Pitchers, the pitches they throw, and how they throw them -- these days it's the stuff of constant scrutiny, but there's never been anything like a comprehensive source for such information. That's what preeminent baseball analyst Bill James and ESPN.com baseball columnist Rob Neyer realized over lunch more than a dozen years ago. Since then, they've been compiling the centerpiece of this book, the "Pitcher Census," which lists specific information for nearly two thousand pitchers, ranging throughout the history of professional baseball. The Guide also offers:

• A "dictionary" describing virtually every known pitch
• The origins and development of baseball's most important pitches
• Top ten lists: best fastballs, best spitballs, and everything in between
• Biographies of some of the great pitchers who have been overlooked
• More knuckleballers and submariners than you ever thought existed
• An open debate concerning pitcher abuse and durability
• A formula for predicting the Cy Young Award winner
• Something fresh and new: Bill James' "Pitcher Codes"

The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers is about understanding pitchers, and baseball's action always starts with the pitchers. It's also about entertaining debates and having a great deal of fun with the history of a game that obsesses so many.