gosox41
06-23-2003, 06:52 PM
This has been discussed already, but I thought the book was great. It made a lot of interesting points and throughout the book I was making comparisons to the Oakland A way and what I observe from the White Sox. Here are some opinions/observations:
1. I thought the book was more about the Oakland A's philosophy then Billy Beane, though he clearly is the guy who installed the philosophy throught the organization.
2. It's going to be interesting to see how the 2002 draft pans our for the A's, especially Jeremy Brown. Not everyone is going ot make it or live up to the hype, but it'll be fun to see how muc higher of a success rate the A's have compared to the rest of baseball. Bean is doing something right. He's been GM since 1997 and the farm system has been productive.
3. Billy Beane is a genius. He finds ways to win on a $40 mill. payroll. I think the team has average 99 wins the last 3 years and is on pace for another solid year.
4. I don't like how Billy Beane tries to control everything, including the managerial decisions. He even told Art Howe where to sit since in the dugout since he looks so bad. He should have faith in the people he hires, or hire people who believe in his philosophy (How is no longer the manager.)
5. Interesting quote: "The White Sox always told us an aggressive mistake is no really a mistake." Ray Durham said that when talking to a couple of A's coaches about the difference in the two teams philosophy. Well, I think the Sox are wrong to an extent. While I occasionally like the bunt and stealing bases, "aggressive" mistakes still lead to outs. Outs are the one commodity an offensive team needs to avoid in order to get the best chance to score.
It does explain why the Sox put up with boneheaded running and lack of fundamentals. They just see it as being aggressive. Unfortuneately there is a fine line between aggressive and stupid.
6. I thought they were a little too biased on the Olivo/Bradford trade. It was a good trade for both teams. Bradford has been a top reliever and better then 2/3 of the Sox bullpen...according to the stats. I'd rather Olivo. Though I do wonder how many other minor leaguers the Sox neglect because they do things differently.
7. Loved the discussion about how Beane likes to basically take a reliever put him the "closer" role and make him look good so he can trade him to another team. The book talks about Billy Taylor, but he did this to the Sox with Billy Koch. The closer position is highly overrated as is throwing 100 MPH (unless your fastball is 5-7 MPH slower.)
8. KW is a Billy Beane wannabe. KW is just much dumber as is eveidenced by a lot of his trades. I noticed there have been issues with Kenny's presence in the clubhouse. Maybe his philosophies aren't right but he's still forcing them on people. I can see people resenting Beane in Oakland if the team was as disappointing as the Sox.
9. I give Beane credit. He could have quadrupled his salary to go to Boston and had a much easier time building a winner since Boston is also willing to spend (2.5 times more then Oakland.) Beane in Boston would equal a very dangerous Red Sox team.
1. I thought the book was more about the Oakland A's philosophy then Billy Beane, though he clearly is the guy who installed the philosophy throught the organization.
2. It's going to be interesting to see how the 2002 draft pans our for the A's, especially Jeremy Brown. Not everyone is going ot make it or live up to the hype, but it'll be fun to see how muc higher of a success rate the A's have compared to the rest of baseball. Bean is doing something right. He's been GM since 1997 and the farm system has been productive.
3. Billy Beane is a genius. He finds ways to win on a $40 mill. payroll. I think the team has average 99 wins the last 3 years and is on pace for another solid year.
4. I don't like how Billy Beane tries to control everything, including the managerial decisions. He even told Art Howe where to sit since in the dugout since he looks so bad. He should have faith in the people he hires, or hire people who believe in his philosophy (How is no longer the manager.)
5. Interesting quote: "The White Sox always told us an aggressive mistake is no really a mistake." Ray Durham said that when talking to a couple of A's coaches about the difference in the two teams philosophy. Well, I think the Sox are wrong to an extent. While I occasionally like the bunt and stealing bases, "aggressive" mistakes still lead to outs. Outs are the one commodity an offensive team needs to avoid in order to get the best chance to score.
It does explain why the Sox put up with boneheaded running and lack of fundamentals. They just see it as being aggressive. Unfortuneately there is a fine line between aggressive and stupid.
6. I thought they were a little too biased on the Olivo/Bradford trade. It was a good trade for both teams. Bradford has been a top reliever and better then 2/3 of the Sox bullpen...according to the stats. I'd rather Olivo. Though I do wonder how many other minor leaguers the Sox neglect because they do things differently.
7. Loved the discussion about how Beane likes to basically take a reliever put him the "closer" role and make him look good so he can trade him to another team. The book talks about Billy Taylor, but he did this to the Sox with Billy Koch. The closer position is highly overrated as is throwing 100 MPH (unless your fastball is 5-7 MPH slower.)
8. KW is a Billy Beane wannabe. KW is just much dumber as is eveidenced by a lot of his trades. I noticed there have been issues with Kenny's presence in the clubhouse. Maybe his philosophies aren't right but he's still forcing them on people. I can see people resenting Beane in Oakland if the team was as disappointing as the Sox.
9. I give Beane credit. He could have quadrupled his salary to go to Boston and had a much easier time building a winner since Boston is also willing to spend (2.5 times more then Oakland.) Beane in Boston would equal a very dangerous Red Sox team.