Moneyball is 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?
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"You can never really go wrong reading about baseball especially in March. Good read. Interesting strategy. I found myself thinking about the 1993 Phillies who were sort of misfits but walked alot, scored runs and mixed and matched their way to a pennant. It's not the Phillies Way now."
— Ken (4 out of 5 stars)
“The best book of the year…[and] already feels like the most influential book on sports ever written.”
— People“Ebullient, invigorating…Provides plenty of action, both numerical and athletic, on the field and in the draft-day war room.”
— Time“A journalistic tour de force.”
— Wall Street Journal“Lewis has hit another one out of the park…You need know absolutely nothing about baseball to appreciate the wit, snap, economy and incisiveness of [Lewis’] thoughts about it.”
— New York Times“Engaging, informative, and deliciously contrarian.”
— Washington Post“What delights the listener…is the reader’s narrative flair. Granted, the writing is sprightly…Scott Brick makes the most of these assets, less like a gifted narrator and more like a sports fan regaling pals with fascinating inside scoops. Further, the melody of his narration is one of Brick’s most expressive and tuneful. In all his work, Brick almost sings in a youthful, manly voice brimming with personality and gusto…Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile" Really good, I enjoyed it more than the film. "
— Rob, 2/19/2014" Brilliant look at Sabermetrics's beginning. Much less story than the movie, but for baseball fans, it's the new-age bible. "
— Mike, 2/18/2014" Great way to change your view of value of baseball players. "
— Chad, 2/11/2014" Loved it. I never thought about stats when watching baseball before this book. Now I start to theorize why one team is better than the other and it comes down to OBP. "
— Sheryl, 1/31/2014" Cool book about applying new ideas to an old game. As a pretty casual baseball fan, the history about some of the players that still play now was interesting, too. "
— Tedders, 1/24/2014" A good book, it really was enjoyable, but I feel that it was sketchy at times. Characters appeared and then were ignored compeltely. The writing style was good, but the book felt like a few long SI articles strung together and not a comprehensive narrative or story.Also, the length of time from when this book was written and when I read it does it no favors. It goes on how Billy Bean is diametrically opposed to drafting high school players, but on looking his up now, he now believes that high school players is the way to go. The poor showing of recent years of the As doesn't help the point either. "
— David, 1/21/2014" I found this book very interesting and well-written. Plus it helped me with my baseball withdrawal symptoms. "
— Candice, 1/18/2014" So much fun and educational about the back world of baseball finance. "
— Caryn, 1/13/2014" Michael Lewis is an expert story teller and Moneyball was no exception. Interesting take on baseball strategy, yet surprisingly human. Recommend to baseball fans everywhere and to people who just like a good story. "
— Adam, 1/11/2014" This book changed the sports industry, plus it's a great read, especially if you're a baseball fan. "
— Ozzie, 1/4/2014" Not a baseball fan but really liked how they optimized for the variables they cared about. "
— Stephen, 12/30/2013" This was a great book. Even more impressive was how they turned this fairly stats-oriented book into a fantastic movie! :) "
— Glenda, 12/26/2013" Must read for baseball fans "
— Jeremy, 9/3/2013" Was an excellent and entertaining read. Very informative also. "
— Matthew, 7/3/2013" Couldn't make it through, just not my thing. The screenplay probably would have been more up my alley.. "
— Deonne, 5/18/2013" It's hard to read sports books sometimes because they get so technical, but I enjoyed reading this one. It was interesting to learn the history and about Beane himself. It made me want to watch the movie, which I also enjoyed. "
— Amber, 8/24/2012" Really liked this one, more than anything else for the ideas of focusing in on what really matters and getting past confounders. "
— Jake, 7/19/2012" Wow. Lewis is a great writer of a fascinating story of the business of professional sports. Everyone should read this book. "
— Carla, 5/2/2012" Very good baseball book. Appreciated the forays into things like the career of Billy Bean as a player and some of the relatively obscure players who were part of the team. "
— Mike, 3/8/2012" The story of Billy Beane and his success at thinking "outside the box." I liked it because I have always liked baseball. I liked the author wrote about players that I remember well. <br/> "
— Kristen, 11/8/2011" Michael Lewis can tell a great story and this one is no exception. Again, you don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy his well researched and detailed story. "
— Michael, 11/8/2011" awesome book best I've read nothing like this before.<br/> "
— Bigboy, 11/7/2011" Interesting story but I was already familiar with some of these stats. It might have been more enlightening to me if I read it when it first came out. Quick read and very much about baseball. "
— Jim, 11/7/2011" Describes the impact of how sabermetrics has impacted the way major league teams evaluate talent. Highly recommended for baseball fans. Even those not interested in the game will be hooked by Lewis's superb storytelling. "
— Kent, 11/7/2011" I liked the book even though I hate baseball. "
— Patiki, 11/5/2011" I liked it but would've liked it more if I was somewhat interested in baseball. "
— Steve, 11/3/2011" How did they make a movie out of this "
— Kerilotion, 11/2/2011" Listened to this on a roadtrip a while back. Boring first few chapters, but a fascinating approach to a game based in "gut" feelings. Curious to see the movie. "
— Kristy, 11/2/2011" I <3 everything about this book! "
— Lindsay, 10/31/2011" I liked this book. It developed a nice idea from econ/finance, applied it to baseball, and made it interesting for the masses. Nicely done. "
— Sahil, 10/30/2011Michael Lewis is the New York Times bestselling author of several books. His global bestselling books lift the lid on the biggest stories of our time. They include Flash Boys, an exposé of high-speed scamming; The Big Short, which was made into a Oscar-winning film; Liar’s Poker, the book that defined the excesses of the 1980s; The Fifth Risk, revealing what happens when democracy unravels, and The Premonition, one of the first books to take account of the coronavirus pandemic. He was educated at Princeton University and the London School of Economics.
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.