One More Link: The Myth and Reality of Moneyball

Moneyball, like the other Michael Lewis stuff, is a great read. And like Clausewitz, is greatly mis-understood and mis-applied. There is a very good update on the book, its impact, and the myths today.

The key strategic insight of the book was not that on-base percentage and slugging percentage were more valuable than other skills, and that bunting and stealing were wastes of effort and of outs, but that teams should try to figure out what is under-valued and what is over-valued and act accordingly. Of course, the various implications threatened the status quo, threatening the jobs of many traditional types.

But the underlying lesson is still valid whether or not the movie based on the book gets made and whether or not the A's rebound eventually.