Moneyball

1) What was the “Moneyball”approach that Billy Beane and Peter Brandt applied to the Oakland Athletics 2002 season? Was it an “art” or a “science”? What single statistic did they boil their value consideration down to? (In class research/discussion) They would go for the players that nobody esle wanted because they threw funny or lost the certain control in their hand. It was a "science". They boiled it down to the on bse percentage (OBP)

2) What is the equation used to calculate OBP? (In class research/discussion)


3) What is design? (In class research/discussion)
A plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, or other object before it is built or made.

4) Describe 3 situations where movie characters (intentionally or not) applied a step from the PLTW 12 Step Design Process. Explain both the (a) situation as well as (b) how the step is relevant:1 - Billy Beane defined the problem with all the scouts when he lost his three best players.

2 - Peter Brand research and generated ideas when he found 51 one possible players and did evaluations on them.

3 - Billy Beane did the test and evaluate and refine step when he watched how the team did and then got rid of the younger Giambi and other players so that his team would be successful.

5) What is “Leadership”? List the three aspects of leadership that we come up with in class. (In class research/discussion)
1 - Direction
2 - Alignment
3 - Commitment

6) Describe 3 circumstances from the story where a character exercised effective leadership:
1 - Billy Beane had direction when he wanted to recreate the team with less expensive players.
2 -
3 -

7) According to the movie, what was the A’s record at the start of their winning streak? 76:51

8) What does this ratio simplify to (roughly)? 1.5 : 1

9) How long was the A’s record setting winning streak? 20 games won.

10) Given the A’s win/loss ratio at the start of the streak (listed two questions above), what are the odds of winning 20 games in a row? Run the numbers. (In class research/discussion) 1=(x)(.000037) = .00013

11) Based on your calculation, do you think the A’s got lucky or was there something to the Moneyball approach? I think they may have had a little luck, but it could also be possible that the team was just well put together and Billy and Peters' theories actually do work.

12) Did Billy Beane strictly apply the “science” of Moneyball to his management approach? Was there an “art” to his efforts as well? Describe a circumstance where he broke from the Moneyball approach to make a positive change for the team. He didn't just use science, he also used the art of choosing players and to win all those games. He broke away from the moneyball approach when he traded Giambi because he was one of the picks.

Bonus Question (look into this if you’ve finished ahead of the class):Money Ball was originally a book. What author wrote the book? What other books has this author written? Is there a theme to his writing? Michael Lewis, Boomerang, The Big Shot, Home Game, Panic.

It's "Oscar Season", will Moneyball win the Oscar for any of the categories it's up for? Best Actor and Best Picture