Sports Nut: More Moneyball, Same Problems

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sports nut More Moneyball, Same Problems The numbers are good, but the story is still bunk. By David Haglund Posted Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, at 1:01 PM ET A few months back, when I read that the movie version of Michael Lewis' Moneyball had finally been completed, I checked the film's IMDB page. I was looking for three names in the cast of characters, and I didn't really expect to find them. Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito were the "big three" starting pitchers who, in 2002, the season covered by Lewis in Moneyball, each pitched more than 200 innings for the Oakland A's, allowing fewer than 3.5 runs for every 9 of those innings--considerably fewer in the cases of Hudson and Zito. None of the three featured prominently in the book, even though two of them (Hudson and Zito again) were probably the team's best players, and the third, Mulder, was easily in the top five. Statistically savvy baseball fans who are familiar with the debates that have taken place in the wake of Moneyball may think they know where I'm going with this. I'm about to say: "The real reason Oakland won all those games from 2001-03 was because they had these three great pitchers, whom everyone knew were going to be good--not just the A's front office that, thanks to general manager Billy Beane, preferred computers and number-crunchers to professional scouts. Beane isn't so great," I'll conclude, "and statistics don't tell you much. Just look at the A's record lately." To continue reading, click here. David Haglund is the managing editor of PEN America. Follow him on Twitter. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Sorry, Republicans, but the Law Says the Federal Reserve Can Do Whatever It Wants How the Moneyball Movie Perpetuates the Myth That Oakland Reinvented Itself With Stats Alone The Billion Bunny March, the Snack Glory Hole, and Other Really Weird Stuff at Burning Man	Advertisement
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