[Synerbee]

I am winning

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Originally Posted by Icandrivejustnotlegally

I am winning

Correction. You WERE winning.

[2010 SSRS]

cause I am winning now

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Originally Posted by 2010 SSRS

cause I am winning now

Also a correction for you Joe. You also WERE winning.

[2010 SSRS]

and you was winning until now, I take the win and run with it

[coolman]

Moneyball
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

Author Michael M. Lewis
Country United States
Language English
Publisher W.W. Norton & Company Inc.
Publication date 2003
Media type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 288
ISBN ISBN 0-393-05765-8
OCLC Number 51817522
Dewey Decimal 796.357/06/91
LC Classification GV880 .L49 2003
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (ISBN 0-393-05765-8) is a book by Michael M. Lewis, published in 2003, about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager Billy Beane. Its focus is the team's modernized, analytical, sabermetric approach to assembling a competitive baseball team, despite Oakland's disadvantaged revenue situation.
Contents [hide]
1 Central premise of Moneyball
2 People discussed in the book
3 Analysis of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft
3.1 Beane's list
3.2 Oakland's picks
4 Film
5 Technology
6 In popular culture
7 References
8 External links
[edit]Central premise of Moneyball

The central premise of Moneyball is that the collected wisdom of baseball insiders (including players, managers, coaches, scouts, and the front office) over the past century is subjective and often flawed. Statistics such as stolen bases, runs batted in, and batting average, typically used to gauge players, are relics of a 19th century view of the game and the statistics that were available at the time. The book argues that the Oakland A's' front office took advantage of more empirical gauges of player performance to field a team that could compete successfully against richer competitors in Major League Baseball.
Rigorous statistical analysis had demonstrated that on-base percentage and slugging percentage are better indicators of offensive success, and the A's became convinced that these qualities were cheaper to obtain on the open market than more historically valued qualities such as speed and contact. These observations often flew in the face of conventional baseball wisdom and the beliefs of many baseball scouts and executives.
By re-evaluating the strategies that produce wins on the field, the 2002 Athletics, with approximately $41 million in salary, were competitive with larger market teams such as the New York Yankees, who spent over $125 million in payroll that same season. Because of the team's smaller revenues, Oakland is forced to find players undervalued by the market, and their system for finding value in undervalued players has proven itself thus far.
Several themes Lewis explored in the book include: insiders vs. outsiders (established traditionalists vs. upstart proponents of Sabermetrics), the democratization of information causing a flattening of hierarchies, and the ruthless drive for efficiency that capitalism demands. The book also touches on Oakland's underlying economic need to stay ahead of the curve; as other teams begin mirroring Beane's strategies to evaluate offensive talent, diminishing the Athletics' advantage, Oakland begins looking for other undervalued baseball skills such as defensive capabilities.
Moneyball also touches onto the A's methods of prospect selection. Sabermetricians argue that a college baseball player's chance of MLB success is far and away higher than a traditional high school draft pick. 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 if they were spent on more polished college players. Lewis cites A's minor leaguer Jeremy Bonderman, drafted out of high school in 2001 over Beane's objections, as but one example of precisely the type of draft pick Beane would avoid. Bonderman had all of the traditional "tools" that scouts look for, but thousands of such players have been signed by MLB organizations out of high school over the years and failed to develop. Lewis explores the A's approach to the 2002 MLB Draft, when the team had a nearly unprecedented run of early picks. The book documents Beane's often-tense discussions with his scouting staff (who favored traditional subjective evaluation of potential rather than objective sabermetrics) in preparation for the draft to the actual draft, which defied all expectations and was considered at the time a wildly successful (if unorthodox) effort by Beane.
In addition, Moneyball traces the history of the sabermetric movement back to such people as Bill James (now a member of the Boston Red Sox front office) and Craig R. Wright. Lewis explores how James' seminal Baseball Abstract, an annual publication that was published from the late-1970s through the late-1980s, influenced many of the young, up-and-coming baseball minds that are now joining the ranks of baseball management.
Moneyball has made such an impact in professional baseball that the term itself has entered the lexicon of baseball. Teams which appear to value the concepts of sabermetrics are often said to be playing "Moneyball". Baseball traditionalists, in particular some scouts and media members, decry the sabermetric revolution and have disparaged Moneyball for emphasizing concepts of sabermetrics over more traditional methods of player evaluation. Nevertheless, the impact of Moneyball upon major league front offices is undeniable. In its wake, teams such as the New York Mets, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Indians[1], and the Toronto Blue Jays have hired full-time Sabermetric analysts. 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.
[edit]People discussed in the book

Moneyball also covers the lives and careers of several baseball personalities. The central one is Billy Beane himself, whose failed playing career is contrasted with wildly optimistic predictions by scouts.
Players and people discussed in Moneyball:
Oakland Farm System:
Barry Zito* – 2002 AL Cy Young winner, part of the "Big 3" with Mulder and Hudson. Later signed with the San Francisco Giants for $126 million over 7 years.
Mark Mulder* – part of the "Big 3" with Zito and Hudson, later traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dan Haren, Kiko Calero and Daric Barton.
Tim Hudson* – part of the "Big 3" with Mulder and Zito, traded to the Atlanta Braves for Charles Thomas, Dan Meyer and Juan Cruz.
Kirk Saarloos*
John Baker* - traded to Florida Marlins in 2007.
Joe Blanton* – traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008 for 3 minor leaguers.
Jason Giambi* – 2000 AL MVP, signed with the New York Yankees in 2002 for $120 million over 7 years. After his Yankees contract expired at the end of the 2008 season, he returned to the A's as a free agent. He was released in August 2009 and picked up by the Colorado Rockies.
Miguel Tejada* – 2002 AL MVP, signed with the Baltimore Orioles for $72 million over 6 years. Traded to the Houston Astros after the 2007 season. Resigned with the Orioles for the 2010 season. In 2010 he was acquired by the Padres.
Eric Chavez* – 6-time AL Gold Glove winner.
Jeremy Brown – outrighted to the minors by the A's in 2007;[2] retired on February 15, 2008.
Nick Swisher* – traded to Chicago White Sox after 2007 season; traded to the Yankees after 2008 season. All-Star with New York in 2010.
Bobby Crosby* – 2004 AL Rookie of the Year, signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates for $1,000,000. In 2010, Crosby, D. J. Carrasco and Ryan Church were traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Chris Snyder and Pedro Ciriaco on July 31, 2010.[4] [5]
Mark Teahen* – traded for Octavio Dotel in 2004, now with the Chicago White Sox.
Jeremy Bonderman* – Traded to Detroit in 2002 along with Franklyn German and Carlos Pena for Jeff Weaver and a player to be named later. He eventually became one of the high school draft picks that paid off, developing into an MLB regular with the Tigers.
The Oakland Bullpen:
Jason Isringhausen* – signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. Then signed with the Rays. Now in triple-A with Cincinnati, attempting a comeback.
Billy Koch – 2002 AL Relief Pitcher of the Year.
Chad Bradford – traded to the Boston Red Sox for Jay Payton during the 2005 season. After later stints with the New York Mets, Baltimore Orioies, and Tampa Bay Rays, he retired at the end of the 2009 season.
Jim Mecir – went to the Florida Marlins after the 2004 season, and retired at the end of the 2005 season.
Ricardo Rincon*
Mike Magnante
Other Players Named:
Kevin Youkilis* – Referred to as the "Greek God of Walks" by Beane.
Prince Fielder* – Son of former slugger Cecil Fielder, drafted that year by the Milwaukee Brewers. Claimed by Beane to be "too fat" even for the A's. In 2007, he became the youngest player ever to hit 50 HRs in a single season, as well as the first player ever to join his father in the feat.
B.J. Upton* - named as a "bad high school" draft pick. Upton has since developed into the starting center fielder for the Rays, though his performance has not yet lived up to its billing.
Scott Kazmir* - cited as an example of teams' (in this case the New York Mets) foolishness in drafting high school pitchers because of the difficulty in projecting their future as opposed to college players. Kazmir developed into a starter for the Rays pitching staff, and was named to the American League All-Star team in 2006 and 2008, before being traded to the Angels during the 2009 season.
Jamie Moyer* – then with the Seattle Mariners; traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2006, where he won his first World Series ring in 2008. Currently the oldest player in the Majors, starting for Philadelphia.
Terrence Long
Erik Hiljus
David Justice
Jeremy Giambi
Alex Rodriguez* – Beane compares A-Rod's stats to those of Eric Chavez.
Barry Bonds – Beane also compares his stats to those of Chavez.
Greg Maddux
Cliff Floyd*
Alfonso Soriano*
Jeff Francis*
Zack Greinke* – Drafted by the Royals in 2002; AL Cy Young winner in 2009.
Scott Hatteberg
* player still active
Scouts, Management, and Journalists:
Billy Beane
Paul DePodesta – Assistant GM
J.P. Ricciardi – Former Blue Jays GM who worked under Beane and DePodesta as Director of Player Personnel.
Peter Gammons – Sportswriter
Art Howe – Formerly Oakland's field manager
Joe Morgan – Hall of Fame second baseman and ESPN broadcaster
Steve Phillips - former New York Mets GM; fired in 2009 from ESPN after a sex scandal
[edit]Analysis of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft

[edit]Beane's list
Beane put together a list of twenty players they’d draft in a "perfect world", meaning if money was no object and they didn't have to compete with the other twenty-nine teams.
The list, and the teams who drafted them:
Pitchers
Jeremy Guthrie - Cleveland, #22 (1st round)
Joe Blanton - Oakland, #24 (1st round)
Jeff Francis - Colorado, #9 (1st round)
Luke Hagerty - Chicago Cubs, #32 (1st round)
Ben Fritz - Oakland, #30 (1st round)
Robert Brownlie - Chicago Cubs, #21 (1st round)
Stephen Obenchain - Oakland, #37 (1st round)
Bill Murphy - Oakland, #98 (3rd round)
Hitters
Nick Swisher - Oakland, #18 (1st round)
Russ Adams - Toronto, #14 (1st round)
Khalil Greene - San Diego, #13 (1st round)
John McCurdy - Oakland, #26 (1st round)
Mark Teahen - Oakland, #39 (1st round)
Jeremy Brown - Oakland, #35 (1st round)
Steve Stanley - Oakland, #67 (2nd round)
John Baker - Oakland, #128 (4th round)
Mark Kiger - Oakland, #158 (5th round)
Brian Stavisky - Oakland, #188 (6th round)
Shaun Larkin - Cleveland, #274 (9th round)
Brant Colamarino - Oakland, #218 (7th round)
[edit]Oakland's picks
#18 - Nick Swisher - successful major leaguer, traded to Chicago White Sox after 2007, traded to New York Yankees after 2008
#24 - Joe Blanton - successful major leaguer, traded to Philadelphia Phillies
#26 - John McCurdy - out of professional baseball since 2006
#30 - Ben Fritz - had Tommy John surgery, currently in minor leagues
#35 - Jeremy Brown - has had small stints of time in the majors, retired prior to the 2008 season.
#37 - Stephen Obenchain - retired after a lack of success at the A and AA levels
#39 - Mark Teahen - successful major leaguer, traded to the Kansas City Royals and is currently with the Chicago White Sox
#67 - Steve Stanley - topped out in AAA for the A's
#98 - Bill Murphy - traded three times and debuted with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2007
#128 - John Baker - traded to the Florida Marlins and debuted and became the starting catcher in 2008.
#158 - Mark Kiger - traded several times, now with the AA affiliate of the New York Mets (Binghamton Mets)
#188 - Brian Stavisky - currently with the AA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies
#218 - Brant Colamarino - currently with the AA affiliate of the A's
[edit]Film

Main article: Moneyball (film)
It was announced a movie is set to come out in 2011 based on the book. Actor Brad Pitt is attached to play Billy Beane, while comedian Jonah Hill is attached to play Paul DePodesta and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is set to play A's manager Art Howe. Newcomer Andrew Copas comes in to play the innocent fan who gets injured by the stars.[3] Academy Award-winning screenwriter Steve Zaillian has been signed to write the script, and Steven Soderbergh was slated to direct (replacing David Frankel).[4] "I want you to not realize how much information is being thrown at you," says Soderbergh, when asked how he was going to make a film based on statistics entertaining. "We've found a couple of ideas on how to bust the form a bit, in order for all that information to reach you in a way that's a little oblique[5]." Scott Hatteberg and David Justice were slated to play themselves in the movie.[6]
On June 22, 2009, because of conflicts over a revised script by director Soderbergh, Sony put the movie on hold just days before it was scheduled to begin shooting.[7] Soderbergh's script called for interviews of real-life players and other methods untraditional to sports movies. As a result, Soderbergh was let go.
Bennett Miller has been signed to take over directing duties.[8] Pitt and Hill are still attached to their roles, and Aaron Sorkin has rewritten the script.[8] Shooting is scheduled to begin July, 2010. Shooting is taking place right now (July 19.) at Blair Field, the Sports Stadium for Wilson High School in Long Beach, California.
Fresh faced Mike Cosgrove is playing Oakland A's pitcher Tim Hudson.
July 26, 2010, filming of the baseball game scenes commenced in Oakland California at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum. No stars were filming on day one of the Oakland filming. Chad Kreuter, former California Angels and Detroit Tigers catcher, and current USC baseball head coach, is acting as the technical advisor on the film, and is playing the role of Rick Peterson, the Oakland A's pitching coach. During the first day of filming, Cosgrove, who is portraying Tim Hudson, was throwing between 80 and 82 miles per hour according to the hitters facing him. Chris Pratt, the actor from "Parks and Recreation" on NBC, has been cast to play Oakland A's first baseman Scott Hatteberg. On day one of filming, body doubles, including Joe Alexander as Billy Beane, were used in the background scenes. The Oakland A's ball boys, bat boys and security guards used in the movie are the real personnel from the team. During the second day of filming, Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman appeared on set. Hoffman, between scenes, pitched from the mound and played long toss in the outfield with Bennett Miller. Filming moved to Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium for several scenes, including a scene with a cameo by Canadian model Krystle Luther where she cheers on the Seattle Mariners who defeat the Athletics.
[edit]Technology

In 2002 the Oakland Athletics utilized the [9] ScoutAdvisor(R) Scouting System to track, analyze, and report on players. The system synthesized both advanced baseball statistics and scouting evaluations. The Athletics continue to use ScoutAdvisor's current scouting systems.
[edit]In popular culture

The book is parodied in the Simpsons episode "MoneyBART", in which Lisa manages Bart's Little League baseball team using sabermetric principles.
[edit]References

^ Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Aim For The Head: Aim For the Front Office
^ The Sports Network - Major League Baseball
^ Yahoo News [dead link].
^ Siegel, Tatiana. "Columbia pitches Moneyball to Pitt," Variety (October 16, 2008).
^ "Steven Soderbergh: The Girlfriend Experience". SuicideGirls.com. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
^ Stiglich, Joe. "A's notebook: Lights, camera, action ... for Moneyball," InsideBayArea.com (May 26, 2009).
^ "Benched: 'Moneyball' Flick on Hold at Last Minute," Associated Press (June 22, 2009).
^ a b "Finally, It's Batter Up For 'Moneyball,'" Deadline.com (12 April 2010).
^ Szymanski, Dave. "Power Hitter," Gulf Coast Business Review (July 10, 2008).
[edit]External links

Majoring In Moneyball by John Manuel
In Defense of Moneyball and Sabermetrics
Billy Beane's Perfect Draft: A Baseball Revolution? by Richard van Zandt - guest column at BaseballEvolution.com (April 13, 2006)
[show]
v • d • e
Oakland Athletics
[show]
v • d • e
Works of Michael Lewis
Categories: 2003 books | Major League Baseball books | Books by Michael Lewis | Oakland Athletics
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[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Coolman, I've been looking for that info forever. Thanks!!

[Synerbee]

I win

[2010 SSRS]

don't have time to read all that, I'm to busy winning.

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Originally Posted by 2010 SSRS

and you was winning until now, I take the win and run with it

Hey Joe, what is your 40 time?

[coolman]

Originally Posted by BackinBlackSS/RS

Coolman, I've been looking for that info forever. Thanks!!

No problem mate. By the way, I win.

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Originally Posted by coolman

No problem mate. By the way, I win.

I am sorry to inform you that you have just been dealt a loss. Thus, it is a win for myself.

[2010 SSRS]

Originally Posted by BackinBlackSS/RS

Hey Joe, what is your 40 time?

I just ran a 4.29 today, it was one of my slower times

[coolman]

I am sorry to inform you that you have just been dealt a loss. Thus, it is a win for myself.

Thanks, you saved my from typing it.