Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game » (~)

Financial journalist and bestselling author Michael Lewis is best known for intriguing nonfiction narratives like Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, and Moneyball.

"One of the best baseball—and management—books out....Deserves a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame."—Forbes

The New Yorker

The Oakland Athletics have reached the post-season playoffs three years in a row, even though they spend just one dollar for every three that the New York Yankees spend. Their secret, as Lewis's lively account demonstrates, is not on the field but in the front office, in the shape of the general manager, Billy Beane. Unable to afford the star hires of his big-spending rivals, Beane disdains the received wisdom about what makes a player valuable, and has a passion for neglected statistics that reveal how runs are really scored. Beane's ideas are beginning to attract disciples, most notably at the Boston Red Sox, who nearly lured him away from Oakland over the winter. At the last moment, Beane's loyalty got the better of him; besides, moving to a team with a much larger payroll would have diminished the challenge.