Money Ball Questions

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?

Billy Beane and Peter Brandt applied the science of statistics. They are taking players percentages and averages to pick for the team not just how well they play.

2)    What is the equation used to calculate OBP?

The full formula is (Hits+ Walks+ Hits By Pitch)/(At Bats+ Walks+ Sacrifice Flies)

3)    What is design?

Design is the preparation by plan for a task to be executed

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 – Define a problem: After the Athletics lost their best players, the team had to recruit an all star team on a small budget

2 – Research and generate ideas: Peter told Billy the use of statistics on how he should pick the players he should recruit

3 – Select an approach: Billy and Peter used the average of OBP’s of players to figure out who they should pick

5)    What is “Leadership”? List the three aspects of leadership that we come up with in class.

1 - Direction
2 –Alignment
3 –Commitment

6)    Describe 3 circumstances from the story where a character exercised effective leadership:
1 – The start of use of statistics to pick the next ball players

2 -

3 – Billy committed to using this new way of recruiting all throughout the season

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

68:51

8)    What does this ratio simplify to (roughly)?

7:5

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.

.000013

11) Based on your calculation, do you think the A’s got lucky or was there something to the Moneyball approach?

I think the A’s new approach brought them to this record. Billy and Peter used percentages instead of how well they have been playing lately.

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 used the science and art of the new management method. Billy broke away from the usual keeping players for seasons, Billy consistently traded players with other teams to work at his advantage.

 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?

The author was Michael Lewis and he has also written the Blindside, Swing Your Sword, and Coach. His theme is, a sport can change in a way no one could ever think or comprehend. Just because it is different doesn’t mean its not effective