Book Log 2016 #37: The Only Rule is it Has to Work by Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller

While sabremetrics and other analytics continue to find a place in baseball, this book takes the quantitative approach to its logical conclusion, as the two authors are given free reign to use data to run the Sonoma Stompers, an independent professional baseball team. We see the pair evaluate talent (including some clearly non-quantitative shenanigans at a tryout aimed at landing a slugger that most teams seem to be overlooking), make day to day decisions, and deal with some unexpected drama (one of their players became the first American professional baseball player to come out as gay while still active).

For all of the numbers talk, the book is pretty much a year in the life of the team, and you easily get caught up in the regular drama as well as the conflicts that happen due to the specific way the team is being run. The book won't settle the argument for either side, but it is an enjoyable look at a low-stakes application of stats in baseball.