NEW YORK ¨C Long before quantitative analysts (quants) ruled Wall Street, before Stratomatic, before Bloomberg View columnist Michael Lewis conceived of ¡°Moneyball,¡± the man destined to become baseball¡¯s greatest hitter was also baseball¡¯s first quant.
Ted Williams¡¯ lifetime stats are astonishing: a .344 batting average, 521 home runs and a .482 on-base percentage. During his two decades with the Boston Red Sox, he was responsible for more than a fifth of the team¡¯s runs. It isn¡¯t a coincidence that he also wrote the book ¡°The Science of Hitting.¡±
Several events had me thinking about this during the weekend. First, spring training has started. Second, I spent some time last week listening to Emanuel Derman, a particle physicist who turned to finance, explain the rise of quants on Wall Street. Last, Berkshire Hathaway¡¯s annual letter to shareholders came out, and it reminded me that a few years ago, Warren Buffett had recommended Williams¡¯ book.
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