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Billy
Beane is credited by
many as the guy who
put baseball metrics
and statistical
formulas in place at
the
Major League level.
Not everybody agrees
that it was him who
actually put that
into place and not
everybody believes
that a focus-in on
these metrics is a
good thing for
baseball, or a good
thing for sports.
Moneyball
tells the Billy
Beane story. He was
a guy that had the
tough task of being
the general manager
of a poor baseball
team with a winning
tradition.
The term winning
tradition can be
used pretty loosely
in reference the
Oakland A’s. The
year before Beane
put his focus on
baseball metrics
they had won the AL
West and made the
playoffs. But in
years before that,
they weren’t exactly
regulars in the post
season. They were
great in the late
80’s and early 90’s
with Ricky
Henderson, Jose
Canseco, and Dennis
Eckersley but once
they moved past
those three, the A’s
were either talented
and underperformed
(see McGuire and
Giambi years) or had
little value on
their roster. The
point is, when Billy
Beane was GM he lost
a lot of talent. He
lost the top three
guys on his roster,
three all-star
caliber players.
Unfortunately for
Beane, the A’s had
no money to reload
or resign those guys
and they were going
to be terrible for
years while they
waited for guys to
come up and develop
in their farm
system.
Instead of sitting
on his hands and
waiting; Instead of
going the old route;
Beane found Peter
Brand in the
Cleveland Indians
organization and
together they
installed the
statistical focus in
Oakland. They went
out and got guys
that were
undervalued for what
they did well. They
went and got guys
that got on base and
scored runs. They
didn’t worry about
homeruns, steals,
defensive play, or
the all of the
overvalued
characteristic
traits that baseball
scouts worry about.
They worried about
getting on base and
scoring runs… that’s
about it.
Moneyball
tells the story of
that season when
that system was
installed in Oakland
and the scrutiny
that Beane and Brand
faced for installing
it. It also told the
story of a very
interesting baseball
man in Billy Beane.
The
great thing about
Moneyball
is first and
foremost Brad Pitt
playing Billy Beane.
After that it’s how
well it was made.
Usually true stories
can tell themselves
but some things need
to be added in to
make things a little
juicier. For
whatever reason this
true story
translated extremely
well to film.
Director Bennett
Miller made a great
sports movie that
did what it was
supposed to do.
Instead of feeling
like a movie where
the odds are stacked
against,
Moneyball
tells the accurate
representation of
what happened that
season with a very
behind the scenes
approach. There
wasn’t an intense
focus on all of the
baseball footage-
some of it was
actual footage from
that season. It’s a
sports movie that’s
not really about
sports. It’s about
numbers and the
behind the scenes
approach that Beane
and Brand took to
baseball.
After how well this
movie was made by
director Bennett
Miller. It needs to
be addressed how
great the three main
actors in the film
were. Brad Pitt as
Billy Beane is
insanely good. It
might be the best
job that he’s put on
in years. Jonah Hill
plays statistical
geek and right-hand
man to Beane, Peter
Brand extremely well
too. He steals the
show in several
scenes and is just
an amazing actor.
Phillip Seymour
Hoffman played Art
Howe and you have to
wonder how Howe
feels about this
movie. I always
thought that his job
during this season
was incredibly
underappreciated. As
it turns out, he was
a total ass and hard
to get along with…
who knew.
Moneyball
doesn’t have a ton
of extras but it has
three or four really
good ones. There’s a
blooper scene with
Pitt that’s
basically three
minutes of him being
unable to deliver a
line. It’s just one
blooper, but it’s a
long one and it’s
hilarious. There’s
also a couple of
making of
featurettes that are
fairly talk about
Beane and what
happened that year.
There’s not a huge
amount of bonus
features but
baseball guys and
people who enjoyed
this movie will
appreciate what’s
here.
Moneyball
was a terrific film.
Pitt, Seymour
Hoffman, and Hill
were outstanding in
the film and
director Bennett
Miller made a very
cool representation
of a baseball film.
I’ve seen tons of
baseball movies over
the years and it’s
unique to watch one
that wasn’t made
exactly like the
last ten. That’s
what
Moneyball
is.
It’s a unique story
that’s about
baseball… but not
really… some people
will tell you that’s
what metrics in
baseball are… but
that’s a totally
different
discussion.
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