Download or read book Moneyball The Art of Winning an Unfair Game written by Michael Lewis and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2004-03-17 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Lewis’s instant classic may be “the most influential book on sports ever written” (People), but “you need know absolutely nothing about baseball to appreciate the wit, snap, economy and incisiveness of [Lewis’s] thoughts about it” (Janet Maslin, New York Times). One of GQ's 50 Best Books of Literary Journalism of the 21st Century Just before the 2002 season opens, the Oakland Athletics must relinquish its three most prominent (and expensive) players and is written off by just about everyone—but then comes roaring back to challenge the American League record for consecutive wins. How did one of the poorest teams in baseball win so many games? In a quest to discover the answer, Michael Lewis delivers not only “the single most influential baseball book ever” (Rob Neyer, Slate) but also what “may be the best book ever written on business” (Weekly Standard). Lewis first looks to all the logical places—the front offices of major league teams, the coaches, the minds of brilliant players—but discovers the real jackpot is a cache of numbers?numbers!?collected over the years by a strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts: software engineers, statisticians, Wall Street analysts, lawyers, and physics professors. What these numbers prove is that the traditional yardsticks of success for players and teams are fatally flawed. Even the box score misleads us by ignoring the crucial importance of the humble base-on-balls. This information had been around for years, and nobody inside Major League Baseball paid it any mind. And then came Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics. He paid attention to those numbers?with the second-lowest payroll in baseball at his disposal he had to?to conduct an astonishing experiment in finding and fielding a team that nobody else wanted. In a narrative full of fabulous characters and brilliant excursions into the unexpected, Michael 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?
Download or read book Oakland Athletics written by Brian Howell and published by ABDO. This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inside MLB profiles each of the 30 franchises in Major League Baseball. Oakland Athletics is a beginner's history of the Athletics, covering the beginnings of the franchise, the greatest and lowest moments of the team, and the best players and managers. Fun facts, anecdotes, and sidebars round out the story of each club, allowing your readers to get Inside MLB! Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. SportsZone is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
Download or read book If These Walls Could Talk Oakland A s written by Ken Korach and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout their history, the Oakland Athletics have been one of the most audacious and individual franchises in all of baseball. As the longtime radio voice of the A's, Ken Korach has called countless improbable, unforgettable moments. As the San Francisco Chronicle's veteran beat reporter, Susan Slusser has become the preeminent scribe of the A's modern era. Both have witnessed more than their share of team history up close and personal. In If These Walls Could Talk: Oakland A's, Korach and Slusser provide insight into the A's inner sanctum as only they can. Readers will gain the perspective of players, coaches, and front office executives in times of greatness as well as defeat, making for a keepsake no fan will want to miss.
Download or read book Baseball s Last Dynasty written by Bruce Markusen and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the first half of the 1970's no team dominated major league baseball like the Oakland A's. Led by future Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, the A's captured five consecutive division titles, three American League pennants and three World Series trophies from 1971 to 1975. Baseball's Last Dynasty recounts the history of those colorful, controversial, and highly successful teams. As only the second franchise in major league history to win three consecutive Wold Series, the A's Ruled baseball in the era prior to the advent of free agency. With the help of an astute team of scouts, owner Charlie Finely assembled a nucleus of home-grown future stars wearing Oakland's garish green and gold uniforms: Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace and Vida Blue in addition to Reggie, Rollie and Catfish. In spite of such talents, the A's struggled to surpass the level of mediocrity until the hiring of baseball's version of Vince Lombardi -- Dick Williams. A fiery disciplinarian and disciple of Branch Rickey, Williams led Oakland to a first place finish in 1971, followed by consecutive world championships in 1972 and 1973. In chronicling the team known as the "Mustache Gang" and the Swinging A's, Baseball's Last Dynasty details the many fights and arguments in the Oakland clubhouse, the many controversies as well as the departures of Williams and Hunter. In the nearly quarter of a century that has passed since the A's won their trio of titles, no team has managed to duplicate the feat. Given the instability created by free agency and the difficulty of keeping a championship team's payroll under control, no team may be able to match theaccomplishments of Charlie Finley's A's. Exhaustively researched and including recent interviews with many of the key players, Baseball's Last Dynasty brings the story of this extraordinary team to life.
Download or read book Finley Ball written by Nancy Finley and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-03-29 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of a losing baseball team that became a 1970s dynasty, thanks to the unorthodox strategies and stunts of two very colorful men. When Charlie Finley bought the A's in 1960, he was an outsider to the game—a insurance businessman with a larger-than-life personality. He brought his cousin Carl on as his right-hand man, moved the team from Kansas City to Oakland, and pioneered a new way to put together a winning team. With legendary players like Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, and Vida Blue, the Finleys' Oakland A's won three straight World Series and riveted the nation. Now Carl Finley's daughter Nancy reveals the whole story behind her family's winning legacy—how her father and uncle developed their scouting strategy, why they employed odd gimmicks like orange baseballs and "mustache bonuses," and how the success of the '70s Oakland A's changed the game of baseball.
Download or read book Billy Ball written by Dale Tafoya and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-03-24 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early 1970s, the Oakland Athletics became only the second team in major-league baseball history to win three consecutive World Series championships. But as the decade came to a close, the A's were in free fall, having lost 108 games in 1979 while drawing just 307,000 fans. Free agency had decimated the A’s, and the team’s colorful owner, Charlie Finley, was looking for a buyer. First, though, he had to bring fans back to the Oakland Coliseum. Enter Billy Martin, the hometown boy from West Berkeley. In Billy Ball, sportswriter Dale Tafoya describes what, at the time, seemed like a match made in baseball heaven. The A’s needed a fiery leader to re-ignite interest in the team. Martin needed a job after his second stint as manager of the New York Yankees came to an abrupt end. Based largely on interviews with former players, team executives, and journalists, Billy Ball captures Martin’s homecoming to the Bay area in 1980, his immediate embrace by Oakland fans, and the A’s return to playoff baseball. Tafoya describes the reputation that had preceded Martin—one that he fully lived up to—as the brawling, hard-drinking baseball savant with a knack for turning bad teams around. In Oakland, his aggressive style of play came to be known as Billy Ball. A’s fans and the media loved it. But, in life and in baseball, all good things must come to an end. Tafoya chronicles Martin’s clash with the new A’s management and the siren song of the Yankees that lured the manager back to New York in 1983. Still, as the book makes clear, the magical turnaround of the A’s has never been forgotten in Oakland. Neither have Billy Martin and Billy Ball. During a time of economic uncertainty and waning baseball interest in Oakland, Billy Ball filled the stands, rejuvenated fans, and saved professional baseball in the city.
Download or read book Dynastic Bombastic Fantastic written by Jason Turbow and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An exciting and engrossing book. . . . will engage fans of Charlie O. Finley and the Oakland Athletics, along with anyone captivated by baseball history.” —Library Journal, starred review The Oakland A’s of the early 1970s: Never before had an entire organization so collectively traumatized baseball’s establishment with its outlandish behavior and business decisions. The high drama that played out on the field—five straight division titles and three straight championships—was exceeded only by the drama in the clubhouse and front office. Under the visionary leadership of owner Charles O. Finley, the team assembled such luminary figures as Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and Vida Blue, and with garish uniforms and revolutionary facial hair, knocked baseball into the modern age. Finley’s need for control—he was his own general manager and dictated everything from the ballpark organist’s playlist to the menu for the media lounge—made him ill-suited for the advent of free agency. Within two years, his dynasty was lost. A history of one of the game’s most unforgettable teams, Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic is a paean to the sport’s most turbulent, magical team, during one of major league baseball’s most turbulent, magical times. “Masterfully recounts a thrilling period in Oakland A’s history.” —Billy Beane, executive vice president of baseball operations, Oakland A’s “Not to be believed, and yet 100 percent true.” —Steve Fainaru, senior writer for ESPN and author of League of Denial “A must-read for any fan of the sport.” —Chris Ballard, Sports Illustrated senior writer and author of One Shot at Forever “Carefully researched and often hilarious.” —San Francisco Chronicle “A chance to relive a period of outlandish moments in America’s pastime.” —Publishers Weekly
Download or read book The Baseball Codes written by Jason Turbow and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2011-03-22 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insider’s look at baseball’s unwritten rules, explained with examples from the game’s most fascinating characters and wildest historical moments. Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. All aspects of baseball—hitting, pitching, and baserunning—are affected by the Code, a set of unwritten rules that governs the Major League game. Some of these rules are openly discussed (don’t steal a base with a big lead late in the game), while others are known only to a minority of players (don’t cross between the catcher and the pitcher on the way to the batter’s box). In The Baseball Codes, old-timers and all-time greats share their insights into the game’s most hallowed—and least known—traditions. For the learned and the casual baseball fan alike, the result is illuminating and thoroughly entertaining. At the heart of this book are incredible and often hilarious stories involving national heroes (like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays) and notorious headhunters (like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale) in a century-long series of confrontations over respect, honor, and the soul of the game. With The Baseball Codes, we see for the first time the game as it’s actually played, through the eyes of the players on the field. With rollicking stories from the past and new perspectives on baseball’s informal rulebook, The Baseball Codes is a must for every fan.
Download or read book Oakland Athletics 2021 written by Baseball Prospectus, and published by Baseball Prospectus. This book was released on 2021-05-23 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The team edition based on The New York Times Bestselling Guide. This more portable team edition of the full 26th edition of the industry-leading baseball annual contains all of the important statistics, player projections, and insider-level commentary that readers have come to expect, but focused on your favorite organization. It also features detailed reports on the top prospects, data visualization, and deeper statistical profiles. Take it out to the ball game or wherever you follow your team!
Download or read book The Story of the Oakland Athletics written by Gordon Pueschner and published by The Creative Company. This book was released on 2007-07 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a history of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, which began its major league existence in Philadelphia, that also includes detailed information and statistics on one all-time great player from each position.
Download or read book Oakland Athletics 2020 written by Baseball Prospectus, and published by Baseball Prospectus. This book was released on 2020-04-27 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The team edition based on The New York Times Bestselling Guide. This more portable team edition of the full 25th edition of the industry-leading baseball annual contains all of the important statistics, player projections and insider-level commentary that readers have come to expect, but focused on your favorite organization. It also features detailed reports on the top prospects, including fantasy values and commentary. Take it out to the ball game or wherever you follow your team!
Download or read book Oakland Athletics The written by Mark Stewart and published by Norwood House Press. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revised Team Spirit Baseball edition featuring the Oakland Athletics that chronicles the history and accomplishments of the team. The Team Spirit series paints an engaging, detailed yet accessible picture of professional sports teams. By focusing on the history, great victories and memorable personalities, the books have an enduring quality that will not go out of date quickly. The text is enhanced with plenty of full color photographs as well as reproductions of vintage trading cards and team memorabilia.
Download or read book Home Field Advantage written by Paul Brekke-Miesner and published by . This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Oakland Athletics written by Anthony K. Hewson and published by ABDO. This book was released on 2022-12-15 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title introduces baseball fans to the history of the Oakland Athletics MLB franchise. The title features informative sidebars, exciting photos, a timeline, team facts, trivia, a glossary, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. SportsZone is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
Download or read book 100 Things A s Fans Should Know Do Before They Die written by Susan Slusser and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2015-06-01 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With traditions, records, and team lore, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Athletics fan should know. This guide to all things A's covers the team's amazing history including the Connie Mack and Charlie O. Finley dynasties, the "Earthquake Series," and all of their World Series titles. Author Susan Slusser has collected every essential piece of A's knowledge and trivia, including Billy Beane and Moneyball, Catfish Hunter, Stomper, and the "Bash Brothers," as well as must-do activities, and ranks them from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist for fans of all ages.
Download or read book Long Schott written by Stephen C. Schott and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2022-06-21 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A candid autobiography from the famously reclusive Oakland Athletics owner during the pivotal Moneyball era As owner of the Oakland A's during the 1990s and early 2000s, Steve Schott fostered a front office culture of experimentation, risk, and autonomy that ultimately changed the course of modern baseball. As a founder of Citation Builders, he has been responsible for the construction of over 50,000 individual residences in the state of California. Long Schott is a story about unlikely victories, from that feisty A's squad that rallied for a historic 20-game win streak to the booming California real estate market and beyond. Co-authored by renowned San Francisco Chronicle baseball writer John Shea, this is a fascinating business story encompassing humble beginnings, unprecedented success, and the many lessons learned along the way.
Download or read book Three Weeks in October written by Ron Fimrite and published by Woodford Publishing. This book was released on 1990 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
