I got the 2007 Bill James Handbook for Christmas and it’s absolutely awesome. I’m actually mad at myself for not getting one of these until this year! At first glance, this book might seem like just another reference book that you pick up here or there for a tidbit of information. However, there’s so much information crammed into the 459 pages that you can sit down with this book and get lost for hours. In fact, I found so much great information in this book that I wanted to share with you 10 of the most interesting things I learned while reading this year’s Bill James Handbook. So, with some props to Studes, here goes nothing…

1) All Major Leaguers named Conor are awesome.
Ok, so there’s only one…but still, Conor Jackson is awesome. In his first full season in The Show, Jackson hit .291/.368/.441 and I think he’ll improve this season. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him hit .300/.400/.500. The NL West is going to be a dogfight this season, but with Jackson in a lineup that will also include Carlos Quinten, Stephen Drew and Chris Young – the Diamondbacks’ future is looking mighty bright.

2) Vlad The Impaler
It’s absolutely ridiculous how much Vladimir Guerrero kills left-handed pitchers. In 147 AB against southpaws last season, Vlad hit .401/.483/.687! Wow...good thing the M’s rotation next year will have at least two lefty starters (maybe three if Jake Woods cracks the rotation).

3) Princess Clutch
I did a double-take when I saw this, but do you know who led the Majors in batting average during “close and late” situations last season? David Ortiz? Nope. Derek Jeter, Joe Mauer or David Wright? No, no and no. That’s right…it was Princess Willie and his .431 average. Seriously.

4) The Most Underrated Player in Baseball?
I’ve written before about how much I like Grady Sizemore, but I didn’t realize he was the only American League hitter on the right side of the defensive spectrum in the top 10 in Isolated Slugging Percentage. Sizemore, who hit .290/.375/.533 this season as a 24-year-old, also plays solid defense up the middle, is an excellent baserunner and is locked up through the next five years at an average annual value of only $4.29M. He’s certainly one of the most underrated players in the game.

5) Lance Berkman has a soft side.
Lance Berkman is a switch hitter. But, he’s like two different players, depending on which side of the plate he steps up to. Against right-handed pitchers, Berkman is a beast, hitting .335/.438/.704. From the right side, he comes way back down to Earth, hitting only .266/.374/.416. The OBP is still solid from the right side, but there’s a huge drop in his average and slugging. Which players have abandoned switch hitting in the middle of their career? Granted, I’m not suggesting that Berkman should do this – not yet, at least. I’m just curious as to how often it happens and what the results have been.

6) Speaking of not hitting lefties…
I didn’t notice this during the season, but Richie Sexson had a nasty reverse platoon going – he was horrendous against left-handed pitchers. In fact, no other right-handed batter with 100+ at-bats against lefties put up a worse batting average than Sexson’s pathetic .204. Checking out his ESPN player page, it looks like this is just a one-year fluke…let’s just hope that’s all it is!

7) Can Eduardo Perez play left field?
I’m kidding…well, sort of. Raul Ibanez put up very impressive numbers last year despite vanishing during his 185 at-bats against left-handed pitchers (.243/.301/.362). Just like Richie Sexson, this is the first year that Ibanez has looked that bad against lefties, so hopefully it’s a fluke and not the beginning of a trend…

8) While we’re talking about Ibanez…
I found this both surprising and disturbing, but Mariners’ “Player Acquisition Consultant,” Mat Olkin ranked Raul Ibanez as the third-best defensive left fielder in all of baseball – ahead of Dave Roberts, Carl Crawford and Jason Bay, among many others. Now, as we all know, defensive statistics are a murky subject, but that just seems way, way too high. Ibanez ranked eighth as voted on by the nine other experts in the panel. However, he ranked 23rd in David Pinto’s Probabilistic Model of Range and was one of the worst defenders according to 215 ballots on TangoTiger’s Fan Scouting Report. But, you can’t accuse Olkin of playing favorites, because he didn’t rank Ichiro as the best defensive right fielder. Hmm…

9) I didn’t think he was league average at anything!
Another surprise came for me when I looked at the fascinating baserunning statistics. Would you believe that Ichiro is a league-average base runner? It sure took me by surprise. Now, this doesn’t factor in Ichiro’s 45 stolen bases in 47 attempts. No, this is just looking at how went from station to station and how often he took advantage of taking the extra base. Despite being one of the fastest players in baseball, Ichiro doesn’t take the extra base all that often. We know that he plays conservatively – presumably out of fear (or intelligent foresight) to not risk getting injured. Would I like to see Ichiro be a better baserunner and take more extra bases? Of course I would! Am I going to hold it against him that he doesn’t? Naw…he’s Ichiro!

10) If a player hits well in a limited role in Kansas City, does it make a sound?
Esteban who? That would probably be the answer if you asked most baseball fans if they have heard about Esteban German. But German put up pretty impressive numbers (.326/.422/.459) over 279 at-bats for the Royals last season. Already 28 years old, expectations shouldn’t be too high for German – especially because last year’s performance doesn’t sync up with his previous track record. But, he was a useful part on a miserable team, playing every position on the diamond except for right field and catcher.

Seriously...buy this book. You won't regret it!