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Moneyball
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game | Michael M. Lewis
Moneyball is a quest for the secret of success in baseball. Following the low-budget Oakland Athletics, their larger-than-life general manger, Billy Beane, and the strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts, Michael Lewis has written 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).I wrote this book because I fell in love with a story. The story concerned a small group of undervalued professional baseball players and executives, many of whom had been rejected as unfit for the big leagues, who had turned themselves into one of the most successful franchises in Major League Baseball. But the idea for the book came well before I had good reason to write itbefore I had a story to fall in love with. It began, really, with an innocent question: how did one of the poorest teams in baseball, the Oakland Athletics, win so many games?With these words Michael Lewis launches us into the funniest, smartest, and most contrarian book since, well, since Liar's Poker. Moneyball is a quest for something as elusive as the Holy Grail, something that money apparently can't buy: the secret of success in baseball. The logical places to look would be the front offices of major league teams, and the dugouts, perhaps even in the minds of the players themselves. Lewis mines all these possibilitieshis intimate and original portraits of big league ballplayers are alone worth the price of admissionbut the real jackpot is a cache of numbersnumbers!collected over the years by a strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts: software engineers, statisticians, Wall Street analysts, lawyers and physics professors.What these geek numbers showno, proveis that the traditional yardsticks of success for players and teams are fatally flawed. Even the box score misleads us by ignoring the crucial importance of the humble base-on-balls. This information has been around for years, and nobody inside Major League Baseball paid it any mind. And then came Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland Athletics.Billy paid attention to those numbers with the second lowest payroll in baseball at his disposal he had toand this book records his astonishing experiment in finding and fielding a team that nobody else wanted. Moneyball is a roller coaster ride: before the 2002 season opens, Oakland must relinquish its three most prominent (and expensive) players, is written off by just about everyone, and then comes roaring back to challenge the American League record for consecutive wins.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. He also sets up a sly and hilarious morality tale: Big Money, like Goliath, is always supposed to win...how can we not cheer for David?
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QBub
Pickpick

Looking for a competitive edge in major league baseball without steroids or other performance enhancing drugs.

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HLouiseM
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Watched the Brad Pitt adaptation of Moneyball (first time)with my dude and his family last night. He had two A‘s hats we Had to wear. It was a blast.

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Eggs
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Klou 👍📚❤👍 4y
Eggs @Klou 🤗😍 4y
54 likes2 comments
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Ferengitooth
Pickpick

Not only is Billy Beane‘s Athletics team of the early aughts a true “David Vs. Goliath” story but it‘s also an interesting case study on how so many people could be doing something so wrong for so long due to things like “tradition”. The idea that sabermetrics could help baseball teams succeed was around since the 1970‘s and it took 30+ years for it to be implemented and now it‘s the standard for most teams. Good book, great lesson.

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Oblomov26
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Pickpick

Lewis has always been an interesting author (ever since Liars Pokers) and this being about statistics and behavioural economics ticked many of my boxes. The story of how the Oakland A‘s one of the poorest teams in the league beat the odds by using players statistics as an indication of performance and focussing upon a set of under appreciated metrics, rather than the inferred knowledge of scouts. An interesting read after Thinking Fast and Slow.

50 likes2 stack adds
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kstadt929
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🤣🤣🤣

shellleigh33 I don‘t know if I have that much will power 🤣🤣 6y
Jess7 Always love seeing this meme! 6y
18 likes2 comments
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PacNWFem
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I'm not a baseball superfan. I enjoy the game because my Son-in-law is a superfan. I enjoy spending time with my family at MLB games and am faithfully in the bleachers as my Son-in-law and Daughter coach the Grandies in t-ball. We promised Son-in-law that if his favorite player made it into the Hall of Fame, we would go to the induction as vacation. So, I'm heading to NY this summer. Anyway, I'm getting into the spirit of things with this read.

arubabookwoman Is your team the Mariners? (edited) 6y
PacNWFem @arubabookwoman My Son-in-laws team is the Braves. But, he loves baseball, so we go and enjoy cheering for the Mariners. Are you a baseball fan? 6y
arubabookwoman I was forced into it when my kids were young. Ken Griffey was on the Ms when my son was about 12 and since Ms weren‘t that popular then, on fans night you got to go out on the field and mingle with the players. We have pictures of him with Griffey and some of the other stars from then. I don‘t follow baseball (or any sports) now but all of my sons remain great fans of the Seattle teams even tho‘ @they now live elsewhere. 6y
PacNWFem That's a great story. ? I would not follow sports either were it not for the family. I am looking forward to visiting the Hall of Fame museum, however. I want to see the history (and, hopefully meet some players, if they are around) of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, the league made famous in the movie "A League of Their Own." 6y
8 likes4 comments
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MinDea
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LETTER M: Stephen King's reported net worth is $400 MILLION!!!! That's nuts! Being one of THE most famous authors I am not surprised!

#KingAToA @GarthRanzz

MinDea Sorry I missed yesterday @GarthRanzz I was laid up in bed with a wicked cold. Finally feeling like a human now! 7y
GarthRanzz You‘d think he‘d be worth more! He‘s made quite a bit of that off me over the last 40 years. 😊 7y
GarthRanzz I‘m glad you‘re feeling better! 🤗 7y
79 likes4 comments
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KassKho
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1) Graphic novels every time
2) hostess
3) community manager
4) marketing for publishing house
5) green tea 🍵

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Bostonmomx2
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Honestly all my reading is to escape real life so....
Burger King at 15 for a few months but then got a really good job at our local hospital and stayed there all thru high school.
Student
Book store/either cafe or restaurant with all proceeds going to animal rescues because I‘ll have won the lottery and won‘t need the money 😉
Neither unless it‘s an iced latte and 99% of the time I won‘t drive to get one.
#manicmonday @JoScho

SilversReviews Reading helps me go other places. :) 7y
JoScho You sound just like me. My dream is to win the lottery and open a massive non-kill shelter and save as many animals as I can. I do my best and have saved several but I wish I could do more. The most we have had at one time is seven-4 dogs and 3 cats. (edited) 7y
Bostonmomx2 @JoScho that‘s so awesome. I‘ve truly only had shelter dogs except my Elvis whom I inherited when my sister passed. The unwanted animal problem in this country really makes me mad. 7y
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Cortg @Bostonmomx2 How have your rescue dogs been? We rescued one last year . He‘s the love of our lives and we just adore him but he has fear aggression towards strangers (lack of early socialization and probably abused) and it takes him a good 24 hrs to warm up to people. It‘s tough but we‘re so happy to have him. 🐶 7y
Bostonmomx2 @Cortg the one I have now (I have 2 Boston‘s but one was inherited) is great. We‘re not sure what her background is other than when she was found she was dying during birth. Literally. She got saved just in time, nursed back to health and now she‘s mine. She could t be sweeter or more friendly. She does have issues tho, Pees and poops in the House way too often. 7y
Cortg Aw, like a little preemie baby 👶 🐶🍼 7y
Bostonmomx2 @Cortg oh lol I didn‘t explain that right. She was giving birth. I assume some sort of puppy mill operation and rather than save her, they were letting her die and get rid of her. 7y
Cortg Oh, I gotcha now 😉 Poor baby. Glad you found her! 7y
70 likes8 comments
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azulaco
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Pickpick

This book was a stretch for me: I never read books in the sports genre, and baseball is a sport I have never followed. I'm glad a reading challenge got me to read this. It was more interesting than I expected, all about using statistics to impose more impartiality on player evaluations, and how that led to the Oakland A's becoming a good team on practically no money. The stories of the individual players and management guys kept me interested.

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wallacereads
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We have slowly been making our way through the MLB stadiums. This was our first time at Citi Field and we lucked out on the weather! #gotham #mets

9 likes1 stack add
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JessReads
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I'm currently listening to Moneyball on audio. This is so far out of my wheelhouse that it's speaking another language, but I'm not hating it so far. (From someone who has been known to leave minor league baseball games in the fifth inning because she's lost interest, this is high praise indeed.) My book club picked this for the #readharder challenge (a book about sports), which is how it ended up in my ears!

stacybmartin I thought this was going to be pretty boring as well but I actually enjoyed it! It was a nice surprise. Hope you like it too! 8y
22 likes1 comment
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suvata
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Here's a reading challenge for anyone ready to add some diversity into their reading life.

suvata Idea for 23: From Ausma Zehanat Khan, author of the Esa Khattak/Rachel Getty mystery series, including The Unquiet Dead, The Language of Secrets, and the forthcoming Among the Ruins 8y
suvata Idea for 19: From Daniel José Older, author of Salsa Nocturna, the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series, and YA novel Shadowshaper 8y
25 likes2 comments
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M-D
Pickpick

Good book about a new way that general managers in baseball are spending money. The analytical parts were a little dry, but overall a really good book.

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Hestapleton
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My name is Hannah and I have no self control. Got a little carried away at my library's used book sale. But I made friends with the staff and found so many gems I couldn't say no to! #damnitlitsy

Simona Well Hannah, my name is Simona and it's nothing wrong to have that kind of a problem. I have the same problem and I'm proud of that‼️ To be a friend with stuff has the advantage in that, that they call you when they get a book that is on your list. My wish list is in the two used books shops and when the desired book shows they call me. Good relationships means everything! Is this for #litsyconfession ? 8y
Kirstin That is an impressive haul of books! 🙌🙌 8y
Reagan Awesome haul! I have a book sale coming up. I'm scared. 8y
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Hestapleton @Rjanke prepare yourself. And your wallet. I went way over budget. #noregrets 8y
Reagan @Hehaney I cleaned up at the last one, and this one is on my birthday! No budget for me. I told my husband the only thing I wanted was for him not to judge me when I come home from this book sale. 8y
Hestapleton @Rjanke Party hard enough for all of us!!! 8y
29 likes6 comments
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slowreader
Pickpick

Good times. Can be enjoyed by non sports fans as well. A story about bucking the system and pursuing what you believe in.

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rach_simone
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I'm not sure if this counts as #FullOfAdventure for #Booktober but my friend, her brother and I went on a week long baseball roadtrip in June. We hit Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee! This picture was taken in Pittsburgh after our first game got rained out! #LetsGoMets

I did read a lot in the car when the others were driving.

@RealLifeReading

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Pinkmeghan
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Time to get a little personal for today's #augustphotochallenge theme #booksandsports I'm normally a football girl, especially a good juicy football romance novel. A year ago my boss met with me, told me to read #moneyball and my career path totally changed. His outlook on VORP, statistics, and how to predict the future has changed not only the work I do, but my outlook about it. I'm in a much busier but happier place. #augustofpages

TheSpinecrackersBookClub Thanks for sharing. It's always so inspiring to hear how books have changed the lives of people. 8y
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stacybmartin
Pickpick

This one kept my interest way more than I imagined a book about baseball stats would!

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stacybmartin
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Next up on Overdrive - I hope this doesn't bore me.

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Jeff75
Mehso-so

I enjoyed the personal side of the book, but getting through the business side was dull.