Moneyball

Tonight, Neal, Blake, their friend Jake, my mom, Jared and I all watched Moneyball. I knew the basic gist of the story since my mom had already read the book and told me about it, so I knew that the Athletics used Sabermetrics to assemble a baseball team to try to combat the unfairness of ball clubs that had less revenue to work with, and that they ended up not going to the World Series that year (although they were close). I also knew that most people in baseball tried to dismiss this method and criticized Billy Beane for using it, citing the fact that the Athletics didn't even go to the World Series that year. I did not know that regardless of that fact, the Athletics set an American League record that season, winning 20 consecutive games, and they finished first in their division with a record of 103-59.

The other thing I learned is this: I knew the Red Sox broke their curse in 2004, winning the World Series, but what I didn't know is that they did it using Sabermetrics (they actually offered Billy Beane $12.5 million to be their GM but he declined the offer in order to stay with the Athletics. They hired Bill James, the "creator" of Sabermetrics, as a consultant instead, and promptly won the World Series).

What I learned: The A's hold the American League record for most consecutive wins and had a record season using Sabermetrics to build their team. This method also helped the Red Sox break their curse in 2004.