I read this book a few months back, but the untimely trade of Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs makes this a relevant review now. Moneyball is the story of Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane and his adoption of statistical methods to evaluate talent. It sounds pretty dry, but the book is well-written and spins tales of Beane's days as a "can't miss" prospect in the Mets system who flamed out like so many prospects do (I even have one of his baseball cards from the late 80's). His experiences as a textbook "5-tool player" whose tools never translated into baseball production, as well as his limited financial reserves as the GM of a small-market team, became his main impetus for revamping the A's scouting department.

The heart of Beane's philosophy is to use objective metrics to measure a player's potential or actual effectiveness rather than subjective scouting reports. In the past (and in the present for most teams), the decisions on which players to draft, sign, or trade for were made almost entirely based on firsthand accounts written by former players. Scouting reports often focus on a players "tools", such as arm strength or foot speed, instead of actual production. But Beane focuses more on statistical measures developed by statisticians Bill James and Paul Depodesta (who now runs the Los Angeles Dodgers) such as OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage), runs created, and win shares.

The first half of the book describes Beane's playing career, his transition to the front office, and the recent history of baseball statistics. This part is interesting, but the real meat of the story is the tale of how he put it all together to rebuild the team both through the draft and through offseason acquisitions after losing first baseman Jason Giambi to the hated New York Yankees. This is also the point where Beane starts to come across as a smug intellectual who thinks he's smarter than everyone else in baseball despite decidedly mixed results.

The biggest issue I have with the book, and with the Beane-is-a-genius mantra spouted by the author throughout the second half, is the chapter on former Red Sox backup catcher Scott Hatteberg. Hatteberg was Beane's handpicked successor to Giambi, even though he a) wasn't a first baseman and b) never had more than 100 hits in a season and was 33 years old. In the chapter, Beane bashes the Sox repeatedly for not playing Hatteberg more and congratulates himself effusely for noticing that Hatteberg has a good eye and stealing him away cheaply from Boston. So what has Scott Hatteberg done since joining the A's? He's had an OPS of .807 in 2002 and an atrocious .725 in 2003. To put this in perspective, a great OPS is around 1.000, and a good OPS for a first baseman is probably between .850 and .900. In other words, there's probably a reason that the Sox played him sparingly, and Red Sox ownership should be the ones congratulating themselves for unloading his contract.

Then there's the treatment of postseason play. Some people (*cough* George Steinbrenner) don't consider a year to be successful unless their team wins the World Series. The A's haven't won any playoff series since 1990. The author, in his continuing effort to glorify Billy Beane to godlike status, glosses over the A's recent postseason choke jobs by quoting Beane as calling the postseason a crapshoot and then never mentioning it again. It may be a crapshoot, but what are the odds of shooting craps four years in a row? If it is indeed luck, you'd think the luck would fall in their favor at least once.

But if you're a baseball fan (or even a Brewers fan), you'll enjoy this book and look at games a little differently, cursing your favorite players when they make an out on the first pitch or get thrown out stealing. Just watch what you wish for if you want your team to espouse the Beane Philosophy. My Red Sox, who have recently adopted the OPS-first mentality, traded notorious first-pitch swinger Nomar Garciaparra for Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz (or as I like to call them, "a bag of balls and some sunflower seeds").

Posted by: rkc at August 28, 2004 5:38 PM

Posted by: Chris Hill Festival at August 29, 2004 7:43 PM