Moneyball in the World Series

My family and I are watching and enjoying more postseason Major League Baseball games this year. Is baseball popularity back, or maybe our interest was sparked by the “local” Phillies making an improbable playoff run or coaching Princeton travel baseball the last few summers? Watching the broadcasts, I noticed the replacement of traditional stats like batting average with new “advanced” stats, including WAR (wins above replacement) and OPS (on-base plus slugging). Also, it seemed the fielders shifted for every batter. I love the book Moneyball and recommend it to any sports fan or investor, but I was surprised by MLB’s broad adoption of “Sabermetrics” or technology and data analytics. I greatly respect analytics, as we use similar tools to make investment decisions. However, baseball is a game for fan enjoyment and America’s pastime – has Moneyball gone too far? The link below shares an article I enjoyed that discusses how analytics changed baseball – for better or worse.