The Cardinals Way: How One Team Embraced Tradition and Moneyball at the Same Time

In this dry overview aimed strictly at die-hard fans of the St. Louis Cardinals, veteran sportswriter Megdal (Taking the Field) lauds the team’s ability to adapt while it holds on to the past’s good stuff. The Cardinals were an early proponent of using analytics—even employing baseball outsiders for that task—which was not universally embraced by executives. At the same time, they retained the services of coach George Kissell, whose commonsense lessons seeped throughout the organization and touched lives for 68 years. And the Cardinals still rely on scouts, those road warriors of the past, for insight into the baseball stars of tomorrow. Megdal enjoys terrific access to Cardinals management, talking extensively to owner Bill DeWitt, current general manager John Mozeliak, and analytics whiz Jeff Luhnow (now with the resurgent Houston Astros). Unfortunately, his flavorless, rigid approach—setup, lengthy quote, repeat—leaves no room for anecdotes, descriptive scenes, or a deeper understanding of what goes into making a baseball machine. Serious Cardinals fans will savor this glowing insider take on their beloved organization, but most other readers will find the book bland and tiresome. Agent: Sydelle Kramer, Susan Rabiner Literary Agency. (Feb.)