
Astroball
The New Way to Win It All
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Narrated by:
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Ben Reiter
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By:
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Ben Reiter
About this listen
New York Times best seller
The inside story of the Houston Astros, whose relentless innovation took them from the worst team in baseball to the World Series in 2017 and 2019
“Reiter’s superb narrative of how the team got there provides powerful insights into how organizations - not just baseball clubs - work best.” (The Wall Street Journal)
Astroball picks up where Michael Lewis’s acclaimed Moneyball leaves off, telling the thrilling story of a championship team that pushed both the sport and business of baseball to the next level.
In 2014, the Astros were the worst baseball team in half a century, but just three years later they defied critics to win a stunning World Series. In this book, Ben Reiter shows how the Astros built a system that avoided the stats-versus-scouts divide by giving the human factor a key role in their decision-making.
Sitting at the nexus of sports, business, and innovation, Astroball is the story of the next wave of thinking in baseball and beyond, at once a remarkable underdog tale and a fascinating look at the cutting edge of evaluating and optimizing human potential.
©2018 Ben Reiter (P)2018 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Reiter’s superb narrative of how the team got there provides powerful insights into how organizations - not just baseball clubs - work best.” (Wall Street Journal)
"Colorful...Astroball plays like a giant crossword puzzle as pieces of the team are slotted in leading up to the franchise's historic moment." (USA Today)
"Astroball is the baseball book of the year, essential for baseball executives at every level, accessible and fun for fans." (Star Tribune)
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-
Story
Instead of out-drafting, out-signing, and out-trading their rivals, baseball's best minds have turned to out-developing opponents, gaining greater edges than ever by perfecting prospects and eking extra runs out of older athletes who were once written off. Lindbergh and Sawchik take us inside the transformation of former fringe hitters into home-run kings, show how washed-up pitchers have emerged as aces, and document how coaching and scouting are being turned upside down. The MVP Machine charts the future of a sport and offers a lesson that goes beyond baseball.
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Just too much cussing!
- By D Maybee on 04-19-20
By: Ben Lindbergh, and others
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The Game
- Inside the Secret World of Major League Baseball's Power Brokers
- By: Jon Pessah
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 20 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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In the fall of 1992, America's national pastime is in crisis and already on the path to the unthinkable: cancelling a World Series for the first time in history. The owners are at war with each other, their decades-long battle with the players has turned America against both sides, and the players' growing addiction to steroids will threaten the game's very foundation.
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Bad Narration
- By Sally Harrison-Pepper on 08-15-15
By: Jon Pessah
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Power Ball
- Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game
- By: Rob Neyer
- Narrated by: Rob Neyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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The former ESPN columnist and analytics pioneer dramatically recreates an action-packed 2017 game between the Oakland A’s and eventual World Series champion Houston Astros to reveal the myriad ways in which Major League Baseball has changed over the last few decades.
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Solid overview of Baseball in 2018
- By Tyler Burch on 11-21-18
By: Rob Neyer
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The Yankee Way
- The Untold Inside Story of the Brian Cashman Era
- By: Andy Martino
- Narrated by: Andy Martino
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
With rare access to the inner sanctum of the New York Yankees, SNY analyst Andy Martino weaves two years of exclusive interviews with general manager Brian Cashman into a revelatory account of never-before-told stories about Derek Jeter, Aaron Judge, Alex Rodriguez, the complex front office, team ownership, and insights into the World Series wins and day-to-day running of the team that fans never get to see.
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An insightful look inside ….
- By brooklynboy48 on 04-11-25
By: Andy Martino
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The Last Manager
- How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
- By: John W. Miller
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Long before the Moneyball Era, the Earl of Baltimore reigned over baseball. History’s feistiest and most colorful manager, Earl Weaver transformed the sport by collecting and analyzing data in visionary ways, ultimately winning more games than anybody else during his time running the Orioles from 1968 to 1982. When Weaver was hired by the Orioles, managers were still seen as coaches and inspirational leaders, more teachers of the game than strategists. Weaver invented new ways of building baseball teams, prioritizing on-base average, elite defense, and strike throwing.
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THE EARL OF BALTIMORE... ALWAYS A TREAT!
- By USA VETERAN on 03-21-25
By: John W. Miller
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The Matheny Manifesto
- A Young Manager's Old-School Views on Success in Sports and Life
- By: Mike Matheny, Jerry B. Jenkins
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Mike Matheny was just 41, without professional managerial experience and looking for a next step after a successful career as a Major League catcher, when he succeeded the legendary Tony La Russa as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012. While Matheny has enjoyed immediate success, leading the Cards to the postseason three times in his first three years, people have noticed something else about his life, something not measured in day-to-day results.
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If your a youth coach, get this book
- By Brady on 12-11-15
By: Mike Matheny, and others
Great inside view of the whole process.
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This is a great book for MLB teams that are going through a rebuild who hopes don't look good. It shows the long process of rebuilding the Astros farm system that was ranked dead last in 2010 to being the best in 2014 by the draft or trading veterans for prospects.
Great Baseball Insight
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Great Book!
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Great insight to the Astros and analytics but...
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Tribute to the 2017 WS Champs
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Great story!
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Data Science + (extra magic) = 2017 World Champs*
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Best business book of the year?
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GREAT!!!
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I can’t believe
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