As a statistician and math guy as well as a baseball fun this is the perfect combination. Read this book if you are like me. If you don't like math, detest sabermetrics and/or baseball then stay away. It's that simple. There are a lot of good stories, characters and insight into this book which is more of a documentary on the Oakland A's. The movie does not do this book justice. It wasn't a bad movie but when I heard they were making it I couldn't understand how it would be possible. They ended up just taking small parts of the book (along with other fabrications that never existed in the book) and made it into a movie. So much of the book is not in the movie. Do not let your views about the movie dictate whether you read this book or not.

Great baseball book that changes your outlook on the game - and perhaps other things. The brilliance of the book is that it not only applies to baseball, but to almost any existing system by giving you an inside view into creating a unique strategy. Unfortunately for the book, the movie was very good and I worry that there is not much additional value in reading the book (damn that Brad Pitt!!). But a must read for average and advanced baseball fans - or for those who believe that there is always another way to beat the system.

This book is a pretty 'easy' read in terms of vocabulary and information. The key to enjoying this book is how much your interest lies in baseball! While it targets a key issue of learning to think 'outside the box' when being pushed to excel within a certain criteria, it is all about baseball - statistics, making trades, drafts, picks etc.... If you don't have a deep seated interest in baseball, it might tend to drone on.

I picked up this book to learn a bit more about the MLB from an 'insiders' point of view, as the 'moneyball' term is thrown around a lot by the media, especially here in Toronto during the JP Riccardi era of the Blue Jays. It is fun to be reading this book now, almost a decade after it was first published, as most of the players examined in the book are still in the game, so you are able to see if Billy Beane's method was really successful afterall. The book feels like a mix of a sports bio and business practical, but I'm not sure I agree with the other reviews which suggest that you do not need to like baseball in order to enjoy this book - it is quite heavy on baseball stats and situations. But for a fan of the game, it's perfect!

If you like baseball, you might like this book. Otherwise, it will be a pain to read. I bought this book as part of the Indigo MBa program. Don't waste your time. Billy Beane re-invented the way you build a baseball team with less money. This will not teach you much about business. The author goes on an on about players, stats.... I kept reading it just to see if I would learn something from it. The author could have made this book much more interesting, but the baseball facts just made it so boring. There are plenty of books out there that will teach you much more about business.

A highly enjoyable story and an entertaining read, not just for fans of baseball. Moneyball is primarily the story of Billy Beane , General Manager of the Oakland Athletics and his experimental methods to forming a baseball team. It follows his career from highly touted prospect to disappointing professional player to extremely successful general manager. While this book will appeal to baseball fans it also offers a great deal of insight for those in the business community. Many of the situations that are presented in the book are common place in a variety of businesses such as; payroll, asset management, business philosophies, personnel, research, budgets and many others, all show up in this book. The reader is shown that even in baseball, a sport long in history and steeped in tradition; there are opportunities for those with the foresight to look for them. Billy’s maverick style and disregard for conventional baseball wisdom is detailed and very entertaining to read. While much of the book is centered on Billy Beane’s approach to management, it also explores the background behind baseball statistics. Many of the pioneers in the area of baseball statistical analysis are introduced. And it is their work that Billy Beane and his management team used to create one of the highest winning teams with one of the lowest payrolls during the late 1990's and early 2000's. The material is presented in an easy to read manner and avoids the pitfalls of being too technical when discussing statistical analysis. It is mostly written in chronolgical order but it does make use of flashbacks that can get in the way of the flow of the story. It should be noted that many managers in a variety of different businesses, not just baseball claim to be followers of the methods presented in Moneyball. While this is no guarantee of success it does illustrate the value in looking at things from a different perspective. Moneyball is an excellent resource into the business of professional sports. The addition of the new afterword adds value to this edition.

Makes you really think about how you think about the world of business and how you compete. Very insightful, easy to read. Don't have to love sports to love this book. Enjoy.