In a league where the gap between the rich and the poor is most significant, the ability to judge and refine Major League Baseball talent has become extremely important. For the cash strapped Oakland Athletics, it is essential.
In the book Moneyball, author Michael Lewis examines how the A's, one of the poorest teams in baseball, have been able to field one of the strongest teams in the Major Leagues. For a period of over a year and a half, Lewis chronicles general manager Billy Beane and his Oakland A's as they attempt to win the pennant.
This book is a must-read for any baseball fan, not only for the insider view of the A's front office and clubhouse, but also for its argument that statistics like on-base and slugging percentage trump archaic stats like batting average and RBIs, which have been used to baseball's detriment since the 19th Century.
Lewis offers a look at the chess game behind professional baseball. There is the hard driving general manager in Billy Beane, the patient and prudent first baseman in Scott Hatteberg and the freakily deceptive pitcher in Chad Bradford. Yet the most interesting individual in the book is the eccentric statistician Bill James, the man whose theories would later influence Beane's strategy for assembling a Major League team.
Beane, a failed can't miss "tools" prospect, ironically becomes the cocky intimidator who later takes a "wrecking ball" to the baseball establishment's flawed system that had once pegged him for greatness. Beane and his computer toting assistant Paul DePodesta confront the old ways and ideas of the A's scouts. The give and take between the old and the new provides dialogue that is especially humorous.
Lewis also finds entertaining material in Hatteberg, reason's model player, as well as Bradford. These players signify the hidden jewels littered in the pros whose value had previously been viewed for what they aren't rather than what they are.
In the chapters Scott Hatteberg, Pickin Machine and Giambi's Hole, Lewis explores the art of hitting and controlling the strike zone and allows the reader inside the mental game between batter and pitcher.
Another intriguing chapter is The Trading Desk. Here the reader sees Beane's shrewd ability to trade players and gain value for his team while under the financial restrictions of owner Steve Schott.
The only fault that can be found with the author of this book is his largely apparent hero worship of Beane. It is clear the author is a fringe fan of baseball and his tendency to easily accept Beane's omnipotence at times becomes a little too easy.
Lewis fails to acknowledge that sometimes you have to "hit on 19" in order to win games, especially in the postseason. After all, it is in the post season when all baseball logic seems to bounce through someone's legs like a Mookie Wilson dribbler.
Yet even with this one weakness, Moneyball succeeds in giving the reader a glimpse at professional baseball that is both thought provoking and entertaining.
Reach the reporter at matthew.schubert@asu.edu.
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