The danger of metrics: how the Bill James comments dehumanize baseball players
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The danger of metrics: how the Bill James comments dehumanize baseball players

Bill James, the inventor of the baseball analytical method sabermetrics, controversially tweeted that baseball players could easily be replaced with no effect on the game. This prompted a swift and outraged reaction from players. It also raises a larger point — should businesses focus primarily on metrics, or on people? James was in a Twitter…

Red Sox management lessons: What Alex Cora’s “Coralytics” means to you

Red Sox management lessons: What Alex Cora’s “Coralytics” means to you

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox for winning the World Series. What made the difference? Was it the heart and talent of the players? Or was it the cold, hard Moneyball analytics that have made baseball as much science as art? It was a combination of both. This is “Coralytics,” the new approach of Red…

Strategic jiggery-pokery as the Cleveland Browns hire Paul DePodesta
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Strategic jiggery-pokery as the Cleveland Browns hire Paul DePodesta

The NFL’s Cleveland Browns just hired stats guru Paul DePodesta, a baseball guy, as “Chief Strategy Officer.” I’ve read the press release, and I still have no clue what that means. You’ve probably heard of DePodesta. He was the analytics whiz in Moneyball, the one that Billy Beane embraced to turn around the Oakland A’s. (Jonah Hill…