Moneyball by Michael Lewis is more than just a book about baseball as many believe it to be. It's a novel about business, about leadership, about character, and about overcoming the odds and the competition, no matter how much downside there may be. The hard part is seeing how all of this can be understood by reading a book about baseball, however if the book is read and analyzed carefully the lessons are clear as day and easy to understand. The plot of Moneyball is based on the true story of the 2002 Oakland Athletics baseball team, also known as the Oakland A's. Oakland's general manager Billy Beane and his assistant general manager Paul DePodesta are the main characters in the story. The novel begins as a flashback so the reader can understand the ups and downs of Beane's past as a child and young adult and goes on to describe how he ended up as GM of the Oakland A's. Fast forward to the present, in 2001, the Oakland A's were fresh off a shocking postseason loss to the New York Yankees. Seeking a better season in 2002 and with contract deadlines looming for his star players, Beane begins to re-evaluate his scouting techniques and how he can compete with big MLB teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, who have team payrolls at around $120 million compared to the A's $44 million. With the A's paltry annual payroll it is difficult for them to acquire big name players and they have practically become a scouting ground for Big name teams, if they see a player they believe has potential, that player would be out of Oakland within days and on the other team's payroll. This became a problem for Billy who was losing players left and right and realized that something had to be...middle of the road...he's the high school coach who would never be worth much, he wasn't recruited by anyone college and had to make a name for himself and was eventually drafted to the big leagues. From there he skipped a couple of teams and joined the Oakland A's in 1989. After playing for a few years as the A's, he decided he wanted to retire from the field and work in an office. He worked his way up the ranks in the Oakland A's office and eventually found himself with the title of general manager. Because GM Beane never gave up on making his team the best it could be, he was unwavering in his opinions and knew exactly what he wanted, how he wanted it, and what it took to create a winning team. Beane was so persistent that he even changed the way baseball was played, a game that had existed for over a century. Beane's attitude towards his goals is very enlightening