I committed myself to reading this in order rather than just skipping to my favorite players. I’m only just past the halfway mark, but so far, each essay has been a delight (spoiler alert to the gent who revealed Cobb at #8 a few posts above! ha).
Each essay provides a deeper glimpse into the man himself rather than just the player. I almost consider them to be an abridged version of what you would find on SABR’s BioProject. I love that because with all due respect, regular rankings can be found anywhere on line or in print.
As for the rankings themselves, Joe mentions in the introduction that many players were matched with a number most identifiable to him rather than an ordinal all-time ranking. For example, If you haven’t read the book, you can imagine where he places DiMaggio. That doesn’t mean he actually ranks him that low, just that there is an instant connection between the player and the number.
Another example is my current chapter. Just barely made bis top 50, but it’s laughable to suggest he would actually be ranked that low in a conventional list.
At any rate, this is top notch baseball reading, and if you can look past the actual number assigned to a player, it is WELL worth your time.
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