Bradbury, J.C. 1973–

(John Charles Bradbury)

PERSONAL:

Born September 28, 1973, in Charlotte, NC; married; children: one daughter. Education: Wofford College, B.A., 1996; George Mason University, M.A., 1998, Ph.D., 2000. Hobbies and other interests: "Sabermetrics, fishing (especially fly fishing).

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Health, Physical Education, and Sports Science, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Rd., Kennesaw, GA 30144-5591. E-mail—jcbradbury@gmail.com; jbradbu2@kennesaw.edu.

CAREER:

George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, research associate at the Mercatus Center's Regulatory Studies Program, 1999-2000, instructor in economics, 1999-2000; North Georgia College and State University, Dahlonega, assistant professor of business administration, 2000-01; University of the South, Sewanee, TN, visiting professor of economics, 2001-03, assistant professor of economics, 2003-06; Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, associate professor in department of health, physical education, and sport science, 2006—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

C.G. Koch and J.M. Buchanan research fellowship, J.M. Buchanan Center of George Mason University, 1997-2000; graduate research fellowship, Political Economy Research Center, 1998.

WRITINGS:

The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed, Dutton (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to books, including Encyclopedia of Public Choice, Kluwer Academic Press, 2003; and Democratic Constitutional Design and Public Policy: Analysis and Evidence, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA), 2006. Contributor to periodicals, including the Journal of Sports Economics, Journal of Regulatory Economics, and Economic Inquiry. Author of blog Sabernomics.

SIDELIGHTS:

J.C. Bradbury is an educator and economist who uses the laws of economic trade to address issues regarding the sport of baseball. He began chronicling his fascination with the applicability of economics to game dynamics on his blog, Sabernomics, and has gathered a number of his thoughts in his first book, The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed. Bradbury's purpose is to illuminate baseball from a wide range of angles, applying economic principles as he goes. He compares batsmen between the American and National Leagues, looks at the concept of having a batter on deck, and goes on to analyze scouts, statistics, salaries, the use of drugs, and team expansion. An interviewer for the Southpaw Blog remarked: "Although Bradbury is an academic, his writing style is fluid and accessible. He doesn't use many technical terms, but when he does, he explains them clearly and briefly, in a fashion that makes the material more easily understood. This is a book that's worth your buck." In a review in Booklist, David Pitt similarly praised Bradbury's effort as having "a smooth, accessible style," adding that he "makes the tricky game of numbers seem both straightforward and exciting." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly commented on the handling of the concept that Major League Baseball functions like a monopoly, stating that "Bradbury, while not forging new ground, shines in the closing chapters" where he refutes the idea. Bob Timmmermann, reviewing the book in Baseball Toaster, concluded: "I can't say I agree with everything Bradbury says, but I still wish there were more books like this, which suggest new ways of approaching some of the most interesting baseball questions."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2007, David Pitt, review of The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed, p. 40.

Publishers Weekly, January 22, 2007, review of The Baseball Economist, p. 182.

ONLINE

Baseball Toaster,http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/ (April 18, 2007), Bob Timmermann, review of The Baseball Economist.

J.C. Bradbury Home Page, http://bradbury.sewanee.edu (August 22, 2007).

Kenneshaw University Web site, http://www.kenneshaw.edu/ (August 21, 2007), faculty biography of J.C. Bradbury.

Region Web site,http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/pubs/region/ (August 21, 2007), review of The Baseball Economist.

Sabernomics,http://www.sabernomics.com (August 21, 2007), author's blog.

Southpaw Blog,http://108mag.typepad.com/the_southpaw/ (March 10, 2007), interview with J.C. Bradbury.