PositiveDRBPower Ball is presented in the same vein as Arnold Hano’s A Day in the Bleachers or Dan Okrent’s Nine Innings. The idea is simple: take a random, seemingly meaningless regular season game and use it as the scaffolding to tell a grander story about baseball as a whole. It’s a brilliant idea for a set up, and it works exceptionally well as a storytelling device ... The book flies by, with each half inning (or chapter) making its own distinct impression on the broader text. The book often reads like one of the endlessly satisfying baseball conversations you stumble into at a bar or riding on public transit. What begins with a light-hearted comment on a shared Evan Longoria shirtsey spirals into a good-natured debate over whether or not the ball was juiced, and if baseball history is truly cyclical or not. Power Ball works as a Greatest Hits compilation album of the past 10 years of baseball analytics, but also works as a thoroughly engaging Baseball Story from one of the most informed and professorial baseball minds we have around today.
