Reviewed by Jim Melcher, June
2009
The
other thing that’s to be expected out of this sort of book is that
people won’t
respond well to their favorites being called “overrated”. Stark is
sensitive to
this issue–perhaps a bit too sensitive. he takes pains in many places
to note
that calling a player overrated (Lou Brock, for example) doesn’t mean
he isn’t
a very good player all the same. His
“apologizing” to the reader is understandable at first, but gets a bit
repetitive. He also admits that he will jiggle his lists a big to get
players
he likes at times included among the underrated, and that some players
will put
on the overrated list because of their “guilt by association”; that is,
for
being known for their excellence in statistics Stark chooses to value
lightly
(marking Lee Smith as overrated largely because he thinks saves are,
themselves, overrated as a statistic).
Stark’s
evaluations seem very much influenced by the development of sabermetric
analysis
of baseball statistics, particularly that of Bill James. Like them,
Stark tends
to argue players known for excellence in a single area (Hack Wilson
with RBIs,
Lee Smith in saves, etc.) are overrated and players with a more even
degree of
excellence across a range of statistics tend to be
underrated. Many of the assessments made by
Stark here are very similar to those made by James in The
Historical Baseball Abstract. Both, for example, regard Tim
Raines, Bobby Grich, Ted Simmons, Darrell Evans, Craig Biggio and Lefty
Grove
as underrated, and they have similar taste in overrated players as
well.
Stark’s
evaluations are debatable, and he would be the first to say so–he seems
to want
to “stir the pot” and spark a conversation about baseball. His effort
to do so
is very well-informed and shows great knowledge of the game. Stark write both well and entertainingly, and
fans of baseball history will sail through the book, even as they want
to argue
with him. Think of this book as a discussion with a smart fan at a
ballgame or
a tavern–one who wants to convince you he’s right, but who knows you
won’t
always agree and wants to have fun talking about it. You don’t have to
agree
with every conclusion Stark draws in The
Stark Truth to have a truly good time reading it.
—Jim Melcher, June 2009