Joe Peta (Books)

Joe Peta Books

Joe Peta developed a deep connection to baseball, viewing it as a symbol of American identity, which fostered both his passion for the sport and an understanding of its inherent unpredictability. While his athletic path didn't materialize, he channeled his affinity for numbers and analytical thinking into accounting and finance, leading him to Stanford University. Even during his academic pursuits, he cultivated his distinct writing style and humor through various publications. His journey into writing about sports and finance was spurred by a significant personal injury, which prompted him to explore the intertwined worlds of Wall Street, gambling, and baseball in his work.

Trading Bases

369 pages
13 hours of reading

4.0(966)Add rating

An ex-Wall Street trader enhanced Moneyball's sabermetrics to successfully bet on Major League Baseball games, achieving a remarkable 41 percent return in his first year. After losing his job following the Lehman Brothers collapse and an accident that left him in a wheelchair, Joe Peta turned to baseball for comfort. This rekindled passion led him to apply his risk-analysis expertise to improve sabermetrics and outsmart the Vegas betting line. He approached MLB as if it were the S&P 500, aiming to eliminate "cluster luck" from team statistics to accurately predict performance. His innovative "hedge fund" for baseball betting yielded an impressive 41 percent return in 2011, with minimal losses. Peta invites readers into the vibrant worlds of San Francisco ballparks, New York trading floors, and Vegas sports books, sharing the journey of his wagers. The narrative is often humorous and occasionally poignant, celebrating critical reasoning, trading cultures, risk management, and, above all, baseball, intertwining these themes throughout his remarkable story.