Let's take a trip down memory lane really quick. Billy Beane was a Major League Baseball player who played six total seasons in the MLB, bouncing around from team to team. He ended his career at the Oakland Athletics and decided to stay with the Athletics working as a club scout. Eventually, he worked his way up to General Manager. When Beane was promoted to General Manager, the team had finished the previous season with the worst record in Major League Baseball at 65-97. Ouch. And not only did the team have the worst record, they also had one of the lowest budgets. In simpler terms, they lacked the talent and the finances to win games. But wait. During Billy Beane's first year in charge, the Oakland A's started improving and ended up finishing the 1998 season with a 74-88 record. Later on in 2001, the Oakland A's finished with a 102-60 record.
So, how did he do it? Well, Beane joined forces with one of his colleagues Paul DePodesta. Paul was an economics grad from Harvard who had a history in baseball and football. Beane and DePodesta used the statistical analysis of baseball data to objectively evaluate performance, also known as Sabermetrics. Their success over the previous four seasons could be attributed to this practice.
Beane and DePodesta used data analysis and big data to develop the best strategy for recruiting good players and winning games. They ultimately used this method to turn the A's into a winning program. While using this method, they made an interesting discovery. Widely valued metrics actually did not have that strong of an influence on determining the outcome of a game. Instead, it was the often disregarded metrics that would be the strongest predictor.
So how did they use this information to build a winning program? Well. After running their statistical analyses, the boys listed a group of players that they wanted on their team. This method took a while to be successful. And there was criticism. But Beane revolutionized the game with his big data. By 2002, their record was 103-59 and was the best in Major League Baseball.
Moral of the story: don't ignore your data. It might be important.
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