Interview with Bill James

Bill James, the father of sabermetrics and a man whom Time Magazine listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006, was kind enough to answer a few of my questions. I asked about the Red Sox and the Royals, as well touching on a number of other subjects.

Q: Are the Red Sox going to make the playoffs this year?
A: I don’t know what is going to happen.

Q: Does Dice-K win the AL Rookie of the Year?
A: I don’t know what is going to happen.

Q: What needs to happen for the Red Sox to have a successful season?
A: Our pitching should be pretty good. We have to score more runs than we did last year.

Q: In a best-case scenario for Alex Gordon’s career, will baseball historians consider Gordon to be anywhere near the same league as George Brett and Mike Schmidt?
A: I don’t have any idea.

Q: Gil Meche was signed for five years, $55 million. Give me a very short sentence about the signing.
A: Good luck.