Okay, I finally got around to seeing this. Not a bad movie. But I think the spin in the movie was even more ridiculous than it was in the book. It's all about advanced stats and computer analysis, but the 6 top WAR guys on the team (Chavez, Tejada, Lidle, Hudson. Mulder, Zito) were barely even mentioned. Someone who didn't know would think that the team won 103 games because Beane and "Brand" brought in Hatteberg and Chad Bradford. The entire idea is patently absurd. RPB?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Was it a "Stand up and cheer" or a "great American feel-good movie" like the advertisements said it was?

It was an emotional weeper revolving around the tortured soul of Billy Beane as portrayed by Brad Pitt with a few sports cliches thrown in for good measure. But I preferred seeing it to watching the Wolverine control giant Rock'em Sock'em Robots.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

you are such a GEEK!!!!

I havent seen it and Ive never argued with the fact that Lewis went overboard.

My thing has been to defend Beane (some people STILL believe HE wrote the book) and his philosophy making a difference in Oakland. Not the book.

The funniest thing in the movie is that they use a Joe Morgan sound-alike as a voiceover that rips Beane and his strategy.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

that wasn't joe morgan? i thought it was! haha!

It would have been better if he threw in a few jabs at Sandberg

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I finally saw the movie.

Great post script. "The Boston Red Sox went on to win the WS two years later using theories developed by Beane." The fact checkers left out the part about the 150 million Red Sox payroll. The also really understated the importance of Bill James to the whole philosophy.

I really don't like Mark Shapiro. Maybe it was his winning the Executive of the Year over a much more deserving KW. He just seems like an unlikable fuck with a really sketchy record of success. I bet he worked for cheap.

I always wondered about the railroading job they did on Howe. This explains it. He had every right to manage the way he did. If they wanted to take a gamble with a new philosophy, they should have informed him of what they were doing and if he was on board, extend him.

My wife asked me if they won anything. That was really the problem with them making this a movie. It had no real compelling ending that begged for the story being told on the big screen. It had more of a Bad News Bears feel to it for me than anything. The point of the movie was really all wrapped up in John Henry's soliloquy. Unfortunately, almost a decade later there has been no definitive proof of Moneyball, especially considering the relative success of the young GMs who are its proponents.

I thought the girl who played the daughter stole every scene she was in.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.