Revisiting “Moneyball” with Paul DePodesta
In 2002, when the Oakland A’s replaced their MVP first baseman Jason Giambi with 32-year-old Scott Hatteberg, a washed-up catcher with a bum arm, longtime baseball scouts figured the unpredictable A’s had finally gone completely around the bend. As journalist Michael Lewis recounted in his book, Moneyball, even “Hatteberg hadn’t the slightest idea why the Oakland A’s were so interested in him.”
As everybody who read Lewis’ celebrated 2003 book knows, the A’s signed Hatteberg with the encouragement of the team’s bright young assistant general manager, Paul DePodesta. Schooled in economics at Harvard, DePodesta was developing a new way to interpret player statistics, finding value where nobody else was looking. With players like Hatteberg, the A’s, led by general manager Billy Beane, took an operating budget that was a fraction of that of the Yankees or Red Sox, and assembled teams that didn’t cost a fortune but won games like baseball royalty.
We interviewed DePodesta for our 2013 issue “The Unlikely” because we were anxious to learn his methods for uncovering unlikely skills in baseball players through statistics and probability theory. He was forthcoming with his insights, if not all his secrets. At the time, DePodesta was vice president of scouting and player development for the New York Mets. Although he built his reputation in baseball, he told us he really wanted to be a football coach. Earlier this year he got his wish to be in football when he joined the Cleveland Browns as “Chief Strategy Officer,” where he has put his skills to work to help the losing Browns reverse their fortunes.
DePodesta had other surprises for us during the interview. Yes, he analyzes players through statistics, but just as important, he told us, was scouting a player’s mental characteristics. For instance, he said, many young players don’t have the makeup to handle the grind of a long baseball season. He talked about his breakthroughs with the A’s and misperceptions about Moneyball, and how steroids have played havoc with his player analysis.
You’re portrayed in Moneyball as turning to statistical analysis to upend conventional wisdom in baseball. Was that your goal?
I have to be honest with you: that wasn’t the goal. When we started, our philosophy was born out of necessity. The
