Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will

This revealing report from sportswriter Miller (coauthor of Ninety Percent Mental) investigates the evolving role of baseball managers. Tracing how an increasing reliance on data analytics has changed the front office, Miller contrasts how Yankees manager Billy Martin sometimes selected starting lineups by picking names from a hat in the 1970s with how Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane crunched numbers to determine the most advantageous plays in the 2000s. The “human element” remains key, Miller contends, describing how Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts prioritizes “honest and free-flowing communication with his players” so they don’t feel caught off guard by his comments to the press. Elsewhere, Miller compares Yankees manager Aaron Boone with his father, Bob Boone, manager of the Cincinnati Reds in the early 2000s, noting that while the increasingly corporate nature of MLB has raised the financial stakes (Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole’s $36 million salary is more than half of the Reds’ entire payroll under Bob), Aaron aspires to create the same supportive atmosphere his father cultivated in Cincinnati. Miller provides readers with an insider’s view of life in the front office and solicits surprisingly candid reflections from his subjects. For instance, Roberts admits to badly mishandling a public statement concerning sexual assault allegations against one of his pitchers. Baseball fans will want to check this out. Agent: Rob Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick Literary. (May)