Moneyball 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? (In class research/discussion)
Their approach in Moneyball was to change the game by using statistics when picking out players etc. I think it was a science more then an art.

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

3) What is design? (In class research/discussion)
A design is the way you make something, there can be lots of different designs to a certian object.

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 - Billie saw the problem with his team, and made changes. Step 1, 10 and 12

2 - When the coach who plays the players put in some of Billies picks. Step 5

3 - When Peter was discovered Billie used step 5 and 6.

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

1 - Direction
2 - Organization
3 -

6) Describe 3 circumstances from the story where a character exercised effective leadership:
1 - When no one else had hope in Billie's idea he kept with it, those are traits of a leader.

2 - Making sacrifices like firing/getting new players

3 - When Billie hires Peter


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 : 1

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)
.44x. to the 20th

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

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.


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?
Michael Lewis wrote Moneyball. He also wrote lots of books about baseball inculding The Big Shot: Inside the Doomsday Machine, and Liar's Poker.

It's "Oscar Season", will Moneyball win the Oscar for any of the categories it's up for?
No.