Trading Bases: A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, And Baseball (Not Necessarily In That Order) (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
I'm not a baseball aficionado so I didn't get all the discussions around the game and the sabermetrics, but Peta is good at explaining and walking through his logics, enough to captivate someone like me with a superficial understanding of the game. I was more interested in his stories as an ex-Wall Street banker; although the majority of the book was dedicated to baseball analytics, it was fascinating to hear how he applied finance logic (risk and portfolio management) to sports betting. I got caught up with my magazines and found my reading groove again. I've noticed a trend in my reading habits this year - I seem to be drawn to subjects of interest I had 25 years ago. Jian Ghomeshi, Charles Bukowski, Hunter S. Thompson; I'm reading the autobiography of Ministry's Al Jorgenson; and this, Trading Bases, a stock trader's fascination with gambing and baseball stats - all topics I haven't touched in years. I don't consider myself a sentimental person, so it is odd to revisit the past with such consistency. The making of a midlife crisis? Most likely. It's probably a desperate attempt to hark back to the age I thought of myself, immodestly, as 'most interesting'. But then again, as any 45 year old person knows: one can take the views of one's 20 year old self with an embarrassingly large pinch of salt. So I haven't read anything on baseball stats, other than Money Ball, for a very long time. I don't even like baseball, but as I spend my life trying to develop models to better understand how certain financial markets work, this type of analysis is very much up my alley. It's amazing how much the field has advanced. In the old days it was just Bill James; now there are dedicated websites, and comprehensive fantasy pools - it's all quite sophisticated. Is this book any good? I liked the way Peta approached the problem, and took away a number of thoughts to apply to my own portfolio. I liked the way he combined his interest in sport stats with his expertise in the markets. His own sentimental stories of the role baseball played in his upbringing were less successful, and had a slightly 'pad the book out' feel to them. And the way he presented the model's monthly results was a bit repetitive, but ultimately well done to him for using his recuperation and time between jobs so productively.
What do You think about Trading Bases: A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, And Baseball (Not Necessarily In That Order) (2013)?
If you like the market, baseball, and gambling, this book is for you.
—BrenduhhVee
