Basic HTML Version
In the hit 2011 movie Moneyball the
climax does not arrive with the Oakland
A’s winning the Major League. It comes
with Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt,
rejecting an approach to sign him as
general manager by the Boston Red
Sox.
In a way, the movie is endorsing the
man, but it is also endorsing his strategy.
While many movies about sport focus
on traditional sporting qualities such as
heart and teamwork, this one wants us
to believe in its science. The science of
Moneyball.
Sabermetrics, as it is more accurately
known, uses data analysis to determine
whether players can perform in a certain
role to give their team an edge. While
Oakland has not managed to win a title
since its introduction in 2002, every
team that has done so used a form of
sabermetrics.
Such was the success of the Oakland
team in 2003 that since then the
idea of using data to select players
spread quickly to other teams in the
competition. When asked why Oakland
cannot put together a decent run at the
title, Beane said “the idea that you can
have a huge advantage in any business
without some form of imitation resulting
just doesn’t happen. We are very much
at the bottom of the league in revenues,
and face even greater challenges than
a decade ago. I take it as a compliment
that there is a trend towards objective
analysis.”
Sabermetrics is not only concerned
with identifying the players who can
steal bases, it also helps to identify
which players are undervalued. While
traditional scouts might be looking
for an X factor, sabermetrics very
coldly looks at what happens on
the field. Once other teams started
taking statistics seriously, players that
were once undervalued became hot
properties. So, once again, Oakland is
behind the pack.
Data analysis in sport across the world
is becoming big business. Even at
graduate level in universities there are
courses being designed that use the
numbers generated in any business to
create better workingmodels. Professor
Murat Kristal from York University says
employers are already clamouring for
graduates who can sift through data
and create value for the bottom line.
Graduates of this program will not only
work in sports, but will also work in a
range of other sectors.
The transferability of this system is
currently being debated. Some say
that a stat-heavy sport like baseball is
a more natural fit for the science than,
say, American Football or basketball.
But looking closely at how any player
plays the game and how that will fit with
the team plan cannot fail to have some
measure of success.
In “The Secret Footballer”, a popular
column in the Guardian newspaper, an
anecdote about Liverpool is given as a
good example of sabermetrics outside
of baseball. Liverpool, whose former
director of football Damien Comolli
was an admirer of the system, bought
Newcastle’s Jose Enrique. Enrique is
not the flashiest or highest of profile
players, but “he had one of the highest
pass completions and entries into the
final third; he could also be credited
with having a direct hand in many of
Newcastle’s goals.” This was enough
to convince the Liverpool board to buy
him.
Beane himself advocates the use of the
system in sports outside of baseball.
The catch, though, is making sure
directors and managers are looking for
the right things. ‘Every business has
metrics that correlate to success,’ he
said. ‘It’s just finding them and which
ones are the most valuable and which
ones do you invest in and which ones
you get a return on.’
Moneyball, or sabermetrics, has
changed baseball over the last
decade. It remains to be seen how it
can change other global sports in the
coming years.
THE
By Timothy Mottram
MONEYBALL
PHENOMENON
touchline
0
Insight