In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball

The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants—why do some baseball teams win while others don’t?

General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams.

Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded and how they relied on talent both on the field and in the front office. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one’s circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage.


Purchase the audio edition.
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In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball

The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants—why do some baseball teams win while others don’t?

General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams.

Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded and how they relied on talent both on the field and in the front office. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one’s circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage.


Purchase the audio edition.
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In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball

In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball

In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball

In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball

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Overview

The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants—why do some baseball teams win while others don’t?

General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams.

Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded and how they relied on talent both on the field and in the front office. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one’s circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage.


Purchase the audio edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780803234970
Publisher: Nebraska
Publication date: 04/01/2015
Pages: 504
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author


Mark L. Armour is the author of Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball, the editor of The Great Eight: The 1975 Cincinnati Reds, and a coeditor of Pitching, Defense, and Three-Run Homers: The 1970 Baltimore Orioles, all available from the University of Nebraska Press. Winner of the 2015 Bob Davids Award from the Society of American Baseball Research, Daniel R. Levitt is the author of Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees’ First Dynasty (Nebraska, 2008) and The Battle that Forged Modern Baseball: The Federal League Challenge and Its Legacy. He is the coauthor (with Mark L. Armour) of Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations    
List of Tables    
List of Charts    
Acknowledgments    
Introduction    
Part 1. Professional Management
1. Owner-Operator    
2. Field Manager    
3. General Manager    
4. Executive    
5. Farm System    
6. Organization    
Part 2. General Manager Ascendant
7. Dodger Way    
8. Dynasty    
9. Integration    
10. Commitment    
11. Excellence Rewarded    
12. Amateur Draft    
13. The Machine    
Part 3. New Order
14. Long Road Back    
15. Expansion    
16. Free Agency    
17. The Zoo    
18. Many Rivers    
Part 4. Businessmen
19. Winning Now    
20. Analytics    
21. Post-Moneyball    
22. Modern Game    
Appendix    
Notes    
Index   

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