answer 2

Personally I like Sabermetrics, but guys like Soriano and Francoeur break the Sabermetrics rules so his forumlas aren't the end all be all of awesome stats, but rather a guideline for general performance trends.

Secondary average and range factors were great ideas. (had to throw that in)

Answer 3

Needs to move out of his mother's basement. Bit of a nut case. Also, there is yet to be a team that has subscribed to his theories in full that has emerged as dominant. The Athletics haven't really lived up to the hype.

Answer 4

Have you ever seen or heard the guy. I guarantee he never played sports. He is very, very weird!!!!! And arrogant. If I spent five minutes with him he would end up hitting the ground.