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Abstract
This study analyzes reasons for the successful of the Oakland Athletics in Major League Baseball as described in the bestseller, Moneyball. Benchmarking analysis is conducted to quantify the extent of Oakland's achievement. The use of player performance analysis to develop a knowledge-based "David" strategy is investigated. The difficulties of applying the Moneyball approach in more complex invasion team sports are discussed. A hierarchical structural model of an invasion game is proposed as a conceptual framework and its application illustrated using data from English Premiership soccer. The technological, conceptual, and cultural barriers to the transferability of the Moneyball approach to other sports are assessed.
Keywords: Moneyball, benchmarking, player performance analysis, David strategy, invasion team sports, hierarchical structural model
Introduction
Michael Lewis' bestseller, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (2003), tells the story of how the Oakland Athletics in Major League Baseball(MLB) have achieved a sustained competitive advantage over an eight-year period despite being one of the lowest wage spenders. At the core of the Moneyball story is the systematic use of player performance data to guide player recruitment, player valuation, and field tactics as championed by Oakland's general manager, Billy Beane. Moneyball has attracted an international audience and, inevitably, raised questions on the extent to which the approach of the Oakland A's can be replicated in other team sports. For example, the transferability of Moneyball to association football (i.e., soccer) featured recently as the cover article in a leading UK sports monthly (Runciman, 2007).
The objective of this paper is to explore the degree to which Moneyball represents transferable knowledge. Specifically, the paper poses the question: Can Moneyball be transferred to complex invasion team sports such as the various codes of football? It is argued that atomistic striking and fielding team sports such as baseball are most conducive to the systematic exploitation of player performance data because of the high degree of separability of individual playing contributions. However, the approach can be applied in more complex invasion team sports. This is illustrated with a benchmarking analysis of team performance in English Premiership soccer.
The structure of the paper is as follows. The following section provides a statistical analysis of the Moneyball effect, measuring the magnitude of Oakland's competitive success over the period...