The A’s were, in one word, different, from virtually every other team in the MLB. With what would be considered pocket money for some other teams as their overall net worth, the team still proved to be a strong competitor, season after season. What kind of tricks were they pulling out from their sleeves? Well as an impoverished team, the A’s really needed to get all the value for their money’s worth, or even more. The Oakland A’s valued players in an extremely unorthodox way by seeking out underrated stats or statistics, thus allowing them to compete with even the most prominent teams in the MLB.
Billy Beane proved to be a special seed that when sprouted, engulfed the rest of his team in his core of knowledge. As a former baseball talent who was highly sought after and in the end, dumped into dirt, Beane knew his way around when it came to scouting. Instead of recruiting talents (people who had “potential”), Beane decided to live in the present, seeking out those who had put up good numbers as of the most recent play. Other GMs glanced at the appearance and potential of a player and in the end, that was the one deciding factor that determined recruitment or not. In fact, when Beane had just entered the role as GM, he allowed scouts under him to take the lead in recruiting players. At one point, Beane’s head scout Grady Fusion chose a promising high school pitcher named Jeremy Bonderman. Beane detested the thought of recruiting a high school player, who had little exposure to the shine of the stars ahead of him. Beane was highly disappointed in Fusion because that was the one aspect of scouting Beane had emphasized to stay away from during their training. From then on, Beane took absolute control over scouting for the A’s and it certainly trained the perspectives of people during his time and also in the future as well. In addition to his use of statistics, Beane also sought undervalued/hidden traits in players. For example, a man named Scott Hatteberg was recruited to the A’s for his hidden talent as a first baseman. Hatteberg was a respected catcher who was quite decent at throwing the ball. However, after his wrist injury, Hatteberg had lost the spark he once had. With the Colorado Rockies releasing him as a free agent, Beane had his eyes on Hatteberg, not for his long lost throwing skills, but his ability to hit the ball. Hatteberg, although not a ball slammer, had an almost unparalleled talent of consistently hitting the ball every single time. So by converting Hatteberg into a hitter, Beane was able to create a new future for Hatterberg, improve the team, and also avoided excessive spending on new players.
Now the question on our minds is: “How did Beane actually come up with his recruiting strategy?” Well, if it wasn’t emphasized enough, we need to make it clear that Beane actually used his past experience as a ballplayer to aid his decisions. As mentioned earlier, Beane was a star player who had superior talent. Beane was described as someone who at a very young age, touched the ball and immediately, the baseball genes had started flowing inside him. However, despite being an untouchable player, Beane let his own attitude get the best of him. As Beane progressed into his adult life, he eventually paled in comparison to others his age. Beane’s mental attitude had gotten the best of him. Other players who decided to put effort into the sport eventually surpassed him, leaving him in the dust. As a GM, Beane couldn’t bear to see another individual suffer like he did. Ultimately, Beane decided to dedicate his life to changing the way baseball scouting was viewed. Taking baseball scouting by storm, his use of statistics became the basis of scouting for future GMs. Although he couldn’t change his own destiny, he definitely changed others’.
Many people who worked under Beane and were trained by him actually thought of him as quite the aggressive man. Those who had suffered his “wrath”, probably loathe him and yet, they seemed to have an immense appreciation for a man who just simply wanted to save the future of others. With his work in exposing the benefits of using statistics and looking for undervalued traits, Beane helped lead a new era in baseball scouting