I actually thought just hearing how a low level baseball team operates was more interesting than the saber stuff.

 

Me too. Pretty cool line about how Sonoma is a town of 10,000, and they have 4,000 come to watch on Opening Night.

 

But there is part of me that habitually thinks when they face backlash that Sam and Ben are celebs and should get their way and realize that very few people listen to baseball prospectus podcasts.

Was also shocked when they wrote that Sean forgot-his-lastname through 140 pitches in his first start from the bullpen. Especially from a group of advanced statheads.

I think the 140 pitches was more because it was an event. They just wanted to let him finish off the game. All in all, i thought the team's reaction to an openly gay player was pretty positive.

Me too. Pretty cool line about how Sonoma is a town of 10,000, and they have 4,000 come to watch on Opening Night.

 

But there is part of me that habitually thinks when they face backlash that Sam and Ben are celebs and should get their way and realize that very few people listen to baseball prospectus podcasts.

 

 

In some ways, they may be "celebs" in the minds who follow the saber world, but that means very little to their first manager and is a constant source of strife throughout.

 

Between the two, one is more assertive and the other's more of a politician/conciliatory, and they never quite reach that point of time for an extended number of games where they're really running things. They're more like "political advisors," whose advice may or may not be taken.

 

This book would have been a lot better were they from Day 1 put in the position of actually managing the team.

 

 

As far as the minor minor league baseball part goes, it's really all about marketing/promotions and the connection that local team has with its community. I was expecting to have more insight into the "1%" world, since Sonoma is famous for it's vineyards and upper crust entrepreneurs, but we rarely have any interaction with any of the corporate partners.

 

 

Yeah, they should have managed. But I like that they took the idea to get a better player by giving him more control. It actually drives home human elements of the game more.

 

But it also drives home that you can't just have organizations with piecemeal approaches. Just because you hire a stats guy doesn't mean anything if you don't put forward the work to get everyone on the same page.

 

 

I'm at the point now where Yoshi just started had a meeting with Sam taking all of his advice, but don't know how the game goes.

 

I actually think this book is better that it covers the challenges of actually implementing this stuff, vs a bunch of stories of really insane shifts and the like. It's a really good business/sports book.

This is a killer book, one of the best baseball books I've ever read.

 

I've got Ben Lindbergh coming to our ballpark for an event on Sunday, I'm excited to pick his brain about it a bit.

This is a killer book, one of the best baseball books I've ever read.

 

I've got Ben Lindbergh coming to our ballpark for an event on Sunday, I'm excited to pick his brain about it a bit.

 

That's awesome. Let us know how it goes.

 

I'm basically at the point now where they are finally implementing serious shifts and new theories.

 

Can' t believe this player in the league that homers like every at bat. So insane.

That's awesome. Let us know how it goes.

 

I'm basically at the point now where they are finally implementing serious shifts and new theories.

 

Can' t believe this player in the league that homers like every at bat. So insane.

 

Yeah, you'd think that would be impossible at ANY pro level, considering it doesn't even happen at college.

Finished the book. Really kinda sad at the end. If I didn't before, I'm going to cherish even more the odd player that probably has no pro future getting a call up for a couple days. What these players put on hold just to do what they love is crazy. It would be inspiring except, you know, mortgage and stuff.

 

 

Looked at the stats this morning. They kinda yada yada's how terrible Eads was after the fist pump chapter where he had a 1000 ops.

So what's the next book on the list?

Your pick bud. I'm in night classes now and slowing down but I set a goal of 16 books in 16 and I'm only at 6.

Just finished Gunslinger, Jeff Pearlman's book about Brett Favre.

 

Pretty interesting read, albeit a tad long. Well done all-around though.

 

Next is Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight.