Moneyball How Can You Not Be Romantic About Baseball
I'm going to start this piece by saying that "Moneyball" is simply my favorite sports movie of all time and I don't think that will ever change no matter what movies are listed off when I say this to people. The movie is based on the book "Moneyball" written by Michael Lewis. The reporting that was done for the book was amazing and the adaptation to the film was one of those rare times the film truly did justice to the book.
Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics general manager who was in charge of the poorest team in baseball. For those who don't know, in baseball there is no limit to how much teams can spend on players' contracts. This often creates a pay disparity among ball clubs and left the Athletics at the bottom of the food chain.
In the early 2000s they were, and still are, the poorest team in baseball because they didn't spend hundreds of millions of dollars on first baseman and pitchers. This left Beane scrambling after the 2000 playoffs when three of his all-star players, who were free agents, signed elsewhere because Beane did not have enough money to bring them back.
Beane would find himself searching for players to rebuild his playoff-caliber team. But he wouldn't find players initially. What he would find would be his future assistant general manager, Paul DePodesta. In the film, his character is named Peter Brandt and is played by Jonah Hill.
The movie shows what it was like for Beane trying to build his team in a way that has never been seen before. In the film, Brandt studies Bill James, a mathematician, who wrote a book about how baseball games could be won looking at certain statistics a player produces instead of the "talents" that scouts often look for.
What makes "Moneyball" such a great movie is the improbable story that it is based on.
By examining these statistics Bean and Brandt could find MLB players who were undervalued but could help them win baseball games.
As the film progresses Beane and Brandt are put under fire for taking this new approach to building their baseball roster. Only 30 or so games into the season, fans and the media were calling for Beane to be fired for his role in making a terrible team.
A month later they set the American League record with 20 consecutive wins. It's truly amazing to watch and gives me chills every time I see Chris Pratt, who played Scott Hatteburg, pick up a bat.
For what could have been a very cringey feel-good story, the cast does a great job making the story feel real. The acting would make you think that you are not watching a movie but a documentary about Oakland's front office.
Even though the Athletics season was cut short by the Minnesota Twins in the playoffs, the story is absolutely amazing and something I will watch no matter what if I have the option to. Chances are if you see me with headphones on looking at my phone, especially during quarantine, I am watching "Moneyball."
If you have not seen "Moneyball" it's now streaming on Netflix and is worth the watch, because how can you not be romantic about baseball?
Moneyball How Can You Not Be Romantic About Baseball
Source: https://www.hometownsource.com/forest_lake_times/how-can-you-not-be-romantic-about-baseball/article_b230acd2-34b3-11eb-9cde-2b7a92ecd5c4.html