Michael Lewis is a non-fiction author. Most relevant to this thread, his name is instantly recognizable among people who are interested in the intersection of baseball and statistics, because he wrote Moneyball. The basic idea is that historically the market for talent in baseball has severely mispriced talent because it overpays for attributes that do not win ballgames. Thus, if one knew what actually won ballgames, one could thwomp the competition while spending much less money. And, sure enough, someone did just that.

For the rest of the story, I recommend the book. I have no interest in sports whatsoever but one of my stats geek friends does, and he accords it a place of honor in his bookshelf.

That the linked article is by Michael Lewis. A very important data point, since I would probably read Michael Lewis if he just reprinted the phone directory. He would find some way to make those numbers compelling.