When Billy Beane became the GM of the Oakland A's he wasn't put into a good situation. The Oakland A's had a very low payroll, and their owner wasn't planning on changing that. So instead of putting a team together like every other team and then at the end of the year complaining that they didn't win games, because they didn't have enough money, Billy Beane thought of a way to win regardless of their financial situation. Billy read all of Bill James' "Abstracts" which stated that on-base percentage was at least three times more important than any other stat. From James, Billy knew what he was looking for in a player, but he didn't know how set up a system that would tell him the best players to get. That's when he met, and shortly after hired Paul DePodesta. Together they made a playoff team that would shock the world and change the game of baseball forever.
Picture: http://mlblogscurlyw.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/as-20.jpg
Picture: http://mlblogscurlyw.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/as-20.jpg