Moneyball – College Essay Example

experiences and learnings as a former player. Lewis effectively uses flashbacks to seamlessly shift the narrative between Beane's playing days (1984-1989) and his tenure as a general manager in 2002.

Billy recalls his days as a player and how some managers struggled to trade or release players due to the player-manager relationships. Michael Lewis then smoothly transitions to Billy's time as a general manager. During this period, Billy purposely avoided watching games in person and instead preferred listening on the radio or watching on a TV in the team's weight-room. This was his way of preventing himself from becoming too attached to the players. What many fail to realize is that Billy Beane's methods were unlike anything any manager had ever done before. Baseball had its own set of traditions, which did not align with how Billy Beane approached managing. He defied convention by adopting the methodologies advocated by Billy James, who was considered an oddball for his unconventional books. It was this willingness to go against the traditional grain that made Billy Beane truly remarkable.

Despite the absence of certain characters from the book, Michael Lewis's work is viewed positively by me. After being inspired to read his book following my viewing of Moneyball, I noticed that some characters appeared in the film but were not included in the book. However, these characters did not contribute to the plot of the book; instead, their presence added depth to the movie. In contrast, Billy and two other scouts were the primary focus of the book, with many other scouts involved in player rating before the 2002 baseball draft being excluded. Throughout my reading experience, every piece of

information presented was essential for constructing a comprehensive understanding of events without any distractions. Michael Lewis's adeptness at eliminating unnecessary details while maintaining an engrossing narrative enhances the quality of his writing.

The Story is captivating since most reviews express that you don't need any knowledge on baseball, yet it remains a compelling read. In my opinion, Michael Lewis' approach can be summarized as an effective way to maintain reader engagement and satisfaction, without letting the story become tedious. The three primary techniques I extracted from the story, namely tension, flashback, and omitting unnecessary details, are all valuable aspects to incorporate into my own storytelling and writing. This task was pleasurable as it allowed me to delve into a story that I thoroughly enjoyed and acquire new writing techniques that will undoubtedly benefit me in the future.