Tracy Ringolsby can’t stand “Moneyball”—the concept, the book, or the man who wrote it, Michael Lewis. As such, he’s ready to rip Beane every chance he gets. Ringolsby is also a Hall of Fame baseball writer and one of the game’s most respected voices over the past 30 years. It was interesting, then, to read his take on the Matt Holliday trade with St. Louis.
A bit of background: Shortly after the release of “Moneyball,” Ringolsby (then with the Rocky Mountain News) launched a searing attack on Lewis’ credibility. Aside from pointing out some (of many) factual errors in the book, Ringolsby cited some player-development evidence that Lewis chose to ignore. Getting wind of this, Jim Rome invited Lewis to appear on his ESPN television show. Looking like a complete lightweight (which he surely isn’t), Lewis greeted Ringolsby’s published attack with silly, forced laughter and called Ringolsby a “midget” in the business. That was a big mistake, and with his dreadfully elitist’s response, Lewis looked as if a stiff breeze would blow him right off camera—a difficult thing to witness, certainly, for any fan of his top-shelf writing.
Switch now to Monday, when Ringolsby addressed the Holliday trade in his FoxSports.com column. The issue we’re all trying to evaluate is the matter of (a) acquiring Holliday for Huston Street, Carlos Gonzalez and Greg Smith; and (b) unloading Holliday for Brett Wallace, Shane Peterson and Clayton Mortensen. Some, including FoxSports’ own Ken Rosenthal, have called this exchange the latest measure of Beane’s genius.
...Ringolsby went on to note Street’s value to the Rockies (“he has regained his late-inning magic) and adds that Wallace “is not in the same area code as Gonzalez in any category beyond power.” The truth is that nobody really has a clue how this will all turn out in the end. We certainly know, however, how Mr. Ringolsby feels about it.
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1. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit Posted: July 29, 2009 at 01:33 PM (#3272015)"No officer, I know your radar gun said I was traveling 86 MPH but I've been driving for 20 years and I was only going 55."
"I'm sorry, I prefer a carpenter who eyeballs things, please put away that fancy "ruler" that you have there."
"GM is a big company, they employ lots of people, there is no way they are losing money no matter what your fancy dancy accountants say."
And now I wait for all the constructive criticism from the resident Beane-bashers who like to use Beane as their conduit to expose how arrogant Primates are about their baseball knowledge by illustrating how much more they know about running a team than Beane.
Lewis's comment is pretty douchey, though.
But not a single curse! And I don't think I said anything I'm going to regret. From my time hanging out with writers, I know they can be an incredibly petty bunch of insecure jagoffs.
Sure, Lewis is an incredibly arrogant dude. I think it comes from having everything he touches turn to gold. He's even come out with one of those "I'm a parent! I think I'll write a book about it!" books that have made me reconsider my anti-bookburning stance. Do mother's really need Jenny McCarthy's advice on how to raise their kid? Tori Spelling's? WTF America? WTF?
From my time hanging out with people, I know they can be an incredibly petty bunch of insecure jagoffs.
I think our mutual misanthropy is why we're tied to the hip around here. It also explains our mutual love for the hard spirits.
- Ringolsby had issues with the book that were (apparently) correct
- Lewis behaved like a jackass thereby personally insulting Ringolsby
- Ringolsby continues to hold a grudge
and if so, I'm not sure why Ringolsby and not Lewis is the subject of the rant.
Ringolsby may hate stats and sabremetrics and all that. He's surely not as good a writer. He probably is envious of Lewis' success. Human nature doesn't make that a stretch at all.
I've often believed that one of the biggest problems with the Moneyball phenomena and how it has effected the wider baseball community is that Lewis, despite being a very good writer and storyteller, was in many ways a lousy messenger.
I'd never heard of this Rome show thing, but it fits in with a pattern of childish, imbecilic behavior on the part of Lewis as he was playing the role of bringing sabremetrics to the masses. As a result Lewis largely contributed to the backlash to his book by more mainstream baseball people like Ringolsby.
Because if Ringolsby has a beef with Lewis, he should call out Lewis and not grind his axe against the A's. I'm an A's fan, not a Michael Lewis fan. He wants to go mano a mano with Lewis, he's welcome to it. Enjoy!
It looks more like a personal issue here. I can certainly see how Lewis can rub people the wrong way. It's unfortunate that such personal issues can't be separated when evaluating a trade made by someone Lewis wrote a book about 7 years ago.
I'd probably side with CarGone and Street over Wallace as far as who I'd like to have on my team. The other players involved don't seem that interesting.
Amen, brother. That book has been a curse. And still no books about Dwayne Murphy or Shooty Babbit!
How is this supposed to happen. He's under contract for 2009 right?
To be fair, how many people would be interested in reading a book about a Rilke translating baseball player living in Eastern Europe?
You may be right. I don't think CarGon will ever hit and Street has been ably replaced by Bailey and Wuertz has turned out to be a freakin steal. Wallace is the best hitter of the group and that's what the A's need. There's also the fact that the A's thought they might be able to compete for the division when they traded for Holliday, so even if the prospects turn out to be a wash, I'm glad they made the attempt to go for it without mortgaging the future. I think the Holliday move was pretty solid gming. His non-play for Willingham or Branyan--who would have been perfect, cheap fits on the team--and his boring signing of Giambi are what bothered me this past offseason. Signing Giambi was just phoning it in.
Oh, but Tori Spelling can publish a book about motherhood. Nuke the world now. I don't care anymore.
Naw, Ringolsby's column was dripping with spite. It's one thing to argue the A's had a net loss, but it's another to argue they were ripped off in these deals as they clearly weren't. They look like fair deals all around to me.
Just because she published it doesn't mean anyone will read it.
You sound like me discussing the current state of my Jays fanhood.
She had 'em lined up at the Borders down the street. They can't just be buying the book for the cover picture, right? Right?
Perhaps there was an equestrian convention in town.
Of course, if they want to avoid the scourge of vaccines that threaten to turn our land into an autism-ravaged hellhole. If Jenny McCarthy can just put a dent in our herd immunity, all her work will not be in vain.
Tomorrow's article: Tracy Ringolsby can't stand "The Blind Side" -- the concept, the book, or the man who wrote it, Michael Lewis. As such, he's ready to rip Michael Oher every chance he gets.
With the current world crisis, I kept reading how great Liar's Poker was, so I bought it used for like 50 cents on Amazon.
Loved the book, then bought Pacific Rift and the New New Thing (also cheap online).
Love those too.
So now I've taken the plunge and have ordered Moneyball (as well as the Money Culture), second hand.
I'll try to read Moneyball from a non-baseball fan's perspective, and see if it's a good yarn (because Lewis can write a good yarn), regardless of the debates about sabermetrics, Billy Beane, etc.
True. But sometimes you get the blues.
Moneyball != sabermetrics.
Hating Moneyball does not mean hating statistics in baseball / sabermetrics, or empirical evaluation of players as much as possible.
I HATE Moneyball. It has nothing to do with any objection against statistical evaluation of players. I am all for trying to empirically evaluate players, by any method, as much as possible.
THAT is why I hate Moneyball. Not statistics, not Lewis' arrogance. Lewis pretended that what he wrote was fact, when even the protagonists involved have said some of it wasn't. I hate Moneyball because Lewis presented opinion as fact.
Remember the section where Lewis ridiculed various draft picks? I wonder whether Lewis wants to ever talk about that section nowadays.
Prince Fielder = Too fat even for the A's.
Yep, I've noticed that. It's the standard build someone up and then tear them down dynamic. Hopefully A's management has thick skin. Then again, I'd hate to think the rantings of Bruce Jenkins and the Contra Costa times are going to have too much influence.
Is the article still around? I'd be interested in what the factual errors were.
While Ringolsby may have a hat, I thought Celizic is Hat Guy.
You are correct, sir.
My guess is that writing books about mother/fatherhood is the literary equivalent of Christmas songs. No matter how crappy it is, there's a built-in market.
One of Tracy's column mugs showed him in cowboy hat.
The blogs most sought out by advertisers are those written by mothers about motherhood.
No way in hell I'm making a hacky Brokeback Mountain joke here. I'll just wait for Ryan to do it...
Oh sure. Just another example of immigrants doing the jobs that Americans just don't want to do.
At least he's got some cowoby bonafides, even if the name doesn't fit.
I thought he was in Pearl Jam.
Shooty, did she really? I work for her publishing company and while I admit I don't pay attention to the numbers, I wondered what in the world justified putting out a second book of hers within 13 months.
Yep. I was their getting a book about the birds of Australia so I wasn't paying attention too much. It could have been just a bunch of celebrity-gawkers who bought the book as an excuse to have a brush with, um, "greatness".
Brits call 'em Birds, Aussies call 'em Sheilas.
I am deadly serious. Wildlife photography is one of my hobbies and the main reason I'm going to Australia.
So you bought a British nudie book of Sheilas?
Well, not yet, but it sounds good.
I need a life.
I need a life.
Why? I don't see how my ability for transcendent nerdiness requires anything life changes on your part.
It doesn't, really. The fact you're going to Australia is serving as a reminder that I haven't really done anything with my summer, or have done anything interesting or even productive lately. I'll go saunter over on the Dashboard Confessional forum before I turn into an emo drama queen.
I'm here if you need a hug. I haven't done much this summer, either, yet. I've been on a real run of making inappropriate comments in mixed company so I'm afraid to socialize anymore. Of course, I blame you ######## for this. Jerks.
Holliday was arguably the A's best player while he was on the team, wasn't he? I guess Adam Kennedy or Dallas Braden have an argument too.
That's not to say he wasn't disappointing. But you know you've got a player on your hands when all people can talk about is what a down season he's having, and he's still the best guy on the team. Or maybe you just have a really bad team.
Lewis is not in the same area code as Ringolsby in any category beyond writing ability.
Considering their profession, that's a fairly important area code.
SNAP!
SNAP!
Look, I don't know what these guys are like in private. They could both be swell guys or they could both be jackasses or whatever. I can only judge their respective work.
I've seen it happen, you know.
I'm courting a flame here, but I find their second album to be an amazing improvement over their unlistenable debut.
Lewis is an amazing writer, esp. at explaining complex things to a broad audience in an interesting, i.e. dramatic, manner. But clearly he cuts corners to do so, possibly because the most complex things he doesn't understand well, and sometimes because the truth can be inconvenient when building drama. Even after Liars Poker I'm not sure he really understands much about investment practices other than those that had to do with his narrow little world as a bond salesman.
And both he and Tracy are self important aholes.
I don't know who Panic! at the Disco are...but you are wrong, so very wrong. Couldn't be wronger. What a dope you are!
Get Adam Rubin on the case.
I thought the first was catchy and listenable and bombastic in its badness. The follow up was just bland.
Edit: I agree with ValueArb's assessment of Lewis's writing. Great storytelling, good prose, tends to warp the details to fit his thesis.
And I agree wholly with #73 on P!atD.
As a matter of fact...sure. Do you have a Zurich Stained 45?
Note to self: never mention pop music again. As any Primer discussion that mentions pop music grows longer, the probability of a post involving Pavement approaches 1.
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