Rating: 
Summary: Right on the Money!
Review: Michael Lewis is not a name that comes to many people's minds when they discuss the best writers working today, but it should be. He's a great wit, has a wonderful ear for dialogue, and a clever mind for seeing behind the ruses and props of the traditional powers of everything from finance to politics to, now, baseball.A recent hot topic that has engaged many baseball fans over the last several years is the relationship between payrolls and winning. More so than most professional sports, there is a lopsidedness to the size of payrolls between baseball's richest teams and its poorest. This is important because many of baseball's wealthiest teams are also its winningest. One large exception to this pattern is the Oakland Athletics. With one of the smallest budgets in baseball, the A's have put together a team that also has one of the winningest records in the Major Leagues over the last five years. Why? According to Lewis, the key to the A's success lies in both economics and psychology. The economics is that good, non-superstar baseball players have now become so expensive that there are financial constraints on small-market teams to acquiring them. This, in turn, has also pushed a few owners to hire creative management to find other ways to acquire talent rather than just purchasing it on the free agency market. Still, many small-market teams remain stuck in the traditional ways. The A's have not largely because of the psychology of their General Manager, Billy Beane. Beane was once a baseball scout's wet dream; he could run, hit, field, throw, and was pretty level-headed for a young and talented kid. What's more, tall and slim, he looked like a baseball player. But Beane failed as a major-leaguer, and it was in his failure as a player that his genius as a General Manager was born. Beane knew first-hand that scouts were often wrong and this intimate knowledge provided enough of an impetus for him to appreciate the new science of baseball statistics that other baseball people couldn't care less about. The new science basically argued that the traditional baseball stats did not accurately measure what was most important to winning baseball games, and that other, newer ways of looking at stats provided a more efficient way of measuring talent that would help teams to win. While this science had been building up among fans for some time, it was having a difficult time penetrating the inner sanctum of baseball management and professional scouts. They had their traditional ways of figuring out what was a good baseball player and no fan was going to tell them differently. Until Billy Beane arrived. While Beane was no statistician, he was smart enough to see what the new science had to offer, and his background ensured he would be sympathetic to it. After all, Beane had once been the scout's darling boy and he had suffered from overly high expectations because of it. He knew how wrong scouts could be. With Beane in charge, computer programs and Harvard grads were soon taking over the jobs of seasoned, professional scouts. What happened after that forms the main story behind this marvelous book.
Rating:
Summary: Most Important Baseball Book In Years
Review: Since this book has came out- some have questioned the accurracy of events and quotes in the book. I don't care about that. I also do not think Lewis is the greatest writer in the world.
I still gave this book FIVE STARS just for the information that I learned about Beane and how he goes about his business. I am probably more knowledgeable than most Baseball fans, if for no other reason, because I have followed the game so closely for several decades. That said- I have had several paradigm shifts in how I look at the baseball business. I won't get specific because I do not want to ruin anything. If you are a baseball fan- this is a MUST read just for what you will learn about baseball. It is a fascinating book, regardless of whether some or all events/quotes are true or false. The window into Beane's organization is so interesting. You will never look at the baseball business, or baseball for that matter, the same way again. Simply put- the most important baseball book of this generation. There are Beane sidekicks and clones such as the GM in Toronto (JP Ricciardi) and in Boston (Theo Epstein) using the same valuation methods and strategies. There will be more of these types running teams each year. The future of baseball will get alot more interesting if this trend keeps up. Who knows, maybe these guys will be the ones to bring financial sanity back to the game.
Rating:
Summary: Stellar Look into the Inside Game
Review: For close to a decade, baseball Commissioner-for-life Bud Selig has been wailing and gnashing his teeth over the 'fact' that only the richest teams have any hope of winning. After all, look at how well the Yankees do...the game's all about money, now. Except for those pesky Oakland Athletics. Despite one of the smallest payrolls in the majors, Oakland has been one of the best teams in baseball over the past five years. How can this be? Michael Lewis explains the art of winning baseball Billy Beane style, with a book that's as beautifully written as it is informative. Lewis has a gift for prose that makes this nonfiction work read like a page-turning novel. His review of Oakland's transition from a traditional team to the standard-bearer for a new breed of baseball is a must read for anyone with the slightest interest in how a business can take advantage of their competitors through a better understanding of the game. In other words, Moneyball isn't just for baseball fans, although they'll certainly love it. Billy Beane has brought the business equivalent of asymmetrical warfare to baseball, and Lewis's telling of the tale can help anyone involved in business. Are there necessarily always holes like those Beane exploited in baseball in every line of work? Probably not, but learning how to look for them is still a valuable skill for anyone. As for baseball fans, the details Lewis unveils alone make this book worth the price of admission. Among the recounting of how Oakland succeeds, Lewis weaves a net of the short stories that make baseball such a wonderful game. And he's even given away the most basic secrets of how any General Manager can make their team better, if only your local nine will take the hint.
Rating:
Summary: Bring on the $15 million utility infielder...
Review: This was an excellent read. Once again, Lewis delivers an entertaining look at a what would likely be considered a dry subject, even by the standards of many baseball fans. However, in writing this book he has popularized a new way of looking the game, both in how it is measured and played. Can it be long before all teams begin to apply this system of statistical analysis to make their draft, trade and lineup decisions? If an average quality utility infielder can walk one out of every five at bats, hit .260 and earn $10 million a year, does this make ARod and Giambi worth $30 or $40 million a year? In the end I'm not sure who to be rooting for - the clever general managers and their "savant quants" or the players previously considered too hapless and hopeless even to ride the bench for a big league team, who will soon, undoubtedly, be capable of earning salaries that might make ARod blush. Okay, so maybe that is an exaggeration. But clearly the proliferation of this way of thinking and the mad pursuit of "walkers", "clay pigeons" and club foot pitchers that will surely ensue, will elevate the financial stakes of a crop of players that a few years ago wouldn't have been able to play for Bill Veeck's St. Louis Browns. So the secret is out. Draft the lame, the blind, even the toe-tagged as long as they can find an endless string of uninteresting ways to get on base. While this efficient approach clearly yields results that can't be disputed, it diminishes certain elements of the game that add excitement and ultimately nostalgia for many fans. The mystique of the underdog emerging triumphant over the Goliaths of the league will only last until the the current Davids, like the A's, become a smarter version of Goliath. Then it will be just as boring and predictable to see these teams win, even if they can do it with a smaller payroll. The financial fortunes of the game notwithstanding, this book is a great read for anybody who is interested in innovative and unconventional methods of problem solving.
Rating: 
Summary: Less than I expected
Review: As a long suffering Anaheim Angels fan (until 2002!), I've always found the on-field success of the Oakland A's interesting, primarily because it usually came at the expense of the Angels. This book explains where that success comes from: GM Billy Bean and his view of baseball fundamentals. That part of the book is interesting, if not new. Michael Lewis certainly revels in the "art of the deal" sections of the book, similar to his approach in "Liar's Poker". However, what's missing from this book is perspective and balance. Everything other team in baseball is portrayed as free-spending dolts blinded by their illusions, which I found simplistic, unfair and unrealistic. In baseball (which is a $3.5 billion-a-year business), on-field success doesn't always translate into off-field success. Lewis fails to acknowledge that there may be legitimate business reasons behind many teams' free-spending approach to talent, beyond the straight-foward reason of winning baseball games. Star players help land lucrative television deals, draws fans to the stadiums and generate merchandise sales. If the teams happen to win some pennants along the way, all the better! I just expected a book called "Moneyball" would attempt to explore this aspect of the business of baseball.
Rating: 
Summary: Numbers numbers numbers
Review: The most important number in baseball is World series won. How many does Beane have...none. He hasnt even made it to the pennant games yet and they way things are going the A's never will if Beane is the GM. Thier window of oppurtunity passed when the "overpaid" and slick fielding (which doesnt matter to Beane) Derek Jeter threw out the overweight and slow Jer. Giambi at the plate on a great play in 2001. The As would be bottom rung if not the the 3 hammers they have in the rotation, non of whom were picked out of the crowd by Beane. Everyone knew that Hudson, Zito and Mulder would be very good. Groupthink has obviously taken a hold of most of the reviewers, who all seem to say the same things. "OBP is important, Ks are important, not making an out blah blah" and so on as if everyone in the baseball world doesnt know that. Looks like Beane pulled another fast one on all the people who rushed and bought his book.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely worth the time of the casual fan
Review: If you are a so-called "casual" baseball fan, maybe one who watches a couple of games a week on television, or even goes to a game every now and then, and you've picked up most or all of your insight into the game by listening to broadcasters and watching ESPN, then this book will really be quite interesting. If you've read everything ever written by Bill James, play in three different fantasy leagues, and scour the web daily for every little shred of information you can find, then Moneyball will be significantly less worth while. Whatever the case, it is still a fine read, well written and engaging, that introduces you to a memorable group of people working hard at solving the game we all love so much, even if it is a short book and very light on the math that should be there to help back its claims. The central idea behind the success of the Oakland Athletics, as presented in Moneyball, is that it is possible to accurately quantify the contributions of ballplayers to their teams and by using statistical analysis, find value where the market doesn't believe there to be any. I personally found the idea of using hard, mathematical analysis over gut feeling and village wisdom to make baseball decisions quite appealing. I don't know that I agree with everything in the book and everything about the way the A's approach baseball, but they've got a lot of numbers and wins to back up their approach. No matter what you think personally of their philosophy or their methods, it is worth your time to learn something about them if you are a baseball fan. In the end, Moneyball is one of those rare sports books that makes you watch (and play) the game differently. It has helped me understand a lot of recent developments in baseball (like why the Toronto Blue Jays never bunt and why the Boston Red Sox hired Theo Epstein as their GM) and it was fun to read as well. I wish it had contained an appendix with a little more on how exactly people simulate a baseball season and quantify the value of the players numerically, but I can understand if the A's either didn't want to share any sort of really specific information on that or if the author just didn't want to bother with learning the math he'd need to know to make that portion of the book understandable for his average reader. I also wish the book had been a little longer. It seems likely that an awful lot of what happened last season with the A's was left out.
Rating:
Summary: Management matters more than money
Review: Highly engaging, delightful and heartwarming read, especially for lapsed baseball fans and those who still appreciate baseball. Lewis blends a love of the game, with a desire to really understand what it takes to win and the lives of some of those who make it all happen. Lewis makes a clear case for competent management in baseball or, as featured general manager Billie Beane points out: In what other organization do you let the show be run by middle management. Or as another wag says: At age fifteen, most of what you now about baseball comes from announcers and eighty percent of what they know is wrong. Oakland GM Beane has studied baseball as a process that produces results. And rather than count on traditional statistics, he learned that many of the things ballplayers and managers think are important just aren't that important. Using much of the Bill James approach (a baseball fan and analyst from Lawrence, Kansas who for the past twenty-five years helped re-invent the way we look at baseball), Beane appreciates batters who don't make outs and who have the patience to take a walk. Beane penalizes his minor league managers when their players fall behind in the walks per at bat ratio. Home runs matter more than stolen bases and sacrifice bunts. In brief, not making an out, e.g., a failed stolen base attempt, 'manufactures' (a favorite baseball verb) more runs than does speed on the base paths. Getting on base and getting extra bases matters more than a high batting average. Pitchers have little control over what happens once a ball is hit into play. Walks, strikeouts and home runs matter more than ERA. While skill matters, luck has an even larger impact on the success or failure of each game. And there are colorful stories of real people who don't fit the traditional baseball mold yet who make big contributions, truly undervalued assets, including A's minor leaguers Nick Swisher and Jeremy Brown, catcher-now-A's-first-baseman Scott Hatteberg and the A's underhand reliever Chad Bradford My one small disagreement lies with the continuing myth that baseball is a monopoly. Major league baseball teams do not compete with one another the way competing firms compete. Rather they work in effect as regional offices of the same firm. Competing firms would be glad to put their opponents out of business; major league baseball would die if that were to be the case. The fact that teams compete on the field disguises the fact that teams are economically cooperating with one another. The teams compete against other uses of the fans' entertainment dollar, not one another. Major league baseball is not a monopoly; it is one big company operating in the entertainment or sports business. Even 'free' agents cost two first-round draft choices, and Beane shows how to put these to good use. Lewis shows, however, that baseball can be rational, a process to be studied, understood and, most important, managed. Good management is essential to success. The A's, contrary to what Bud Selig says, are not an "aberration". Instead, they benefit from good management. In 2002, their division standings were exactly the opposite of the team payrolls. Management matters more than money. Economic inefficiencies can be ferreted out and exploited. Reliance on conventional wisdom and not on researched, reasoned analysis will produce a lot of expensive losses. Just look at the Orioles, Mets, Red Sox, and Dodgers. And then look at Minnesota, Toronto and Oakland.
Rating:
Summary: Great behind-the-scenes look at doing more with less
Review: Highly reccomended to fans whose teams overspend and get little return on investment.....the book gives you ammunition to finally prove to others that most people running pro teams are running them fantasy league style, not effectively using deeper analysis and out-of-ordinary, breaking-the-mold knowledge...
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: For years, baseball scouts and other game insiders used incomplete, often unscientific methods of evaluating young talent. They focused, for hitters, on batting average and intangibles such as "good swing" and "good baseball body." In the 1980s, baseball fan and statistician Bill James and others like him began developing or relying on more scientific ways of assessing the true "value" of a player--such stats as on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and (later) win shares. This book details the evolution and implementation of some of these principles, particularly in the Oakland organization under the direction of GM Billy Beane, a former player who had all the intangibles of a great hitter but was a Major League bust. The story is gripping, and Lewis, without undue complication, explains the workings and significance of the new stats. Lewis is able to give his readers compelling details about Beane's business methods and negotiation strategies--secrets Beane probably should have kept secret, both to maintain a competitive advantage and to preserve more cordial relations around the league. May be of interest to even the casual baseball fan.
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