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As the years went along, Bill’s ideas started to make an impact on the game. The Oakland A’s built much of their moneyball philosophy on Bill’s writing. The Boston Red Sox hired him to be an adviser and, though Bill says his role is small, they have won two World Series since.
But I think Bill’s biggest impact has been on fans — we don’t just take what coaches and analysts spoon feed us. No, people look for themselves these day. Is Derek Jeter a good defensive shortstop? There are a lot of numbers that indicate no (and few statistics that say yes). Does defense really win championships in the NFL? Maybe. Maybe not. Is time of possession really the most important statistic in football? Doubtful. Do players miss more free throws with fans waving their arms behind the glass? Someone should look it up. Someone is looking it up right now.
This is the age of questions, and Bill had a lot to do with that. Bill is 58, and he hasn’t stopped asking questions either or writing about what interests him. He has a new book called The Bill James Gold Mine 2008 with a bunch of statistics and essays and stuff. He has a Web site ( www.billjamesonline.net) with a lot of great stuff. And every so often — quite often — he will just send an e-mail to a friend asking whether the 1999 Kansas City Royals had the best young outfield ever.
The answer to that question, by the way, seems to be: No, but it’s close. I would say, based on the clueless research I was doing at the airport, that the 1975 Boston Red Sox — with Jim Rice, Fred Lynn and Dwight Evans — had the best young outfield ever (young meaning 25 years old or younger). The 1971 Oakland A’s outfield with a young Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi and Rick Monday was awfully good — all three were All-Stars. And you could go back to the 1939 New York Yankees with Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Keller and Tommy Henrich, though to be exact, Henrich was actually 26.
Still, that 1999 Royals outfield was special and rare. Damon has an outside shot at 3,000 hits. Beltran is a Gold Glove center fielder who has scored 100 runs and driven in 100 RBIs six times in his career. Jermaine Dye is a two-time All-Star and World Series MVP. It’s amazing for a team to put together a young outfield with that kind of talent.
Of course, it’s a shame they couldn’t have played longer in Kansas City — you might wonder how the Royals would have been this decade had they kept that outfield intact. I’ll have plenty of time to wonder about it. My flight was just canceled.
To reach Joe Posnanski, call 816-234-4361 or send e-mail to jposnanski@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com
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