Moneyball by Michael Lewis was a book that truly changed the way people look at baseball, but all these years later, the things it covered feel almost quaint. That book started the sabermetric movement in the same way the Model-T kick-started the car industry. You can see the outline, but they had no idea how big or how far things would go.
Whether you’re looking to catch up on how far baseball advanced since then, or looking for a book to get you ready for the next MLB season, we’ve got you covered with these five books that tackle the game behind the game of baseball.
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The great lie of Moneyball is that the collection of misfit players picked off the scrapheap was the reason for the Athletics surprising success. In actuality, the big reason for the team’s success in that season was the collection of ultra-talented young players like Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, and Barry Zito, who were still making close to the league minimum.
The difference between a great team and a bad one isn’t typically the players making the most money. It’s the ones making the least money on their rookie contracts, or pre-arbitration, when the raises based on play come in. With salaries continuing to rise for the proven players and owners getting stingier than ever with the purse strings, scouting the next great players has become more important than ever.
While Moneyball eschewed scouting, the modern front offices rely on it more than ever. McDaniel and Longenghagen bring their expertise to the exploration of how modern front offices and scouting operations operate.
The Only Rule Is It Has to Work by Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller (2016)
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There was a time when young men dreamed of playing for a baseball team, but in the post-Moneyball world, many young men dream of running one. In this book, two professional baseball writers get their chance as they take over an independent league baseball team called the Sonoma Stompers.
The idea is to bring some groundbreaking statistical strategies that were beyond even the most forward-minded Major League teams to the Stompers and see what happens. Results may vary in their experiments, especially when the human element becomes involved, but where this book really shines is as a look at baseball at one of its lowest levels. A place where the dreams remain big as the pay ranges from small to nonexistent.
Winning Fixes Everything by Evan Drellich (2023)
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Baseball is a game about looking for an edge by any means necessary. Over the past twenty-five years, general managers have gone from baseball lifers and former players to Ivy League graduates. Everyone is looking for an edge, for the thing that will put them ahead of their competitors and make their team the best in baseball. The Houston Astros did just that, but they went too far, creating a scandal that rocked baseball.
If Moneyball was the story of a heroic general manager who uses statistical analysis to lead his team to victory despite their shortcomings, then this is the story of what happens when a general manager takes statistical analysis and uses it for evil. That may be overly simplistic and judgmental, but the actions laid out in this book are far from sportsmanlike.
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Pitchers in baseball are throwing harder than ever before, and with that has come more pitcher arm injuries than ever before. Yes, those things are connected.
Jeff Passan digs deep into the most important limb in the sport and how it’s getting injured like never before. From teenagers to major leaguers, this problem affects players worldwide and shows no signs of stopping. The truth of it is that throwing hard can mean the difference between making the major leagues and not, and once you’re there, getting a big contract or not. The incentive to throw hard has never been greater, and with that, so is the risk.
The Arm reads like a medical thriller, in a good way. There are no easy solutions to solving the problem, but this book can still give the reader a greater understanding of just what goes into, and what’s at stake, for every pitcher who takes the mound.
The Lords of the Realm by John Helyar (1994)
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If the owner of your favorite baseball team has ever cried poor, you need to read this book.
If the possibility of a strike in MLB has you worried, you need to read this book.
If the history of labor organizing at all interests you, you need to read this book.
If you care about Major League Baseball in the slightest, you need to read this book.
The Lords of the Realm is one of, if not the greatest, books ever written about the business of baseball. The owners (the eponymous Lords) and all the many shenanigans they have engaged in to avoid paying the players are on full display here. While the Baseball Players’ Association and the great Marvin Miller have their story told in a way worthy of the Hero’s Journey.
The only area this book fails is when it was written, and thus, when it ends. The book sets the stage perfectly for what is to come. Only the author didn’t know that at the time. Still, if you’ve read this book, the strike of 1994 and everything that followed make perfect sense. The business of baseball has always been like this.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vince is the Entertainment Editor at Book Notification. His first book was Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss, and his passion for reading took off from there. He'll read just about anything, but can usually be found re-reading his favorite Pynchon novels and Seattle Mariners box scores.