Moneyball

The Oakland Athletics, one of the poorest teams in baseball, are Michael Lewis's subject as general manager Billy Beane competes with rich rivals on a fraction of their payroll. In 2002 the A's payroll was a fraction of the New York Yankees', which topped $125 million. Beane's edge came from sabermetrics, statistical analysis with roots in the work of Bill James, showing that traditional measures like batting average and stolen bases mislead, and that on-base and slugging percentage matter more. Lewis follows the team's 2002 draft and Beane's often tense debates with scouts who trusted instinct. The book gave baseball the term moneyball, changed how many front offices work, and became a 2011 film starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.

Scott's Cheap Flights co-founder Scott Keyes recommended Michael Lewis's books, Moneyball among them, in an interview.