Game Changer (Finished)

Answers will be in Red:  Questions asked will be in Black:


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)

The "Moneyball" approach, was to focus on statistics, such as the OBP, instead of things such as age, and methods of playing.  It was reffered to as "The Art of winning the Game". The statistic used primarily by Billy Bean (Above all other statistics, and things that scouts would dislike), was for the On Base Percentage (OBP).

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

OBP = [H + BB +HBP]/PA.  Where BB is the number of bases, compared to balls thrown; HBP is the ratio of hits, compared to pitches; H is the ammount of Hits.  PA is the number of "Base Appearences".


3) What is design? (In class research/discussion) 

Billey Beane's "Design" jumps into the "Develop a Prototype" phase directly after identifying the problem.  In a way, he took a very large risk, in going on, and taking the idea of a person, and applying it on such a large scale, not ever before attempted.  Eventually, he shortly drifted from the "Moneyball Method", by selling Giambi's brother away to the Cleveland Indians.

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 -Identify the Problem - At the begginning of the movie, Billy Beane is sitting with his scouts, discussing the problems, primarily that Giambi, their star player, is being removed from the team.  Beane asks his scouts, "Tell me what the problem is", which is met by the first PLTW step, "Identify the Problem".

2 - During a part of Moneyball, Billy Beane is forced to sell a member of his team.  He decides to sell of Giambi's Brother, to the Cleveland Indians.  This is reflected in the PLTW step, "Refine".

3 - During the 20th game streak, the Field Manager decides to put one of Beane's picks, which he protested for the majority of the season.  The person did prove, that the idea was successfull. This is reflected in the PLTW Step "Test and Evaluate".


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

1 - "A Community is like a ship; everyone ought to be able to take the helm" - Henrik Ibsen


2 - A Leaders must have values and morals, and trusting them in their actions.


3 - Leaders must be able to take initiative, no matter the situation; no matter the place.


6) Describe 3 circumstances from the story where a character exercised effective leadership:

1 - During the beginning scene with the scouts, Billy Beane uses leadership to try to help the scouts, in their problem of replacing Giambi.


2 - Near the Middle/End of the movie, Billy Beane uses Leadership, and talks with his team, about how they are doing, and what they could be doing better; something no General Manager usually does.


3 - Billy Beane attempts to manage the Field Manager, whom refuses to use Billy Beane's method.  After he notices that the "Moneyball Approach" actually works, he uses Billy Beane's method.

7) According to the movie, what was the A’s record at the start of their winning streak? 83:58
*Note: End of Season was 103 wins, to 59 loses.  Before the streak was 20 wins less, and 1 loss less; Which is 83 wins to 58 loses*

8) What does this ratio simplify to (roughly)? 1.4: 1 (Or 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. (In class research/discussion)

A forumula, that can be used, to find out the chances of winning games in a row, can be expressed in the equation: 1/2^(n), where n is the ammount of games.  The odds of winning 5 games in a row would be 1/2^(5), which would be one out of 32.  So Logically, the odds of winning 20 games in a row would be 1/2^20, which is One out of One Million, Forty-Eight Thousand, five hundred and seventy-six (1:1,048,576).

11) Based on your calculation, do you think the A’s got lucky or was there something to the Moneyball approach?
Given that the odds of winning that are well over 1 in a million, there is substancial evidence, that the "Moneyball Approach" did in fact help with the 2002 Oakland A's.  Before the 20 win streak, only two teams before the Oakland A's won nineteen games in a row; So unless of some freak chance, there is some truth to the "Moneyball Approach", in it's application in the 2002 Oakland A's Season.

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.

Billy Beane applied his "Science" of Moneyball to his team; and to his daily life.  Multiple times throughout the story, people notice Billy Beane's unusual work-ethic, such as picking an assistant General Manager from another team, upon noticing him a few times.  The Moneyball Method also had an effect on the way that his team, both Athletes and management, had mixed feelings on the Moneyball Approach.





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?

Michal Lewis wrote "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game".  Another primary book that he has written is "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game", about an Old Miss Left Tackle Player.  A large ammount of Michal Lewis' books are about the evolution of sports, and how they have changed over the past few decades.