tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263500.post113590816708693369..comments2023-10-02T07:55:24.415-04:00Comments on Words Matter: Moneyball and the art of living outside the boxJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01763876658345223153noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263500.post-1135955910455037742005-12-30T10:18:00.000-05:002005-12-30T10:18:00.000-05:00Oh, and I agree, Moneyball is a very good read. I...Oh, and I agree, Moneyball is a very good read. I'm sure somebody somewhere has been tracking the Moneyball players (from that draft). It'd be interesting to see the progress now three years on.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01302163125402760502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263500.post-1135955634294404832005-12-30T10:13:00.000-05:002005-12-30T10:13:00.000-05:00The irony with Joe Morgan is twofold:1) He is clea...The irony with Joe Morgan is twofold:<BR/><BR/>1) He is clearly a very intelligent man, but he comes across like a moron when he still can't figure out that Beane didn't actually write this book, and<BR/><BR/>2) (this is the biggie) Joe Morgan was pretty much the prototypical Moneyball player. He got on base a ton and he hit for some power. Bill James wrote that Morgan was one of the smartest ballplayers of all time (I don't have access to James' book at the moment). Billy Beane would have loved to have Morgan on his team. <BR/><BR/>Yet Morgan played in a lower-scoring era where small-ball strategies paid greater dividends than they do today. Furthermore, Morgan was talented enough that he could steal bases with a high percentage of success, and he could take better advantage of sacrifice bunts than the average player. Because these strategies worked so well for him when he was a player, he can't seem to get past the thought that an out, even a "productive" one, is more harmful today than it was 30 years ago.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01302163125402760502noreply@blogger.com