The Shift, Russell A. Carleton
The Shift, Russell A. Carleton
1 Rating(s)
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Shift
The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking

Author: Russell A. Carleton, Jeff Passan

Narrator: Kyle Tait

Unabridged: 9 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/18/2019

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

With its three-hour-long contests, 162-game seasons, and countless measurable variables, baseball is a sport which lends itself to self-reflection and obsessive analysis. It's a thinking game. It's also a shifting game. Nowhere is this more evident than in the statistical revolution which has swept through the pastime in recent years, bringing metrics like WAR, OPS, and BABIP into front offices and living rooms alike.

So what's on the horizon for a game that is constantly evolving? Positioned at the crossroads of sabermetrics and cognitive science, The Shift alters the trajectory of both traditional and analytics-based baseball thought. With a background in clinical psychology as well as experience in major league front offices, Baseball Prospectus's Russell Carleton illuminates advanced statistics and challenges cultural assumptions, demonstrating along the way that data and logic need not be at odds with the human elements of baseball—in fact, they're inextricably intertwined.

Covering topics ranging from infield shifts to paradigm shifts, Carleton writes with verve, honesty, and an engaging style, inviting all those who love the game to examine it deeply and maybe a little differently.


About Russell A. Carleton

Russell A. Carleton is a baseball writer, researcher, and fan living in Atlanta. He has been a regular contributor to Baseball Prospectus since 2009, writing about advanced statistical analysis in baseball, with an emphasis on the gory mathematical details. He holds a PhD in clinical psychology from DePaul University in Chicago, and has provided statistical consultation to several teams in Major League Baseball.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brian on March 19, 2018

Should be in the pantheon of sophisticated baseball books......more

Goodreads review by Harold on September 13, 2018

First let me say that I hated the first 11% of the book and almost quit. DON'T! DON'T! This is an extremely enjoyable book by a very likeable author whose love for the game is palpable in his stories and writing. He is also a humorist and a psychologist to boot. His purpose is to shed some light on t......more

Goodreads review by Dave on August 26, 2018

Yikes, this is the definition of a hot mess! Like the author I too grew up in a western suburb of Cleveland rooting for the 90s Indians and even attended a small liberal arts school in the middle nowhere Ohio, so I was rooting for this one. Unfortunately, it really just seemed to lack a clear hypoth......more

Goodreads review by Josh on March 15, 2019

Russel Carleton’s essays in the Baseball Prospectus annuals have often been my favorites because he's one of the few writers who doesn’t wield his analytical toolbox like the proverbial hammer seeking whatever looks roughly like a nail. He’s a psychologist by training so addressing the human element......more

Goodreads review by Matt on February 01, 2023

This was a really fun book about baseball centering on many topics brought up in Moneyball: advanced statistics, scouting, inefficiencies, and how to think about baseball. The author is my age, graduating in the same year as me, so I felt we had an instant rapport. I'm sure he'd agree. I especially l......more