SABR member Rob Neyer wins CASEY Award for 'Power Ball'

From Mike Shannon at Spitball Magazine on January 23, 2019, on SABR member Rob Neyer:

Spitball is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2018 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year is Rob Neyer and HarperCollins for Powerball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game. In a field crowded with outstanding contenders, Powerball beat out the second-place finisher, The Big Fella by Jane Leavy, also by Harper, by two points; and the third-place book, Baseball in a Grain of Sand by Bill Gruber and McFarland and Co., by three points.

Judge Mike Miller singled out Powerball for "holding my attention from the first to last word," and Judge Luke Salisbury called it a "must-read for fans desiring to learn more about the new analytics." Spitball Editor Mike Shannon praised the book about a single major league game as "an astute up-date on an ingenious type of baseball book with a impressive tradition. Rob took an idea first used brilliantly by Arnold Hano and Dan Okrent, and he made it thoroughly his own, turning in a virtuoso performance."

Shannon also praised the Judges of the 2018 CASEY Award, Bob Mayberry, Miller, and Salisbury, for a job well done: "Judging the CASEY is always a Ruthian task, but this year the Judges had to work overtime since the normal field of ten books was expanded by two books. We are grateful for their service and the time and effort they put into the job." Spitball congratulates all the authors and publishers Nominated as Finalists for the 2018 CASEY Award. The date of the 36th Annual CASEY Awards Banquet will be announced on this website in the near future.

Read the full announcement here: http://www.spitballmag.com/