Books Journalists Should Read, Definitely

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis


Disclaimer: I have not watched the movie Moneyball, but I did pick up this book because of the movie. Let me explain.

I was reading books that had been made into movies just for pleasure-reading, when I saw this book in my local library. It was near Friday Night Lights, which is a brilliant book. I saw the cover for Moneyball, so I picked it up. What a great idea, because this book is a wonderful example of great reporting. Another plus--it's a great example of good reporting, and it's about sports, tapping into a student journalist audience that often needs some push to read books.

But this book is about more than just baseball--this book is about how different views, new ideas and a move from the "tried-and-true" to the "cutting edge" can provide surprisingly effective results (stereotypical sports cliches aside now.)

Michael Lewis, a journalist of Blind Side fame, which I did watch, Lewis tells the story of the Oakland As and their management Billy Beane-style. Yes, he tells the story, which is one reason why this book is so compelling--it's great storytelling, often at its best.

We see Beane stalking around the locker room, wheeling and dealing for undervalued players from his office, talking with and dismissing the wisdom of old-school scouts, and relying on the new wizardry of computer analysis and massive amounts of statistical data to maximize the little bit of salary monies the As have.

At heart, this is an economics book, no different than many of Lewis' other economics books, just don't tell the sports nuts. But in practice, Moneyball is a great story, brilliantly told, with colorful and vibrant characters. It's clear that exhaustive reporting and hours of research went into this book, including much detail about the history of baseball statistics. It's also clear from the critical reviews by sports junkies that this book hit a nerve.

I read this book after reading Geoff Colvin's Talent is Overrated, which I will review next week. So I read Moneyball through that filter, a filter that had me thinking about talent quite differently. Maybe that's why I found Moneyball so powerful--because it chronicles the new way that Billy Beane viewed baseball. It reminds me of how other industries need some new thinking, in particular two of interest to me: journalism and higher education.

While this book wasn't on the CMA list of books journalists should read, I think it should be added. Lewis tells a compelling story, using great reporting and clear analysis. If that isn't a great example of good communication, especially for young journalists, I don't know what is.