Bill James’ reach extends beyond baseball

Paul Campos, a law professor at the University of Colorado and writer for Scripps Howard News Service, wrote this piece about the living legacy of Bill James. Not only did his books change the way fans and executives think about baseball, but his greater themes can apply to other issues.

Some of the central themes of James’ work apply particularly well to his own story. For example: An expert is someone who knows what he’s talking about, whether he has any credentials or not. Powerful, wealthy institutions can be run for decades by people who don’t know what they’re doing. And the conventional wisdom is often wrong.

These ideas, obviously, can be applied far beyond the subject of baseball. They’re the sorts of ideas that never fail to annoy and infuriate authority figures, which is why it takes a special kind of person to hurl himself into the face of the solid rock wall of stupidity that defends many a comfortable social institution.

You can read Campos’ entire piece here.

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