State of Play

The Old School Guide to New School Baseball

By: Bill Ripken

Narrated by: Danny Campbell

America's favorite pastime is undergoing an operations-to-field transformation. In recent years, the sabermetrics and analytics craze has infiltrated Major League Baseball - from its front offices to dugouts to clubhouses to media covering both, inciting a baseball culture war. New phrases like "launch angle," "spin rate," and "pitch framing" have entered the vocabulary, often with little real meaning when it comes to how the game is actually played on the field. No more.

In State of Play, 12-year Major League veteran, Emmy Award-winning MLB Network analyst, and best-selling author Bill Ripken breaks down these modern statistical methods to explain which ones make sense in the game's historical context, bringing them together with proven old-school strategies. He simplifies those sabermetric terms hastily added to the baseball lexicon without being fully realized, taking new-school confusion out of old-school baseball's tried-and-true common sense. In the end, he unites the teachings of each school to show fans of both how to listen to and understand the game as it's played today and how it should be played moving forward.

From a true baseball lifer, State of Play offers a fascinating insider's look at how to reconcile years of historical tradition with the rules and trends of the new millennium.

©2020 Bill Ripken (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Not a guide, more of an

Danny Campbell was the perfect narrator for this book. His mature, scratchy voice perfectly matches the tone of this book. He gives the reader the feel that are listening directly to the author. He nailed it.

These things are actually said in this book. “Get off my lawn”, “Things were better in my day”, “The world is flat”. OK that last one wasn’t said, but it would have fit right in.

I bought this book based on seeing how an old school baseball guy acclimated to New School Baseball. But that’s not what this book is about. It’s more of a Old School guy trashing New School strategies. How is arguing against everything a guide? The sad part of Ripken’s book is that he does not Seem to understand “New School Baseball” so how can he guide anyone to understanding it? That’s not my opinion, it’s his, as he says that several times in the book.

He argues with that it as “better in my day” on almost every chapter. Some make sense in his agreements on defensive statistics but completely misunderstands WAR and seems to claim that “New School” is stealing terminology by giving it a more catchy or appropriate name.

I am not a hard core Sabermetrician but I’m much more of one now than I was prior to reading this book.

Things were better in the old days

That pretty much sums up this book. Lots of gripes but little or no substance. The narrator did a good job though.