Three Nights in August
Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager
About the book
Over a single three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and their archrival the Chicago Cubs, Buzz Bissinger watches manager Tony La Russa from the dugout as the two teams fight for first place. Given close access to La Russa and his club, Bissinger shows how human nature, not just statistics, can decide a game. Along the way he covers the psychology of the clutch, the quirks of pitchers, the growing use of video and how teams retaliate when a pitch hits a batter. He also traces changes in the sport, from the decline of base stealing to steroid use. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Friday Night Lights brings the same close-up method he used on high school football.
Sam Yagan, CEO of Match Group, said reading about La Russa's mix of obsessive statistics and a fine-grained read of players and opponents convinced him that neither data nor gut is enough alone.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Sam Yagan (CEO/IAC’s Match Group)
As a CEO, I have often thought about the balance of trusting data vs. gut in decision-making. I claim to be data-oriented, but in the moment, I often rely on my understanding of human nature. As I read about Tony La Russa’s maniacal focus on baseball’s mass of statistics, coupled with this nuanced understanding of his players and opponents, it was obvious that neither is enough on its own: The leader who truly understands the numbers will make the best gut decisions.
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