The story of the 2002 Oakland Athletics

There have been many baseball centered movies. Examples include “For the Love of the Game,” “The Natural,” “Field of Dreams,” and “Major League.” Now “Moneyball,” released Sept. 23, 2011 and directed by Bennett Miller, can be added to the list.

There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball. “Moneyball” focuses on just one team, the Oakland Athletics.

In 2001, the Athletics lost to the New York Yankees in the division series. Not only did they lose in the postseason, but they lost their three major players.

Losing the three best players on a team at the end of the year is a struggle for any team, but it was worse for the Athletics. The Athletics were on the lower end in terms of their payroll and they had to compete with teams like the Yankees, who had the highest payroll in all of baseball.

But in 2002, they changed the way they used their money. The movie takes you through the ups and downs of that season as general manager Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, tries to implement a team created through computer analysis.

Beane’s attempt at creating a team using computers was almost extremely successful in its first year. He was offered the general manager position in Boston to try the same process there, but he turned it down. Two years later, in 2004, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series with a team that was put together using the same system.

As I sat in the theater and watched Pitt portray a man who tried to change the way teams went about using their payroll, I was impressed. Pitt did a great job in his characterization. I would pay money to go see the movie again.

I found the movie to be very insightful into the Oakland Athletics’ 2002 season and how the team grew together to make a run for the postseason.

I’m not into numbers and crunching stats, but this baseball story is inspiring. Players who were undervalued by every other team came together to form what could have been a championship team.

If you have a baseball fan in your life, I suggest you take them to see it. If you don’t have a baseball fan in your life, take someone anyway. It is a Brad Pitt movie after all.

[WRITER’S NOTE: ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NOVEMBER 2011 EDITION OF “THE PULSE”]