Maggie's Farm

If you haven't seen the movie Moneyball, then do. Jason and I had our Little League schedule interrupted by a rare rain in San Diego, so we went to see the film. It will rank as one of the top baseball films ever, the acting by Brad Pitt and all others excellent.

But, the movie is about much more than baseball, as is baseball itself. Jason and I discussed its lessons after, about deportment and courage in leadership, about relations among management and players in tough situations or conflict, about the practical uses of education, and so on.

One of the lessons isn't in the movie. The judo use of statistics by a team, the Oakland Athletics, far outspent by such rich teams as the Yankees, to find undervalued players was successful but once the success is shown, other teams adopted it. The niche was lost as many exploited it, which reduced its power by any one team. The traditional "art" of experience returned to the fore but adjusted by this innovation. That is, in a nutshell, the path of innovation, useful improvements that energize competition and up the play to everyone's benefit.