Moneyball

Over the week I finished reading Moneyball by Michael Lewis. It's a biography/informational guide on baseball and the genius general manager of the Oakland A's, Billy Beane. The book may be about baseball, but Lewis's approach is a more intellectual take. He views it from the outside and yet it's obvious he loves the subject. The book focuses on many older and younger players including greats like Miguel Tejada, Ray Durham and Nick Swisher as well as prospects and players who are less renowned like Jeremy Brown, Scott Hatteberg and Chad Bradford. At it's heart this book is about underdogs, the Oakland A's have the lowest payroll of any major league team, but using baseball savvy and common sense they found themselves in the playoffs three years in a row. The reason for their success is Billy Beane, a man who could have been anything except for a pro ball player and he chose to be a GM. Beane is the most interesting character, a failed prospect himself who looked to change the way baseball is managed. Beane doesn't care about home runs, singles or steals. He only cares about one thing: outs. As long as you tried to maximize all twenty-seven outs given to your team you can maximize your chance of winning. Winning is the most important thing to Billy Beane, and like Billy Beane, Moneyball is a winner.