TOW #16 (IRB)- "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis

            After finishing Moneyball by Michael Lewis, I am further convinced that Billy Beane, the former general manager of the Oakland Athletics, was like no other manager that came before him. As the 2002 baseball season progressed, the Athletics had a lot of success, including one of the longest winning streaks in MLB history, which surprised baseball fans and analysts across the league. In order to inform readers of Beane’s surprising success despite vast economic restrictions, Lewis provides an analytic summary of the Athletics run to the playoffs in 2002 using narration and anecdotes.

            Ever since Beane became general manager of the Athletics in 1997, the organization saw large decreases in revenue and significant budget cuts. As a result, Beane was forced to trade away many of their top players because they could not afford and compete with teams offering much higher contracts. This led Beane to follow a less traditional route in order to fill the shoes of star players like Jason Giambi. Beane ended up signing Scott Hatterburg, a former catcher who had been previously cut by both the Red Sox and Rockies. Hatterburg had nerve damage in his arm and could no longer throw, which is vital for catchers, so Beane thought that he and his coaching staff could convert him into a first basemen. Even though Hatterburg struggled defensively at first base, Beane felt he could make up for Giambi’s absence because of his demeanor at the plate. According to Beane, he taught Hatterburg to analyze every pitch thrown by the opposing team and use his observations to predict which pitch to swing at in order to maximize on-base percentage. This odd approach to managing and narration told by Lewis has a large impact on readers, most of which are baseball fans, as they become convinced that to be the best in baseball you do not have to spend the most money on top rated players.

            Despite Michael Lewis’ use of fairly little rhetorical devices beside narration of Billy Beane’s managerial career, his writing effectively achieves its purpose because of the strong appeal to ethos. Readers buy into his purpose as they are intrigued by Beane’s many narrative stories that are thoroughly analyzed by Lewis. In terms of pathos, readers are simply amazed by Beane’s ability to go on such a improbable run to the playoffs despite having on of the smallest payrolls in the MLB.