"Moneyball" Review

• Title:  "Moneyball:  The Art of Winning an Unfair Game"
• Author:  Michael Lewis
• Finished: May 11, 2010
• Synopsis:  Michael Lewis goes behind the scenes of the Oakland A's to find out how they are able to compete with teams willing to spend 3-4 times more money.
• Impression of the book:  I love this book.  It takes a look at what most people "know" about baseball and reveals that they might know things that simply are not true.  My interests in professional baseball has waned over the years, but this book rekindles that interest every time I read it.
• Read Again Scale: 10
• I think that I pick this book up about every 2 years (usually during baseball season).
• Read Another Book by the Same Author: 6
• It would very much depend on the subject.  I think the the story carries itself.

When I first read this book, it challenged a lot of the things about baseball that I took for granted.  Is bunting sound strategy?  What about stealing bases?  I always believed so, but now I am less convinced. The book delves into the oddity and phenomenon that is Bill James's writing.  After reading this book I am always left pondering, "Do other sports have these hidden statistics that can make a team using them more efficient at spending their money?"  I am certain that football strategy (particularly with regard to 4th down) can be re-thought to maximize a team's chance of success, but I am less certain that those other sports miss players that would succeed at the highest level (as baseball appears to do).

If you like baseball to any degree, give this book a read.  If you don't like baseball, you may like the story anyway.  This is one book that I recommend to anyone.