Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

By Michael Lewis, W.W. Norton & Company, 288 pages, $24.95

Back in 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom, declared that Major League Baseball was not involved in interstate commerce and, hence, was exempt from federal antitrust laws. In 1952 and 1972 the Court reaffirmed this judgment, and, as a result, baseball remains an unregulated, legal monopoly. This immunity from the normal discipline of the marketplace has bred managerial arrogance, laxity and inefficiency. Michael Lewis' new book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, shows us one more way this has been true.