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Waterloo Chronicle, 18 May 2017, p. 004

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2 uniq ue sho pping experi encesk-w surpl us 666 Victoria St. N., Kitchener Mon.-Fri. 8-9; Sat. 9-6; Sun. 10-5 447 Huron Street, Stratford M.-W. 9-6; Th. & Fri. 9-8; Sat. 9-6; Sun. 10-5 We reserve the right to limit quantities. Some items may not be exactly as shown. Some items may be limited in quantity. www.kwsurplus.com famous brand name sunscreen compact folding bicycle trunk rack Spring has finally sprung LOTS OF COOL SPRING LAWN & GARDEN DEALS spray or lotion 30-60 SpF compare @ $8.99 or more $699 $4999 $5999 $2499 2 bikes each 3 bikes CAMPING DEALS GALORE! PLUS LOADS OF BACKPACKS, FISHING TACKLE, SHORTS, ETC. ALL AT SUPER SURPLUS PRICES 2 man pup tent All At super surplus prices PAINTBALL AND AIRSOFT deals large selection great prices HIGH QUALITY PAINTBALLS 3 cases $9999$1099 bag of 500 $3799 Case of 2000 465 CONESTOGO RD., WATERLOO • www.kwhonda.com • 519-746-7900om • 519-746-7900 For a limited time make hardwork easier with dependable power! LAWN & GARDEN EQUIPMENT FROM PLUS FREIGHT & P.D.I. HHT25SL INTRODUCING Honda Multi-Attachment System HondaHonda Multi-Attachmennt SystemmMulti-Attachmennt Systemm LAWN & GARDEN EQUIPMENT FROM PLUS FREIGHT 4 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • Thursday, May 18, 2017 By Bill Jackson For the Chronicle The guy who traded third baseman Josh donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays was in town recently and made a point of saying how friendly people are. That's probably because most baseball fans in these parts still regard the transaction as a steal of a deal for Canada's team. Following the off-season trade, donaldson went on to become the american League's Most Valuable Player, leading the Jays to consecutive appear- ances in the league champion- ship series in 2015 and 2016. Infielder Brett Lawrie, a big part of the deal going from Toronto to Oakland, is today a free agent at the age of 27. But a's executive vice presi- dent and former general man- ager Billy Beane is no stranger to trades relinquishing all-star cali- bre players in order to assemble younger, more affordable assets. To be fair, the donaldson trade also saw three other play- ers head Oakland's way, includ- ing up-and-coming starting pitcher Kendall Graveman and young Venezuelan shortstop Franklin Barreto, who is today considered the a's No. 1 pros- pect. such business decisions are what helped Beane's small-mar- ket team compete with other big-market franchises during the past two decades and what ultimately transformed baseball decision-making in the 21st cen- tury. Most people know it as Mon- eyball -- the title of the 2003 book penned by Michael Lewis. The movie adaptation hit the screen in 2011, starring Brad Pitt as Beane, who briefly touched upon his relationship with the celebrity hollywood star during a keynote address at Commu- nitech's Tech Leadership Con- ference last Thursday at Binge- mans. The conference this year focused not on celebrities, but data -- big data -- and the value of information in today's econ- omy. People assume that Mon- eyball gave away secrets, but Beane maintains that he and the a's organization didn't invent anything at all. statistics have been kept on player performance since the game of baseball started in the mid-1800s. sabermetrics, the empirical analysis of baseball coined by pioneer Bill James, was discovered back in the 1970s. "Everything we used that was in the book was someone else's idea," Beane explained. The whole concept was really all about the mispricing of baseball players. "We were paying players for the wrong skills," Beane said. "The most important skill a baseball player could have was the ability to get on base." The ability to take a walk, which oftentimes leads to a homer, was being undervalued. "In fact, we were overvaluing other skills," he said. "The ability to steal bases -- we were paying for that skill at a higher rate than on-base per- centage, but it had no correla- tion to winning games." after being one of the league's biggest spenders in the early 1990s, the a's cut their losses that were amounting to $15 million per year and focused spending its limited resources on players that did one thing really well -- getting to first base. One of Beane's favourite all- time a's, Canadian Matt stairs, signed with the team in 1996. unlike Beane, a 6'4", 185- pound high school standout and homecoming king, who was drafted second overall in the 1980 amateur draft and strug- gled in parts of six major league seasons, stairs didn't look nearly as good in a baseball uniform. at 5'9" and 240 pounds, stairs was cast off by other fran- chises who still relied on the eye test as a main driver of decision- making in a traditional baseball market. "But when you look at what he did was he got on base and hit homers," Beane said. Continued on page 5 Data game-changer Billy Beane says Moneyball is the new norm Oakland A's executive vice president Billy Beane talks about how big data is changing everything -- even baseball. Bill JAcksOn phOtO

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