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The student news site of Colonia High School

The Declaration

The student news site of Colonia High School

The Declaration

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Moneyball is much more than just a great movie

Moneyball
Photo Credit: Photo via Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons License
Seen here is Oakland Athletic’s GM Billy Beane, the centerpiece of the hit book turned movie, Moneyball.

The Oakland Athletics are a small-market team, who struggled for a number of years. However, in 1997, they gave Billy Beane a chance to be their general manager. After doing this, they found themselves in the MLB playoffs for four straight years. Due to the poor financial state of the A’s, Beane had to find the best value on the market. Michael Lewis tells us this fantastic story in his book Moneyball. The story was so good that it wound up becoming a hit movie, with Brad Pitt as the starring actor.

Moneyball Plot/Review

Billy Beane did not just become a GM overnight, and his story has kind of a sad start. He was an extremely talented baseball player, and skipped college to become a first round pick in the MLB draft. The New York Mets took a chance on the 17-year old phenom out of Orlando, Florida.

Unfortunately for both parties Beane’s career did not pan out as advertised. Billy chose to then take up an office job with the Athletics, with his official position being an advance scout. From there he was able to understand that most of the criteria used by scouts to rate players is very subjective, and based on however that certain scout is feeling. He decided that this was not going to be how he was going to go about his business. Instead, he was able to find a way to rate players on a very exact and precise scale. Sabermetrics, the name for this way of managing, is now famous all around the world.

The book shows the reader that Beane was just ahead of his time, and smarter than everyone else. He found a way to make the A’s less dependent on the actual talent on the team, and more dependent and reliant on the actual system of the team. In fact, in 2002, the A’s were only the 28th highest paying team in the MLB. However, unlike most cases, they finished the season with the second best record in the league. They were able to win 103 games in the 2002 season, even going on a 20-game winning streak at a point. Beane was looking at statistics like on base percentage more than he was looking at a player’s batting average.

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While this a feel-good story, the A’s have only been able to win one playoff series under Beane’s management. This has to be disappointing, as they have played in ten different playoff series under Beane’s management. So, while they definitely have been experiencing a new, and improved level of regular season success, it has not resulted in championships. What if these players can’t handle the pressure of the playoffs? What if that is why every championship team usually has one or two of those, highly paid superstars?

The book is an incredible read, and it honestly seems like Lewis is the perfect person to be analyzing and telling this story. Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics went on an incredible run, and it was one of the most unexpected in MLB history. It is extremely easy for the reader to tell that Lewis put a large amount of his own time and research into writing this book. This makes his opinion and questions that much more respectable and readable.

 

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About the Contributor
Zachary Kaye, Fall Reporter
Zachary Kaye is a 17 year old Senior at Colonia High School, with his birthday on September 30. He plays football for the school and is a captain of the team. When not playing, he is a huge sports fan and enjoys watching sports. One of his favorite activities during the NFL season is participating in Fantasy Football with his friends. His favorite sports teams are the NFL Philadelphia Eagles, the MLB New York Mets, and the NBA Philadelphia 76ers. Another hobby of his is to watch movies, mainly superhero ones. His favorite movies are Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Thor Ragnarok. Kaye is very big into music and his favorite artist is the singer/rapper Post Malone, although he enjoys almost all genres. He Lives at home with his mother and his sister. He is not sure of a major yet and hopes to go to either Quinnipiac University or Rowan University and find a passion for something within the next few years.

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The student news site of Colonia High School
Moneyball is much more than just a great movie