An MLB Obituary: Is Moneyball Over?

A National Bestseller all about baseball statistics took everyone by storm.

Michael Lewis wrote the book Moneyball in such a way that the reader could not help but root for the Athletics.  Being a fan of the Angels, I cannot explain my infatuation with the A's except through this book.  In fact, I hated them until the offseason when I read it.

But this past week, the focus of Moneyball retired.  Jeremy Brown hung up his cleats for personal reasons.

Moneyball tells the tale of a team everyone wants to see succeed—except Yankees fan.  We can all relate.

I grew up in poverty without the money others had.  In baseball we see the Yankees' payroll exceed the total income of some third world countries.  The Athletics were finding ways to win with a payroll of less than a million dollars.

Moneyball, in its simplest form, is the study of statistics to evaluate a player.  Scouts and fans have been doing this for years—even more so now that Fantasy Baseball is so popular.

But Moneyball looked at the obscure statistics: on-base percentage, walks, WHIP, and other stats.  And this was just the beginning.  The phenomenon soon evolved, or mutated, to evaluate statistics that could not be understood.  Intense mathematical equations were used, and this all seemed to kick off the beginning of a new era of baseball.

So with this great revolution, how many titles has the Oakland team won since Billy Beane and his Moneyball method took over?  Anyone?  That's right: zero.

So does Moneyball work?

Let's look at today's Athletics' roster.  Only Eric Chavez and Huston Street remain as players who merit name recognition.  If you play fantasy baseball you may recognize more names like Kurt Suzuki, Daric Barton, or Jack Cust.  But the new CF Chris Deneforia?

I just cannot buy into Moneyball when no postseason success merits my admiration.  The Yankees spend as much as Bill Gates makes, but cannot win either.

I am convinced that intangibles win the game.

How can you measure desire, leadership, camaraderie, sportsmanship, or honor?  Even Moneyball stats cannot measure these attributes.  Video games put fictitious numbers on people with these intangibles and give ratings on leadership, but you cannot measure it or compare it.

So, Moneyball is dead.  It was a great experiment and fun while it lasted.  Now let's move on and accept that baseball cannot be bought, it cannot be marginalized, and it cannot truly be understood.

It can only be played and enjoyed.