Book report: Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won, by Toby Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim


Book report: Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won, by Toby Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim

Do you like sports? Do you like the analysis of sports, where you get an idea of what’s really going on with sports? Then you are going to love this book.

It starts out with a great anecdote from the lives of the two authors, who met at a boys summer camp and had a classic sports problem to solve: what to do with the one totally inept kid on their softball team, where everyone had to bat and field? The traditional solution – stick him in right field – didn’t work. But they found a non-traditional and clever solution to the problem that did work. I won’t tell you what that was, so you’ll enjoy it if you read the book, but it beautifully sets up the tone for the rest of the book.

They examine a number of sports situations where the conventional wisdom just doesn’t make sense. For example, everybody knows that there is such a thing as home-field advantage: there wouldn’t be a phrase for it if it wasn’t real. But why is it real? The authors do a thorough analysis, and the answer will probably surprise you.

Why is one blocked shot in basketball worth more than another blocked shot? When should refs “swallow the whistle”? Why are .299 hitters so much rarer than .300 hitters? Why are black NFL coaches doing worse – and why is that a good thing? Punt or go for it: the surprising best strategy. How is Bill Belichick gaming the NFL draft, and why isn’t anyone else catching on? And are the Chicago Cubs really cursed?

There are a lot of statistics in this book, as you might suspect. One of the authors is an award-winning economist, so presumably he’s the one sifting all that data. But they keep it all at an understandable level, without going into details. Still, if this were only a book of statistics, it would be deadly dull. Luckily, the other author is a writer for Sports Illustrated. Not only does he know how to turn a phrase, but there are liberal helpings of sports anecdotes, tales, and legends throughout to illustrate all the points they’re making.

A surprising amount of the book has to do with, not statistics, but psychology. There are all kinds of psychological elements that influence the ways that people make decisions in sports. Understanding this psychology really lights up the games.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It has already changed the way that I watch sports. Now, when the count gets to 3-and-2, I can pretty much guess what the next call is going to be, and why. Read the book, and you’ll see how.

Highly recommended if you like sports

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