Moneyball

The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

By: Michael Lewis

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Moneyball reveals 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 giant offices of Major League teams and the dugouts. But the real jackpot is a cache of numbers collected over the years by a strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts: software engineers, statisticians, Wall Street analysts, lawyers, and physics professors.

In a narrative full of fabulous characters and brilliant excursions into the unexpected, 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?

©2004 Michael Lewis (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

"The single most influential baseball book ever." (Rob Neyer, Slate)

"Another journalistic tour de force." (Wall Street Journal)

"Engaging, informative, and deliciously contrarian." (Washington Post)

This Book Is a Winner

What made the experience of listening to Moneyball the most enjoyable?

Okay, confession, I saw the movie first. That was good, but the best part of the movie is that it stirred me to want to read the book. Okay, so I listened to it, and it's fabulous. If you even remotely appreciate the game of baseball, you'll love this book.

Lewis has artfully tracked all the historical threads from their origin through to their connection with Billy Beane and what he proved was possible when you weren't the best bankrolled franchise in major leage baseball.

I didn't realize that all the fantasy league play was based on this whole new world of statistical analysis.

Lewis writes a good book. Even though it's nonfiction, I have to call it creative nonfiction. It keeps you interested in the story and what's going to happen next, which is why (I think) the movie follows the book so well.

But don't be satisfied just watching the movie. The background to this story is another story all together and equally interesting.

This book is a solid home run.

Fantastic Examination

To begin, I was enthralled with this book from beginning to end. Narration is solid, the prose is entertaining and informative and there is a wonderful sense of accomplishment and wonder in this book. How, armed just with better knowledge, can a significantly poor team like the Oakland Athletics compete, consistently, with the super rich Yankees and Red Sox? That should just not be possible, but it is. And here you'll learn how.

It's a story about how a few people tore apart the baseball institutions and put them back together after examining every piece and - seemingly for the first time since the sport was invented - asking if we REALLY know what we think we know about it. For instance, how important are RBIs, walks, stolen bases and home runs? How can you measure the importance of fielding? And what if - just what if - every way we have ever measured baseball is plain wrong.

One moment in the book should illustrate how this book is not just fascinating but also transcendent of baseball. We learn that RBIs have been incorrectly evaluated for decades, errors make no sense, fielding isn't measured at all and walks are completely calculated incorrectly. At this point the author asks an amazing and interesting question, if we baseball has been watched live by tens of thousands of people in the stadium and by millions of more on television and YET the wrong things have been measured, then how likely is it that the more subtly things in our every day life have been incorrectly evaluated and weighted?

That one thought has actually made me re-evaluate aspects of my job and my life. This book is that good. You should buy it.

Baseball behind the scenes

I am not a huge baseball fan but loved this book and learned so much about the game. This is a man's game and a man's business but they're trading people instead of stocks and bonds. The performance is perfection! Michael Lewis gets to home plate one more time.

Entretenido e inspirador

Un genial libro que te permite conocer que con poco se puede hacer mucho si es que tienes claro lo que quieres hacer y la estrategia con que lograrlo

uneven book, enjoyable performance

Descriptions of statistical analysis aren't compelling. the stories of the individuals are interesting. great performance

Loved

Purchased this for my husband at his request. Being a baseball fan for a long time he was really interested in having this book. He was not disappointed and would recommend it for anyone interested in the wheelings and dealings of baseball.

Data-driven baseball

What did you love best about Moneyball?

Moneyball shows that a championship baseball team can be built with comparatively little money and comparatively little money. Measure the values that actually contribute to victory, optimize around them, and be willing to make favorable trades.

What did you like best about this story?

The 20 game winning streak. Validates Beane's approach to baseball.

Great book!

Where does Moneyball rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Great book, easy listen and very entertaining. I love baseball but I think any casual fan will enjoy.

What a way to start this years reading list

Calculated, thrilling and perfectly read. Like liar's poker. You'll want to read this book 14 times. 7 audio & 7 times with your eyes. It's just that good!

excellent

big baseball fan it's so interesting to hear this story becuse I've hurd so much about it and it lived up to what I thought great book