'Moneyball' reshapes Korean baseball

By Lee Jae-hyun

Michal Lewis's 2003 book “Moneyball” is a must-read for baseball players, coaching staff and even ordinary readers.

The critically-acclaimed book details how the small, poor Oakland Athletics baseball club, once a lackluster team full of ragtag players, was able to outperform the star-studded rich clubs.

The success formula boils down to Billy Beane's inspiring data-based baseball tactics.

SK Wyverns' manager Trey Hillman is the most talked-about manager who has deep trust in data-based baseball. Courtesy of SK Wyverns

The bestseller has had a lingering impact on Korean baseball. Data analysis and use of statistics about players in baseball games have become a critical part of baseball games.

SK Wyverns' manager Trey Hillman is the most talked-about manager who has deep trust in data-based baseball.

His iconic defensive realignment based on odds drawn from accumulated data about the direction and distance a ball travels from a slugger's bat has earned the nickname “Hillman shifts,” and is said to be one of the key factors that has made the Wyverns stronger season after season.

In June, the NC Dinos created a new job_ data coach_ while conducting a massive coaching staff reshuffle to make the Changwon-based club stronger.

Lewis begins his book with an author's note on how he was inspired by a real-life story involving one of the strangest phenomena in professional baseball. It was about how the Oakland Athletics, one of the weakest Major League Baseball teams, was able to assemble a team that was competitive enough to compete with rich and strong teams such as the New York Yankees. It was only through the team's general manager, Billy Beane, who rebounded from his own failure as a professional player, that they were able to overcome adversity.

Beane was a star baseball player in high school and was likely to be a top lottery-pick entering the professional league. He had everything Major League Baseball scouts looked for in a player: the ability to run fast, hit hard, and a solid frame _ hopefully the set up for a future “big league star.” However, Beane ran into several developmental challenges and was unable to live up to the potential scouts saw in him, faltering once he had gotten to the major league.

“Moneyball”

After spending a few mediocre years playing, Beane retired and joined the Oakland Athletics team as a member of its staff and worked his way to eventually become the general manager.

As general manager, Beane ran into a financial handicap as he tried to rebuild the team with a significantly smaller budget than many other teams.

Unable to sign expensive, star players, but still determined to remain a relevant team, Beane was forced to take a new approach to rebuilding and employed the ideas of his assistant Paul DePodesta, who advocated for the use of sabermetrics _ a player's statistical track record _ when signing players.

As a result, Beane and DePodesta looked to sign players who were highly underrated or would never be considered by other teams. Beane had numerous doubters among the scouts who worked for him. Traditionally, the best players were the ones who _ like Beane in high school _ “looked like future stars” and had “potential.” Not only was Beane looking to sign exclusively college players based on their statistics, but these players were also unlikely to receive offers from other teams and would be cheaper.

In their defiance of drafting via traditional scouting strategies, Beane and DePodesta were probably unaware their strategy would leave a lasting impact on, not just baseball, but almost the entirety of professional sports.

Beane's determination to avoid drafting players straight out of high school and DePodesta's reliance on avoiding sources of bias towards athletes _ generalizations from personal experience; a misleading or one-off good, recent performance; and misinterpretation _ also proved to also be long-term trends, as evidenced by leagues such as the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The NBA is a prime example that demonstrates the legitimacy of Beane and DePodesta's selection methods, as many of the elements of drafting players in the two sports are paralleled.

Beane's theory of drafting players straight out of college, focused on distinguishing established, good players from potentially good ones. In 2006, this led to the NBA implementing a procedure that required players to be at least 19 years old, and having had at least one year of college experience, to enter the draft.

Players such as MBL's Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant and?the NBA's James Harden and Russell Westbrook, illustrate how college helped provide an important developmental step in a professional athlete's career.

Lewis makes it obvious in “Moneyball” that Beane's precise decision-making and willingness to go against entrenched tradition established himself as the pioneer of the modern standard to which professional sports players are judged against.

However, it also clearly emphasizes the cliched, but nevertheless essential lesson that hard work and determination combined with ingenuity never fails to produce beneficial consequences.

Lee Jae-hyun is a Korea Times intern.