Moneyball

Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane faced a problem: how to win in the Major Leagues while having a smaller budget than many other teams. Conventional wisdom held that big name, highly athletic hitters and young pitchers with rocket arms were the ticket to success. But Beane and his staff, buoyed by massive amounts of carefully interpreted statistical data, believed that wins could be had by more affordable methods such as hitters with high on-base percentage and pitchers who get lots of ground outs. Given this information and a tight budget, Beane defied tradition and his own scouting department to build winning teams of young affordable players and inexpensive castoff veterans. Author Michael Lewis was in the room with the As top management as they spent the summer of 2002 adding and subtracting players, and he provides outstanding play-by-play.