"Abstracts from the Abstracts" synopsis and review by Rich Lederer at baseballanalysts.com

1987 Bill James Baseball Abstract

300 pages

Divided into four parts:
Section I: Introduction, Methods, Essays
Section II: Team Comments
Section III: Player Comments
Section IV: All Kinds of Junk

Section I : Introduction, Method, Essays, 1

Introduction, 3
Meaningul and Meaningless Statistic, 9
I. Category Importance, 11
II. Reliability, 13
III. Intelligibility, 18
IV. Putting the Elements Together
Modifications for Career Statistics, 21
Beyond the Basics, 24
My Own Menageris, 26

Rookies, 29

Chapter One: The Greatest Rookie Crops of All Time, 33
Chapter Two: Outstanding Performances by Rookies as Rookies, 41
Chapter Three: Evaluating a Rookie, 55
Appendix, 72

Section II : Team Comments, 75

For Divisions: For all teams in the division: W-L before and after All-Star break, vs RHP & LHP, Grass & Turf, Day & Night, and total. Number of come from behind victories, for each amount, 1-7 runs. Blown leads of same magnitude. The record of each team when ahead, behind or tied after 7, and net change.

Complete Club Batting Records

Opposition Batting Record

Complete Pitching Record

Opposition Pitching Record
Complete defensive record, including OSB, OCS, OA/SFA,DER.

For each team: Runners on Base, Opponents on base Hitter data in the box (10 players with most AB): Career record in seasonal notation. Record before and after All-Star break vs RHP/LHP, Home/Road, Grass/Turf Pitcher data in the box (20 or more starts) W-L, Run support, DP support, Opponents stolen bases for 85, 86 and career Home/Road, grass/turf for 85 and 86

Record with different starting catchers (W-L, ERA, OSB)

Section III : Player Comments, 237

Section IV : All Kinds of Junk, 279

Measuring Runs Created: The Value Added Approach by Gary R. Skoog, 281
More, 286
Catchers Data, 287
Leading Hitters Against Right-Handed Pitchers, 292
Leading Hitters Against Left-Handed Pitchers, 292
Leading Hitters at Home, 293
Leading Hitters on the Road, 293
Leading Hitters on Artificial Turf, 293
Leading Hitters on Grass, 293
Starting Pitchers Receiving Best Offensive Support, 294
Starting Pitchers Receiving Least Offensive Support, 294
Highest Double Play Support, 294
Least Double Play Support, 294
Toughest Starting Pitchers to Run On, 295
Easiest Starting Pitchers to Run On, 295

A Glossary of Terms Used in Sabermetrics 296

Appendix, 298

Approximate Value and the Value Approximation System, 298
Brock2, 298
Defensive Efficiency Record, 299
Defensive Winning Percentage, 299
Expected Remaining Approximate Value a.k.a. Trade Value, 299
The Favorite Toy, 299
Runs Created, 299
Offensive Winning Percentage, 300
Figuring Speed Scores, 300