Dave Siglin ’64 (pictured left) ran the music venue The Ark in Ann Arbor for 40 years, retiring in 2008. He is a lifelong baseball fan and, in September of 2020, he published a paperback book entitled Baseball’s Best: Comparing Over 1000 Players In Their Primes, 1893-2019.
A review said, “Dave Siglin has come up with a methodology to compare the best players at each position, across all positions, and across eras, by taking their “peak” seasons. … Dave goes far beyond [other writers], discussing adjustments for the designated hitter, for population size and the number of baseball players available in the talent pool, park factors, as well as all the metrics [commonly used in today’s baseball analysis].
Baseball’s Best is the result of an enormous amount of work and analysis that presents us with a comprehensive list of the best players, the best hitters, pitchers, and fielders in baseball history, in each era, and at each position. It may be enjoyed just as the game of baseball itself is to be viewed — at a leisurely pace.”
This book allows you to compare any player to any other player regardless of when or where they played. Or, as actor/baseball fanatic Jeff Daniels said, “Dave Siglin’s Baseball’s Best should sit nicely next to the work of Bill James. His statistical deep dive is so thoroughly computed you’ll come away believing you know exactly what would happen if Sandy Koufax faced Babe Ruth.”
It answers such burning questions as who was the better player in his prime – Al Kaline or Roberto Clemente? Was Derek Jeter a good fielder or a bad one? Why is the pitcher’s rubber 60’6” from home plate? Who was the best hitter ever? Who was the best pitcher ever? Who was the best fielding DiMaggio brother? And, of course, who was the best player in his prime years ever? The answers to these and similar questions – questions that tear at the very fabric of baseball fans’ psyches everywhere on a daily basis and rob them of needed sleep – will allow the poor bastards to close their eyes at night knowing that, finally, all’s right in the baseball world.
Seriously, though, it’s a great book for those interested, presently at $22.00 from Amazon.
For more information get in touch with Dave Siglin at [email protected] or Keith Hellems ’62 at [email protected].
