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.