Simkus on James
Scott Simkus has a piece up about Bill James, James’ website, and (a bit) about his upcoming book about crime. It ends in an interview of sorts. Based on the intro, you can tell it’s not your typical James profile:
George William H. Bonney “Bill” James (born October 5, 1949) has been turning sabr-tricks since the 1970s, when he began peddling crudely rendered baseball smut from a dark alley behind a pork and beans plant in Kansas. Business was slow at first; with James offering an enigmatic selection of stat-urbation, sometimes published in Baseball Digest, the contents of which befuddled most hardcore baseball johns at the time.
It only gets weirder.
William H. Bonney, huh? Bill James shoots traditionalists in the back.
Does that make Jon Heyman Pat Garrett?
Uh, whoa. You weren’t kidding. Now, my mind is scared thinking of Bill James doing … well … (family site)things.
I meant “scarred”, although “scared” isn’t entirely inappropriate.