Customers find the book fantastic, great, and fascinating. Readers also mention that Michael Lewis did a good job balancing the main storyline with flashbacks. They also appreciate the story, saying the author has a way to tell it that makes every subject interesting. 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. Besides being one of the most insider accounts ever written about baseball, Moneyball is populated with fascinating characters.
- By re-evaluating their strategy in this way, the 2002 Athletics, with a budget of $44 million for player salaries, were competitive with larger-market teams such as the New York Yankees, whose payroll exceeded $125 million that season.
- They say the author has a way to tell the story that makes every subject interesting.
- They are all in search of new baseball knowledge―insights that will give the little guy who is willing to discard old wisdom the edge over big money.
- The last part of the book reveals the second half of the 2002 season.
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Customers find the book very insightful, describing it as a compelling dissertation that provides great life lessons. “…book that Michael Lewis writes seems to be more fascinating and well researched than the previous ones….” Read more Customers find the book informative and thoroughly researched, appreciating its good data-driven insights and depth.
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David Haglund of Slate and Jonah Keri of Grantland criticized the book for moneyball the art of winning an unfair game glossing over key young talent acquired through the draft and signed internationally. The mathematical model turned out to be that of Cambridge physicist Ian Graham, which was used to select the manager (Jürgen Klopp) and players essential for Liverpool to win the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. Moneyball has also influenced and been influenced by other professional sports teams including European club association football (soccer).
- David Haglund of Slate and Jonah Keri of Grantland criticized the book for glossing over key young talent acquired through the draft and signed internationally.
- A book that’s obsessed with baseball stats might not sound particularly gripping, even if you spend a lot of time watching MLB games.
- The final chapter details how the A’s lost to the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the playoffs despite having the better record and better team overall.
- Lewis cites A’s minor leaguer Jeremy Bonderman, drafted out of high school in 2001 over Beane’s objections, as an example of the type of draft pick Beane would avoid.
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. “Michael Lewis is a great author, and this book is another solid piece by him….” Read more “…The story is interesting and well written and kept me continuously glued to the pages which is probably why Brad Pitt and Hollywood made the movie….” Read more “…Despite some places being fairly dry, overall its a compelling story. Interesting to note that the A’s again made the post-season this year….” Read more “…Truly inspirational and educational as it dares you to look at things with a different approach than the norm.” Read more “A great account of exploiting market inefficiencies for gain. Very inspiring and engaging, even for someone like me who is not a baseball fan.” Read more
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Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a wonderful and fascinating read, particularly for baseball fans who enjoy the movie adaptation. Customers find this book to be a wonderful and engaging read, particularly for baseball fans, with thorough research that goes beyond just statistics. The book is parodied in the 2010 Simpsons episode “MoneyBART”, in which Lisa manages Bart’s Little League baseball team using sabermetric principles. They argued that the book ignores the pitching trio of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito, and position players such as Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada, all of whom were discovered via traditional scouting methodology and were key contributors to the success of the 2002 Athletics. Lewis explores the A’s approach to the 2002 MLB draft, when the team had a run of early picks. Lewis cites A’s minor leaguer Jeremy Bonderman, drafted out of high school in 2001 over Beane’s objections, as an example of the type of draft pick Beane would avoid.
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Very thought provoking not only about baseball but about how it is possible to rethink concepts and views that have long been deemed to be definitive and valid beyond question. In this book, the author criticizes my friend, Ms. Dani Mabry’s father, John calling him a so called “bench player”. I will use the book as a reference as this year’s playoffs are played. His descriptive writing allows Beane and the others in the lively cast of baseball characters to come alive.
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A book that’s obsessed with baseball stats might not sound particularly gripping, even if you spend a lot of time watching MLB games. “…I really enjoyed this book. It’s just a great read. A great story.” Read more “great book with a lot of fascinating insight into the world of professional baseball and how Sabermetrics has changed the game.” Read more
Sabermetricians argue that a college baseball player’s chance of MLB success is much higher than the more traditional high school draft pick. Beane knows which players are likely to be traded by other teams, and he manages to involve himself even when the trade is unconnected to the A’s. Lewis (Liar’s Poker; The New New Thing) examines how in 2002 the Oakland Athletics achieved a spectacular winning record while having the smallest player payroll of any major league baseball team. Moneyball follows the fortunes of charismatic A’s executive Billy Beane, whose number-crunching approach changed the face of baseball, emphasizing team dynamics over superstar salaries.
Lewis discusses Bill James and his annual stats newsletter, Baseball Abstract, along with other mathematical analysis of the game. He captures this against-all-odds underdog story with wit and sharp clarity. With the second-lowest payroll in baseball at his disposal he had to? And then came Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics. Readers also mention that Michael Lewis did a good job balancing the main storyline with flashbacks that described us. They say the author has a way to tell the story that makes every subject interesting.
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To conduct an astonishing experiment in finding and fielding a team that nobody else wanted.In a narrative full of fabulous characters and brilliant excursions into the unexpected, Michael Lewis shows us how and why the new baseball knowledge works. In a quest to discover the answer, Michael Lewis delivers not only “the single most influential baseball book ever” (Rob Neyer, Slate) but also what “may be the best book ever written on business” (Weekly Standard). “Fascinating story about the development of a statistical system for choosing professional baseball athletes from a large pool of talented wannabes…” Read more “I was looking for more analytical content and ideas. The book is a good read as to behind the scenes of things fans don’t normal get to see.” Read more Customers find the content fantastic, saying it’s a great book for anyone who has some sort of interest in baseball.
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Customers find the book engaging and entertaining, particularly for baseball fans, with one customer noting it’s fun to read about sabermetrics. Since the book’s publication and success, Lewis has discussed plans for a sequel to Moneyball called Underdogs, revisiting the players and their relative success several years into their careers, although only four players from the 2002 draft played much at the Major League level. “Moneyball” has entered baseball’s lexicon; teams that value sabermetrics are often said to be playing Moneyball.
“This was a great book. It has been a long time since I read a book that was hard to put down but this definitely qualifies as being in that category….” Read more Additionally, customers appreciate the sports content, noting it’s about more than just baseball, and consider it worth the price. Moreover, the book offers great life lessons and teaches about both business and baseball, while being well-written with excitement. Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer – no Kindle device required. Representatives Barbara Lee and Mark DeSaulnier with the intended purpose of having MLB teams that move 25 miles from their former home cities, including the Athletics, to compensate them.citation needed
“This delightfully written, lesson-laden book deserves a place of its own in the Baseball Hall of Fame.” ―Forbes Actor Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, while Jonah Hill plays fictional character Peter Brand, based on Paul DePodesta; Philip Seymour Hoffman plays A’s manager Art Howe. Beane has regarded Arsenal F.C.’s former manager Arsène Wenger as a personal idol. Under Alderson’s tenure, the team payroll dropped below $100 million per year from 2012 to 2014, and the Mets reached the 2015 World Series—en route defeating MLB’s highest-payroll team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. P. Ricciardi to the front office, the team was jokingly referred to as the “Moneyball Mets”.
Customers say
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. This is because Beane’s method doesn’t work in playoff series, when so few games are played. The last part of the book reveals the second half of the 2002 season. Chapter 8 details how he changed from a catcher to a first-baseman when he joined the team. One of those players is Scott Hatteberg, who Beane acquired for his hitting. Chapter 5 returns to 2002, covering Oakland’s picks when the draft gets underway.
“True story about true people and true events and a lot of baseball! Inspiring to think differently and to not be afraid to stand out.” Read more “…Seeing as how the book is about baseball, this may be my fault, but I ultimately thought that Lewis just put way too much importance into a…” Read more “The book is an easy and very interesting read. Michael Lewis is a great writer….” Read more “…account of the paradigm shift coming to baseball in America is a fascinating story of a few individuals challenging conventional wisdom and, in an…” Read more Customers praise the book’s storytelling, appreciating its personal narrative and complexity, with one customer highlighting its engaging epilogue. “EZ to read but with a lot of jargon and numbers. FUNNY! Very informative, well written. You don’t need to be a fan to enjoy this book….” Read more
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The first few chapters alternate between Billy Beane’s story as a young player in the 1980s and the year 2002, when most of the book takes place. This background prepared him for Moneyball, a book about how statistics is applied to baseball in a method known as sabermetrics. “Many baseball books seem to be fiction. This one is worth the read.” Read more “This is a good book! I greatly enjoyed it! Fast shipping, good price, great product! It is a must read for all baseball fans.” Read more
“…Lewis is a great read and enhanced both my enjoyment and appreciation of baseball. I was interested in reading the book after seeing the movie….” Read more “I really liked it. Michael Lewis is an excellent writer and it was a good story. I read one chapter weeping with laughter and it wasn’t a comedy….” Read more “Great writing. Makes the book an easy and good read. I’m not a crazed fan of baseball, or its stats, but I did really like the “Moneyball” movie….” Read more “Excellent book. Michael Lewis’ approach to the subject was interesting. Making data crunching an interesting read, can be a challenge.” Read more “…This has been a great read to learn how to understand the fundamentals of a game and it’s success and how to obtain it with limited resources.” Read more
Beane maintains that high draft picks spent on high school prospects, regardless of talent or physical potential as evaluated by traditional scouting, are riskier than those spent on more experienced college players. It describes the team’s sabermetric approach to assembling a competitive baseball team on a small budget. “His constant chatter was a way of keeping tabs on the body of information critical to his trading success.” Lewis chronicles Beane’s life, focusing on his uncanny ability to find and sign the right players.
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