Worst Book I have ever read.

[Arctic Blast]

What's The Card, Rick? I'm always up for a good sports read.

[RickD]

What's The Card, Rick? I'm always up for a good sports read.

The Card is really 3 books in one. It's the History of Honus Wagner, The T-206 Wagner card, and the baseball card industry.

[rockiesfan4ever]

moneyball is the worst i have read

Moneyball was awesome

[QHowes]

Moneyball was fantastic. As for Juiced; I found Canseco's ego was almost too much to handle. There were ramblings about MAdonna's obsession to have his children, and how he always made his wife Jessica pump gas because he didn't want to cause a scene if fans saw him outside his car. Just a bunch of foolishness. His latest scheme of boxing some yahoo isn't helping solidify his character rep either.

[HoustonGM]

Moneyball was fantastic. As for Juiced; I found Canseco's ego was almost too much to handle.

Agreed. That was my main issue with the book. The steroid-related stuff was actually pretty good, in that it showed just how large the issue was.

and how he always made his wife Jessica pump gas because he didn't want to cause a scene if fans saw him outside his car. er.

That was actually how his wife Esther always made him stay in the car while she pumped gas because she didn't want to cause a scene.

[Arctic Blast]

Moneyball was fantastic. As for Juiced; I found Canseco's ego was almost too much to handle. There were ramblings about MAdonna's obsession to have his children, and how he always made his wife Jessica pump gas because he didn't want to cause a scene if fans saw him outside his car. Just a bunch of foolishness. His latest scheme of boxing some yahoo isn't helping solidify his character rep either.

That 'yahoo' is Vai Sikahema...he's not a big guy, but he was a **** good kick returner for the Eagles and Packers, and an ex Gold-Gloves boxer with a few pro wins under his belt. I cannot WAIT for him to stomp Jose in to the dirt.

[nuzzy62]

moneyball is the worst i have read

The thing with Moneyball is we can really determine how much 'genius' Billy Beane has by looking back at that storied draft of his.

[HoustonGM]

The thing with Moneyball is we can really determine how much 'genius' Billy Beane has by looking back at that storied draft of his.

We can? We can tell how smart a GM is by looking solely at one draft that an author decided to document in a book?

[MichelleWie]

That 'yahoo' is Vai Sikahema...he's not a big guy, but he was a **** good kick returner for the Eagles and Packers, and an ex Gold-Gloves boxer with a few pro wins under his belt. I cannot WAIT for him to stomp Jose in to the dirt.

Yeah he went to two probowls with the Cardinals. He was my favorite player when he was in GB. He was very active in the community even though he was only here for about a 1/2 season. I'm sure the money he gets will be going to some kind of Foundation or charitable cause. Unlike Canseco who is just trying to get out of debt. Speaking of his ex-wife Jessica she was in playboy awhile back. Very hot. I remeber in the article she was talking about how Jose had this big massive **** from all the steriods but hardly had any testicles.

[filihok]

I remeber in the article she was talking about how Jose had this big massive **** from all the steriods but hardly had any testicles.

Don't say that...every small ******** moguler on the forums will have needles sticking out their asses within the week.

[TheNamelessPoet]

Don't say that...every small ******** moguler on the forums will have needles sticking out their asses within the week.

lol

[nuzzy62]

We can? We can tell how smart a GM is by looking solely at one draft that an author decided to document in a book?

Sure we can...Beane gets a lot of plaudits because of Moneyball (and because he can keep the A's in the hunt) and all the great draft picks they had because of his strategy.

[HoustonGM]

Sure we can...Beane gets a lot of plaudits because of Moneyball (and because he can keep the A's in the hunt) and all the great draft picks they had because of his strategy.

The one draft in Moneyball is still just one draft, and you can't draw any conclusions about the intelligence of one man based off one draft....but still, the 2002 A's draft produced 9 players that have made it to the major leagues (10 if you include Mark Kiger who only played in the playoffs). One has developed into a star - Jonathan Papelbon - but the A's didn't sign him. 3 others developed into quality major leaguers - Nick Swisher, Joe Blanton, and Mark Teahen.

Going through some other teams, the number of MLB'ers they drafted that year, regardless of whether they signed or not...

Angels - 2
Astros - 2
Blue Jays - 5
Braves - 4
Brewers - 3
Cardinals - 1
Cubs - 4
Devil Rays - 4
Dbacks - 4
Dodgers - 5
Giants - 6
Indians - 3
Mariners - 2
Marlins - 7
Mets - 2
Nats/Expos - 3
Orioles - 5
Padres - 3
Phillies - 4
Pirates - 6
Rangers - 3
Red Sox - 3
Reds - 2
Rockies - 7
Royals - 3
Tigers - 4
Twins - 3
White Sox - 7
Yankees - 1

So, considering that the A's 2002 draft produced more major leaguers than any other team, and it produced more solid or better major leaguers (4) than most teams produced major leaguers, regardless of quality, I'd say that the A's 2002 draft was extremely good.

Which may have been your point, but still...you need to look at more than just one draft, considering "general managerial genius" includes free agency, player development, trading, etc.

[JeepGuy63]

Anyone read Jim Bouton's Ball Four?

[Arctic Blast]

Yeah. It's an entertaining read...the Pilots were quite the assemblage of miscreants (Jesus, where did THOSE words come from??? ). By today's standards, it's an entertaining, truthful read, but when it came out, it was downright scandalous...NOBODY had EVER pulled the curtain back like that in baseball before.