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Book - Product Information
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Michael Lewis
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Rank: 1010
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
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.
Editorials
Sample 3 of 16
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Michael Lewis
![]() | | | From AudioFile | | Before Bill James, baseball junkies, even those selecting players, were
relegated to assessing players and teams using only mundane statistics.
Then, the Oakland Athletics, under General Manager Billy Beane, adopted
James's... read full editorial |
![]() | | | Tom Wolfe | | Moneyball is his grandest tour de force yet. |
![]() | | | 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: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Michael Lewis
![]() | | | Fabulous and insightful... | | (East Coast) July 22, 2005 - 5.0/5 stars | | I do not know what took me so long to read this book. Lewis is one of the
better writers and this book did not disappoint.
I am a huge
sports fan. One of the issues that is ALWAYS discussed is how the little
teams (small... read full review |
![]() | | | Beane is good, but no genius | | (Belford, NJ United States) June 28, 2004 - 4.0/5 stars | | "Moneyball" takes the reader behind the scenes of a major league
baseball team - how it operates, who runs the show, why they make the
decisions they do, etc. The fact that the Oakland A's, the subject... read full review |
![]() | | | A minor league good idea | | (California) May 15, 2005 - 3.0/5 stars | | I prefer fiction, but when given this book that revolves around my love of
baseball and youth's rooting interest, the Oakland A's, I had to take it
in. It's a fascinating read. I am particularly appreciative of... read full review |
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