As a San Francisco Giants fan, I have enjoyed reading Joan Ryan’s work for years, so I was particularly excited to get a copy of Intangibles from Little, Brown & Co and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

The subtitle is “unlocking the science and soul of team chemistry,” a concept which I find fascinating. Many years ago, when I lived in Southern California, I was a huge fan of the “Showtime” teams of the LA Lakers, and in the past ten years I have been fortunate to watch two of the Bay Area’s outstanding teams, the baseball Giants and the Warriors in the NBA. I always felt that these particular teams had that elusive quality, the mysterious factor that set them apart from other teams. SUPER chemistry! Ms. Ryan, an award-winning sportswriter and journalist, wanted to explore what the essence of “team chemistry” actually was – did it even exist? If so, was there a scientific basis for it?

Before I retired, I remember having a discussion with a colleague who was also a big Giants fan. In fact, we used to go off campus to a sports bar to watch day games in the amazing 2012 season. He was a big believer in numbers…even having a theory (about which he would go one and on at length) about how SLOs (student learning outcomes) were actually sabermetrics, and how it was possible to determine…well, you get the idea. I bought more than a few rounds of drinks trying to convince him that the essence of the team’s success relied way more on the character (also characters, hello, Hunter Pence and Brian Wilson) and chemistry of the team than the stats…to no avail.

But, about the book. It is packed with data and scientific information, plus interviews with experts in neuroscience, psychology, etc. But what made it a knockout for me was the huge number of stories about Giants I loved (Mike Krukow) and couldn’t stand (Barry Bonds) over the years.

The A’s are well represented along with the Giants and Warriors, so Bay Area sports fans in particular will love this book. Nice balance of information and entertainment. Five stars. Oh, and I will never be convinced that team chemistry isn’t real!!!