Non-Fiction Review

I haven't posted a book review in awhile, but here goes. A week or so ago I finished the book Moneyball by Michael Lewis. I expected to enjoy this book, but not have it knock my socks off. As I was reading it, I came became engrossed in the theory and points the book brought out, and I'm sure I would've finished it much sooner if I read it at other times besides my lunch hour.

As much as the writing appealed to me, my baseball devotion does make me a tad biased. I think if the reader does not have a love for baseball, or possible interested in statistical analysis, it might be hard to appreciate what Lewis put together. In all honesty, he really comes up with very little theory of his own. Instead, the book goes to great lengths to mention prominent baseball theorists and sabermetricians. Lewis highlights the published works of these non-mainstream baseball thinkers and their progressive views that go against many of baseball's traditions and standards. About half of them I was familiar with, the rest I intend to read soon. Regardless, the different ideas put forth on the importance of stats like the OPS, and the deemphasis on abilities like raw speed, are so strongly argued that it is hard not to accept them as fact by 2007. On the other hand, the bashing of bunting, stealing, Kenny Williams, and overvaluing defense, and the lovefest for Billy Beane, strikeout pitchers and the home run sometimes go a little to far, and I think have been at least partially disproved in the last couple of years.

Overall, I was pretty enthralled by Moneyball. This book could have easily been more of a reference material, boring, and a sleeper. But the author was able to interject stories about individuals to support an idea or explain how someone evolved, and was able to keep it interesting until the end. I would say this book is a must read for any true baseball fanatic, but for the casual fan or regular fiction reader, maybe stick to a subject that you find more appealing.



It was a great football season for the Bears, but they're the first Chicago sports team to make it to the championship and NOT win since.... the 1959 Go-Go-Sox? Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training this week, so now it's time to focus on the national pastime, the greatest sport of them all. By the end of March, I should post my preseason predictions. I don't mean to be cocky, but looking at my predictions from the last two years, I have not read anybody who was more accurate in predicting baseball during that time.

Before then, I should post about my foreign trip for work in a few weeks, and hopefully another book review. I just started Wicked, I'm only about 10 pages into it. I'd like to finish it before Presidents Day.