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We've heard from many of the figures on the periphery of Moneyball since the movie hit theaters two weeks ago, but one we hadn't heard from was Billy Bean, the former Tigers, Dodgers, and Padres outfielder who came out of the closet in 1999. Bean, because of that slight difference in names, has often been mistaken for the Athletics' GM, and vice versa. More »
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Although advanced baseball analysis had been around for years, Michael Lewis's 2003 book Moneyball, about the Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane's using it to build their roster, helped to start an online industry of carping about player evaluation and team structure. The release of the 2011 film adapted from it has similarly started an industry of carping and re-carping about Moneyball itself. It's too bad, because it's a smart, engaging movie that vindicates the sort of thinking many of those critics would defend. More »
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Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: "Sabey Sabes" was a Hollywood invention. The real one was much worse. More »
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Moneyball the movie is in theaters on Friday. Eric Walker doesn't appear in the film, and he's mentioned only briefly in Michael Lewis's book, but he was central to the statistical revolution that Moneyball chronicles—the "pebble that started the avalanche," in his words. Two years ago, he told us his story. Originally published Oct. 7, 2009. More »
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Moneyball, the long-delayed film adaptation of Michael Lewis's book about Paul DePodesta's TI-89 and Jeremy Brown's love handles, hits theaters next week. It's a big thing for baseball folks, because Moneyball helped bring a statistically inclined subculture to the mainstream. You'll notice this in writing—Bill James and Baseball Prospectus got big—and in front offices, where the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Blue Jays adopted versions of Oakland's strategies. More »
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Entertainment Tonight scored a preview of the Moneyball movie about Billy Beane and the A's that nobody thought would ever get made. It's the most teasing of teasers, with Brad Pitt (Billy Beane) slurring his lines, Jonah Hill (a character based on Paul DePodesta, who refused to let his likeness be used in the film) looking surprised to find himself in a serious role, and every single sports scene taking place on the dimly lit tableau of drama that is the Hollywood baseball diamond. Entertainment Tonight promises to have more footage from Moneyball this evening. More »
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The Michael-Lewis-book-turned-definition-of-production-problems finally started shooting. See for yourself how the baffling casting choice will look on the silver screen. It's really a shame Sam Kinison wasn't available to play the ghost of Connie Mack. [The appropriately named Accidental Sexiness, via The Playlist] More »
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Read Part 1 here. More »
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He calls himself "the pebble that started the avalanche," the man who taught baseball analysis to Billy Beane. Gandhi, someone wrote, sparking MLK's revolution. Today, Moneyball remains a hotly debated phenomenon. Eric Walker is a footnote. Here's the footnote's story. More »
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Brad Pitt says that Moneyball: The Movie is still very much alive and he would very much like to play Billy Beane. So world-famous actors with beautiful movie star wives dream about being nerdy baseball executives? [MTV] More »
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Columbia has enlisted Sorkin, the sanctimonious West Wing creator last seen making Ed Asner say "Macau" over and over, to write a draft of the star-crossed Moneyball script. Such waste. Such inefficiency. Somebody could write a bestselling book about this. More »
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The Sony Pictures executive who pulled the plug on Moneyball says that Steven Soderbergh changed the original script because he didn't want anything in the movie that didn't actually happen. So Billy Beane isn't a sweaty, foul-mouthed, Hooters waitress slayer? More »
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It looks like Moneyball might not be coming to the big screen anytime soon because director Steven Soderbergh tinkered with the script and everyone realized that a movie version of the book made about as much sense as Joe Morgan. More »
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Eric Chavez has been told by his doctors that he has a herniated disk in his back and if he hurts it again, that's it for his career. Man, that's gotta suck. More »
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Because your child has always wanted to wear a sports coat and tie while playing video games, it's MLB Front Office Manager by 2K Sports! More »
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In what seemed more inevitable two years ago than it necessarily does now, screenwriters are hard at work on making a movie out of Moneyball. While some of the main characters — Jeremy Brown, Scott Hatteberg, Chad Bradford — have faded in time, there's still that plumb role of Billy Beane to account for, and some big names have expressed much interest, including George Clooney and Vince Vaughn. More »
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Five tidbits from a night of baseball ... More »
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Just to show you the magical power of blogging, we are the first people on the Web to break the news that Ken Macha is leaving as manager of the Oakland Athletics. According to Peter Gammons, Macha wanted more money than general manager Smilin' Billy Beane wanted to pay, so he's now a "free agent." More »
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Great, great, great news: Rickey Henderson could finally make it back to the majors. It might not necessarily be in the way we'd prefer — we'd like to see Rickey a top some sort of wild animal, an elephant or giraffe maybe, as the United Nations holds a special session up in a skybox in his honor; oh, and we'd also think it was cool if somehow Aerosmith could be there, or even REO Speedwagon — but we'll take it. A's general manager/Smilin' Simon Billy Beane says he would consider giving Rickey a one-day contract if he decided to retire in an A's uniform. More »
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