Articles in this issue:

  • Bill Gerrard
    Dennis Howard

    Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (Lewis, 2003) is in essence the story of how the Oakland Athletics under its general manager, Billy Beane, have successfully challenged bigmarket rivals such as the New York Yankees in recent years yet have typically spent only around one third of the Yankees in player salaries.Read more

  • Jahn K. Hakes
    Raymond D. Sauer

    In our 2006 paper, we examined the implications of Michael Lewis?book for the labor market in Major League Baseball. Our tests provided econometric support for Lewis?claim of mis-pricing in the baseball labor market’s valuation of batting skills. We also found suggestive evidence that the dispersion of statistical knowledge throughout baseball organizations was associated with a sharp attenuation of the mis-pricing. This paper takes a closer look at the economic issues raised by Lewis for the baseball labor market. We extend the sample both backward and forward in time, seeking to...Read more

  • David J. Berri
    Stacey L. Brook
    Martin B. Schmidt

    Professional sports are characterized by an abundance of information on worker productivity and severe consequences for failure. Consequently, one would expect information to be processed efficiently in this industry. Recent research indicates, though, that decision makers in professional sports do not behave consistently with the dictates of instrumental rationality. This study of decision making in the National Basketball Association (NBA) begins with a literature review that indicates players can score a major payday by simply focusing on scoring. Beyond this review, we offer an...Read more

  • Daniel S. Mason
    William M. Foster

    This paper discusses the application of Moneyball management to the hockey industry. Following a review of Moneyball and sabermetrics in other sports, attempts to apply similar practices in hockey are reviewed. Moneyball in the National Hockey League is then examined, where adoption is limited by several factors: 1) the statistics available and their usefulness in evaluating player contributions to team performance; 2) the nature of the cooperation of players to produce outputs; and 3) the willingness of league insiders to embrace Moneyball. The statistical issue may be partially addressed...Read more

  • Bill Gerrard

    This study analyzes reasons for the successful of the Oakland Athletics in Major League Baseball as described in the bestseller, Moneyball. Benchmarking analysis is conducted to quantify the extent of Oakland’s achievement. The use of player performance analysis to develop a knowledge-based “David” strategy is investigated. The difficulties of applying the Moneyball approach in more complex invasion team sports are discussed. A hierarchical structural model of an invasion game is proposed as a conceptual framework and its application illustrated using data from English Premiership soccer....Read more

  • Mark F. Stewart
    Heather Mitchell
    Constantino Stavros

    The best selling book Moneyball posited a theory on the success of a Major League Baseball franchise that used detailed match data to identify inefficiencies in the market for professional baseball players. These statistics were then exploited to the advantage of that team. An important part of this strategy involved using mathematical techniques to identify which player statistics were most associated with team success, and then using these results to decide which players to recruit. This paper uses a similar approach to analyze elite Australian Football, making use of various types of...Read more

  • Richard Wolfe
    Kathy Babiak
    Kim Cameron
    Robert E. Quinn
    Dennis L. Smart
    James R. Terborg
    Patrick M. Wright

    Moneyball (Lewis, 2003) is a book about baseball. The book describes how a small-market Major League Baseball team, the Oakland Athletics, has been able to compete with large-market teams by being innovative in a tradition-laden industry. However, when read through a business management lens, one discerns that this baseball book, in fact, has general management lessons in a variety of areas including leadership, innovation, overcoming resistance to change, and creating a sustainable competitive advantage. In this article, we outline and illustrate the valuable lessons for business that...Read more