As Kevin Rudy explains in “Moneyball Shows the Power ofStatistics,” “[t]he movie Moneyball tells the story of how OaklandAthletics general manager Billy Beane used statistics to assembleand manage his baseball team.” 1Whether or not you have seen themovie, you can probably guess this approach was met withresistance. When Billy Beane first used this approach, managerstook other factors into consideration. For example, little known orunknown players were not typically recruited over well-known,established players.
1. Explain whether or not you think assembling and managing abaseball team, or any team for that matter, based solely onstatistics is an effective course of action.
2.Are there other factors that should be considered, and if so,which ones?
3. Do you think statistics-based recruiting is an effectivecourse of action? Why or why not?
