Beyond Baseball

~Akshpreet Singh Sohal, O.P. Jindal Global University.

Bennett Miller’s Moneyball (2011) is based on the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis.^[1] The plot follows the story of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics as they attempt to compete in Major League Baseball. They are up against some of the wealthiest teams in the League, taking place in the season of 2002. The film follows Beane’s decision to abandon traditional scouting in favour of a data-driven, statistical method known as sabermetrics. The baseball narrative of the movie unfolds slowly into something much bigger, an overview of how sporting organisations operate, how the markets are valued and how there is very little space for innovation. This is why; despite having a sports setting and plot, the movie sits comfortably within the realm of business analytics. We will explore many of its themes, from resource scarcity to talent management; these themes are universal across the sporting industry and offer insights into this wonderful business market. “Moneyball showed that by using data-backed insights, Beane and the A’s could spot players who offered more value than traditional metrics suggested. The impact of this was profound. Not only did it allow the A’s to build a competitive team on a budget, but it also changed how teams across the league evaluated talent.”^[2]

The first key theme we will analyse is the resistance to innovation. At the beginning of the film, Beane sits with traditional scouts who evaluate players through their methods of instinct, memory and subjective impressions. Their evaluation is based on very biased criteria like how a player “looks”, or how he “swings” or even if they are “good enough”, judging based on their “physique”.^[3] There was no quantifiable reasoning to their decisions which allowed a lot of room for luck and possible errors. This reflects the culture being based on tradition rather than actual evidence. Beane then attempts to introduce a system that is focused on actual measurable performance indicators, which ends up disrupting their so called sense of expertise.^[4] When the new system is being used, the scouts are challenging every observation showing us a typical organisational behaviour pattern which is employees and managers pushing back innovation when it clashes with long standing methods and their experience over the years. The introduction of the system of sabermetrics tells us more than just a shift in techniques, it tells us about the cultural friction that occurs when technology begins to claim authority over a business that once relied on intuition. This resistance in the film mirrors real world business problems where organisations face internal pushback even when they have new systems with better efficiency and outcomes. Stagnation is bound to occur when the comfort of a routine, the fear of redundancy and the assumption of traditional methods being superior are present. By highlighting this friction, the film tells us how organisations fail to become modern even when the change is compelling. “Moneyball showed us how Billy Beane got more for his money because he learned what it  means to be productive in baseball, and then built models and tested them. The lesson learned: Knowing resources that are in place to work with, the question becomes how do we redesign processes to be able to be more productive.”^[5]

The next theme is misevaluation wherein the world of sports, not only baseball, star players command salaries also that are multi-million-dollar contracts based on the name, reputation and visible attributes. Smaller teams like Beane’s Oakland simply cannot afford these players. This forced Beane to examine the labour market where individuals who do not fit the conventional demands are turned down and “the adoption of sabermetrics has contributed to remarkable results for the A's-significantly improved outcomes (winning per-cent) with significantly decreased input (salaries). These results have been sustained while consistently allowing the team's most acclaimed players (i.e., All-Star players) to move on (via trades or free-agency)”^[6] Peter Brand helps Beane to identify players who get on base consistently, produce stable performance and offer them strategic value even if they are lacking in the traditional criteria of charisma and physical traits. They identify Scott Hatteberg, who is dismissed by most teams due to his injuries and weirder-than-normal playing style yet has the numbers that show real value to the side.^[7] The storyline is a perfect parallel to organisations that hire employees based on visibility, personality and other superficial traits rather than their performance. A lot of workplaces have their hiring influenced by unconscious biases and cultural assumptions. This is also famously known as the attractiveness bias or “the beauty bias concerns the favourable treatment that individuals receive when they are deemed more attractive, regardless of whether this happens consciously or unconsciously – and few individuals, let alone employers, actually admit to preferring to work with others on the basis of their higher levels of attractiveness".^[8] This results in the labour market having talent being mispriced, and certain candidates are overvalued while others are overlooked. The undervaluation of Hatteberg and similar players shows us how markets operate irrationally despite claiming to be rational.

The film gives us a broader perspective on resource disparity as well. Large market teams with billions of dollars, operating like well-financed corporations, can buy talent without worrying about long term losses. Meanwhile, smaller teams are forced to innovate like start-ups must solely rely on creativity, unconventional strategies and lean structures to compete with the big boys. Exploring this dynamic, Moneyball critiques the systematic inequality that shapes the business world, from sports to music to even banking. The Oakland A’s do not have such a cushion to rely on and must use data as a tool for survival rather than backup.^[9] One clear lesson is derived from these themes, being evidence-based decision making. Whether it is budgeting, recruiting or any key decision, organisations tend to benefit when they rely on transparent, consistent and measurable indicators. Obviously, this does not mean abandoning human judgement but rather integrating it with rigorous data, so decisions are both grounded and natural. A hybrid approach where intuition is refined but not replaced tends to be the most effective and sustainable. Additionally, the film also helps us to understand the importance of transparent evaluation systems. Whether evaluating baseball stars or corporate employees, transparent systems help us making rational decisions and allow undervalued individuals to demonstrate their worth. In conclusion, Moneyball is far more than just a film about baseball, it’s a timeless movie telling us about business practices, cultures and the complexities of talent management. It shows how meaningful change not only requires new methods but also one’s willingness to question tradition and acknowledge the inefficiencies embedded in existing systems. Ultimately, the film tells us through baseball how unconventional strategies and a genuine willingness to change established norms can turn weaknesses into long-term strengths and opportunities.

^[1] Bennett Miller, Moneyball (United States of America, 2012)

^[2] Lozano A, ‘Moneyball for Talent Acquisition: A Data-Driven Playbook’ (TSR, 6  2025) <https://www.thesilverbackrecruiter.com/post/moneyball-for-talent-acquisition-a-data-driven-playbook> accessed 15 December 2025 

^[3] Miller et al (n1)

^[4] ibid

^[5] Anderson S, ‘Moneyball: Business Lessons On Value Creation’ (UC Davis Graduate School of Management, 2012) <https://gsm.ucdavis.edu/blog/moneyball-business-lessons-value-creation> accessed 15 December 2025 

^[6] Wolfe R, ‘(PDF) Moneyball: A Business Perspective’ (research gate, 2007) <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299052147_Moneyball_A_business_perspective> accessed 15 December 2025.

^[7] Miller et al (n1)

^[8] Chamorro-Premuzic T, ‘It’s Time to Expose the Attractiveness Bias at Work’ (Forbes, 2021) <https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomaspremuzic/2019/07/17/its-time-to-expose-the-attractiveness-bias-at-work/> accessed 15 December 2025 

^[9] Miller et al (n1)