Wages of Wins

David J. Berri is Associate Professor of Economics at California State University, Bakersfield. Martin B. Schmidt is Associate Professor of Economics at the College of William and Mary. Stacey L. Brook is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Sioux Falls.

• contents List of Figures and Tablesvii Prefacexi Preface to the Paperback Editionxv Chapter 1Games with Numbers1 Chapter 2Much Talking, Little Walking11 Chapter 3Can You Buy the Fan's Love?30 Chapter 4Baseball's Competitive Balance Problem?46 Chapter 5The NBA's Competitive Balance Problem?69 Chapter 6Shaq and Kobe90 Chapter 7Who Is the Best?116 Chapter 8A Few Chicago Stories146 Chapter 9How Are Quarterbacks Like Mutual Funds?172 Chapter 10Scoring to Score201 Notes227 References269 Index279

"Wages is provocative, stimulating, and challenging." -Dick Friedman,-Sports Illustrated "The Wages of Wins brilliantly and provocatively argues that our eyes betray us when we watch professional athletes. To see the truth about how good a point guard or a quarterback really is, we need the help of algorithms." -Malcolm Gladwell,author of Blink and The Tipping Point "When I read the book, I was impressed by the amount of effort that went into compiling the reams of data that underlie the work... The fundamental case the authors make is that the statistical analysis shows that the conventional wisdom about sports is dead wrong-that the data, as they put it, 'offers many surprises.'" -Joe Nocera, New York Times "Sports fans with an analytical bent shouldn't skip this book. And come to think of it, perhaps sports executives should be reading it as well."-The Free Lance-Star "This book presents complex economic analysis in a breezy manner that the casual sports fan and econophobe will appreciate and enjoy. I plan to assign it to students and recommend it to friends."-Michael Leeds, Temple University, and author of The Economics of Sports