Bill James & Dallas Adams Talk Sabermetrics - 1985 (Part5)

This is a series of rare audio interviews, conducted in June of 1985 in Sion, Switzerland, and originally broadcast by the American Forces Network (AFN)/ Bremerhaven, Germany.
Journalist Tracy Thibeau recalls the occasion:

"About 1980, I read an article in INSIDE SPORTS magazine about a self-published baseball statistician who was tinkering with the traditional formulas. His name was Bill James and I was impressed by what this man was discovering.
In 1984, I was a reporter for American Forces Network Europe. I was a dice-baseball enthusiast and one day I phoned Dallas Adams, a brilliant statistician who shared my hobby and also lived in Europe. Dallas informed me that Bill James was coming to his home for a visit. Suddenly, I saw an opportunity to interview Bill James for AFN, so I suggested it to Dallas. He asked Bill and Bill accepted. Bill, incidentally, is an Army veteran himself.
Understandably, network funding for a trip to Switzerland for me was out of the question. In 1985, few people were familiar with Bill James. But Cpt. Tom Leahy, Commander of AFN Bremerhaven, heard me out. He said that if I was willing to go to Switzerland at my own expense, using my own leave time, he would at least listen to my features and judge if they were newsworthy. After listening to the finished productions, the Captain enthusiastically gave the green light.
The two baseball men were easy to get along with and they patiently answered all of my questions. I'll never forget talking baseball, in a Swiss vineyard, on that beautiful June day."

At the time, sabermetrics was a relatively new field, and few people could anticipate just how much impact it would have on baseball (much less Mr. James' future employment by the Red Sox!). All in all, these interviews are a fascinating glimpse into the history of a science which has come very far over the past 25 years.

In the picture (parts 3-4, left to right): Tracy Thibeau, Dallas Adams, Bill James -- Switzerland, 1985

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