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Book - Product Information
Moneyball
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Rank: 191594
Billy Beane, general manager of MLB's Oakland A's and protagonist of
Michael Lewis's Moneyball, had a problem: how to win in the Major
Leagues with a budget that's smaller than that of nearly every other team.
Conventional wisdom long held that big name, highly athletic hitters and
young pitchers with rocket arms were the ticket to success.
But Beane and
his staff, buoyed by massive amounts of carefully interpreted statistical
data, believed that wins could be had by more affordable methods such as
hitters with high on-base percentage and pitchers who get lots of ground
outs.
Given this information and a tight budget, Beane defied tradition
and his own scouting department to build winning teams of young affordable
players and inexpensive castoff veterans. Lewis was in the room with
the A's top management as they spent the summer of 2002 adding and
subtracting players and he provides outstanding play-by-play.
In the June
player draft, Beane acquired nearly every prospect he coveted (few of whom
were coveted by other teams) and at the July trading deadline he engaged in
a tense battle of nerves to acquire a lefty reliever.
Besides being one of
the most insider accounts ever written about baseball, Moneyball is
populated with fascinating characters.
We meet Jeremy Brown, an overweight
college catcher who most teams project to be a 15th round draft pick
(Beane takes him in the first).
Sidearm pitcher Chad Bradford is plucked
from the White Sox triple-A club to be a key set-up man and catcher Scott
Hatteberg is rebuilt as a first baseman.
But the most interesting
character is Beane himself. A speedy athletic can't-miss prospect who
somehow missed, Beane reinvents himself as a front-office guru, relying on
players completely unlike, say, Billy Beane.
Lewis, one of the top
nonfiction writers of his era (Liar's Poker, The New New
Thing), offers highly accessible explanations of baseball stats and
his roadmap of Beane's economic approach makes Moneyball an
appealing reading experience for business people and sports fans alike.
--John Moe--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
About the AuthorAuthor of the bestsellers Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, and
Next, Michael Lewis is also a columnist for Bloomberg News.
He lives in Berkeley, California.--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Editorials
Sample 3 of 16
Moneyball
![]() | | | The New York Times, Janet Maslin | | Lewis...is playing at the top of his game....[he] has hit another one out
of the park. --This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition. |
![]() | | | Book Description | | The Oakland Athletics have a secret: a winning baseball team is made,
not bought. I wrote this book because I fell in
love with a story. The story concerned a small group of undervalued
professional baseball players... read full editorial |
![]() | | | Book Info | | The story of a small group of undervalued professional baseball players and
executives who turned themselves into one of the most successful franchises
in Major League Baseball; the Oakland Athletics. Author explores... read full editorial |
Customer Reviews
Sample 3 of 57
Moneyball
![]() | | | MOST FACINATING STORY OF BASEBALL EVER TOLD | | (San Francisco, CA United States) June 28, 2004 - 5.0/5 stars | | Being a bay area fan of sports I first picked up Moneyball out of sheer
curiosity. I wanted to know how baseball is ran, and this book told me
everything. Michael Lewis travels as close to chronologically as he
possibly... read full review |
![]() | | | Beane Broke Baseball | | (Albuquerque, NM) March 10, 2005 - 5.0/5 stars | | After reading this book it is evident that Beane et al. have incorporated
statistics and technology into baseball. Having a background in math and
computers (and a huge baseball fan), this is of great interest to me. It... read full review |
![]() | | | Oafishly Told and Speculative | | (Sacramento, CA) August 4, 2004 - 2.0/5 stars | | The big controversy in baseball recently is the fact that there is a huge
disparity in the wealth of teams. The New York Yankees, for example, can
afford to spend about 140 million dollars a year to buy their players,
while... read full review |
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