Thread: Moneyball

I think this looks really good.



I've read about 3/4 of Moneyball. It's pretty interesting. Now I can't remember why the hell I didn't finish it.

Theo Epstein is a student of the "moneyball" theory and Youkilis is his Adonis.

Love Moneyball -- it's actually spawned a huge movement in what they call the "sports economics" movement in academia. Just read a book called Soccernomics that was equally fantastic, though I know a bunch of people don't really like soccer. Lot of interesting stuff in it (for example, they were able to prove that English soccer clubs were extremely racist in the '70s and '80s, and also proved that sports, rather than cause suicides, actually save lives... Really amazing stats throughout from really simplistic data), just from the perspective of applying some advanced regression models to sports trends. Kind of excited about seeing it as a screenplay.

Originally Posted by Broncospsycho77

Love Moneyball -- it's actually spawned a huge movement in what they call the "sports economics" movement in academia. Just read a book called Soccernomics that was equally fantastic, though I know a bunch of people don't really like soccer. Lot of interesting stuff in it (for example, they were able to prove that English soccer clubs were extremely racist in the '70s and '80s, and also proved that sports, rather than cause suicides, actually save lives... Really amazing stats throughout from really simplistic data), just from the perspective of applying some advanced regression models to sports trends. Kind of excited about applying it as a screenplay.

Its interesting how Billy Bean's theories have transferred. Three main players in Moneyball were Scott Hatteberg, Mark Teahen and Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis has become a star, while Hatteberg was a journeyman and Teahen is becoming one.

Epstein added pitcher pitch count to the idea of "moneyball" (buying OBP and runs rather than home runs and batting average), and has turned the Red Sox into a juggernaut.

They use on base percentage, pitches taken and runs scored to evaluate players, rather than the five-tool system used for a hundred years. Now, Epstein doesn't completely discount things like stolen bases like Bean did, but Epstein (and their association with Bill James) have turned the Red Sox into World Series champions. It's a very interesting philosophy.

Originally Posted by MissouriBronc

Its interesting how Billy Bean's theories have transferred. Three main players in Moneyball were Scott Hatteberg, Mark Teahen and Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis has become a star, while Hatteberg was a journeyman and Teahen is becoming one.

Epstein added pitcher pitch count to the idea of "moneyball" (buying OBP and runs rather than home runs and batting average), and has turned the Red Sox into a juggernaut.

They use on base percentage, pitches taken and runs scored to evaluate players, rather than the five-tool system used for a hundred years. Now, Epstein doesn't completely discount things like stolen bases like Bean did, but Epstein (and their association with Bill James) have turned the Red Sox into World Series champions. It's a very interesting philosophy.

Yeah, it really does show that numbers can serve a purpose when applied correctly. However, I'm still pretty cautious about those advanced statistics that people will refer to in fantasy games, especially those with "adjusted", acronyms longer than WHIP, and stats referenced by Bill Simmons. From there, I can't really decide if those metrics correlate or cause success.

And even if it's interesting to view sports with the lens as a series of weighted random number generators played into game theory, I still haven't an explanation for Rocktober 2007. The probabilities that those series of wins had to break just shatters my faith in numbers.

Originally Posted by Broncospsycho77

Yeah, it really does show that numbers can serve a purpose when applied correctly. However, I'm still pretty cautious about those advanced statistics that people will refer to in fantasy games, especially those with "adjusted", acronyms longer than WHIP, and stats referenced by Bill Simmons. From there, I can't really decide if those metrics correlate or cause success.

And even if it's interesting to view sports with the lens as a series of weighted random number generators played into game theory, I still haven't an explanation for Rocktober 2007. The probabilities that those series of wins had to break just shatters my faith in numbers.

Sabermetrics?

the BABIP dragon would like to have a word with you.