Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Not your father's baseball:

Baseball of yesteryear was played with a lot less money and players were evaluated on various subjective criteria. Now the money involved is much more and some people, including Billy Beane, Bill James, and others, are saying that statistical analysis can be used to put together a good team.

While reading this book you may re-think how a baseball player is evaluated. It's interesting how Beane's philosophy of avoiding outs (including sacrifices) at all costs and emphasizing getting on base (through walks)... more info

Insightful:

Michael Lewis is a good storyteller, although for non-fiction writing he tends to embellish quite a bit or even make things up (I've read some of his other books where I am quite familiar with the subjects), but this is still an insightful account of how A's general manager Billy Beane built a competitive team in spite of one of the smallest payrolls in professional baseball.

Particularly fascinating is the way Beane and his cohorts evaluate baseball talent. They challenge a lot of the typical... more info

Thinking outside the box:

Michael Lewis deftly inserted himself into the A's front office to find out how a professional baseball team with a $40 million payroll can win 102 games and consistently 90 or more wins in subsequent years and compete with teams like the New York Yankees who have payrolls exceeding $130 million.

What he reveals is that by approaching baseball in a more rational, analytical way and doing away with all the traditional conventions, you can compete with anyone who doesn't do the same. Too many GMs and... more info

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