Influential statistician Bill James is leaving the Boston Red Sox after 17 years, he announced on Thursday.
James, who's responsible for the sabermetric movement across baseball, shared the news of his departure on his website:
"I leave the Red Sox on the best possible terms," he wrote. "I am still friendly with everyone that I have worked with there, from the owners to the security guards. I still intend to pay the extortionary rates of DirecTV’s baseball package so that I can watch every Red Sox game. Well, maybe not EVERY game; retirement means I don’t have to stay up to watch them play a four-hour game in Seattle ending at 1:30. In exchange for that, next time we win the World Series, I won’t get a ring."
Now that his time with the Red Sox has come to an end, James notes he will continue to work on publishing two books and writing numerous others. He also states he has a TV project in the works.
James joined the Red Sox organization in 2002 and has served as a consultant for ex-Sox general managers Theo Epstein, Ben Cherington, and Dave Dombrowski. He helped Boston earn four World Series titles in that timespan (2004, 2007, 2013, 2018).
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