Moneyball

Beane struggled after he had to trade away his core players, lost his support staff to other front offices, had to cut payroll, had to adapt after other front offices wised up, etc. etc. could give the story a really interesting second act. If the movie stays entirely in the world of the book, then it's a missed opportunity, because that cultural moment in baseball was fascinating.

"The world of the book" IS the fucking story.

don't worry Shasta, I'm sure Kevin Costner will make another baseball film just for you soon.

I think Beane is very much a victim of his own success. When Moneyball came out maybe one or two teams where leverage advanced statistics to make personnel decisions. Now it's at least double that number. He doesn't have his original edge and there just aren't that many under-valued players around to build into a team.

I will say one more thing, Beane/the A's seem to have lost no ability to recognize good pitching talent (either via trade or the draft). The inability to build a decent lineup has become their downfall.

A source with knowledge of the situation said the A's are trying to trade for Seattle infielder Chone Figgins, and that current A's third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and perhaps a pitcher could be shipped to the Mariners in return.

as i'm to understand, Figgins would block a trade to Oakland.

not a good sign when someone would rather play for the Mariners than your team!

― got electrolytes (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, January 31, 2011 5:56 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ha that should be the ending of the Moneyball movie.

that and Billy Beane eating a chinese food box of egg noodle and ketchup, can't even get a marinara around here.

― sanskrit, Monday, January 31, 2011 10:03 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark

so Arliss Howard (Pvt Cowboy from Full Metal Jacket) has a small role in the film as John Henry. I guess he will swoop in for the third act to say "Now your methods are MINE, Beane! muahahaha." (Does Henry get much mention in the book? I don't recall.)

royce clayton playing miguel tejada is really tripping me up.

90% of this film's audience are only vaguely aware of who Miguel Tejada is, or are entirely ignorant. (ditto Art Howe etc)

seeing this for review next Tuesday. (They like to give the online writers a good 24-36 hours to crank something out.)

http://meadowparty.com/blog/?p=1861

That part about the Carlos Pena trade is pathetic. Definitely not seeing this p.o.s.

oof.

Maybe I'll catch it on cable.

Not reading that (yet), but you guys do know that the key word in "based on a true story" is "based"?

No!

Ouch. I'll wait for Morbs' review before deciding how long to put off seeing this.

Not reading that (yet), but you guys do know that the key word in "based on a true story" is "based"?

― incredibly middlebrow (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, September 14, 2011 2:37 PM (1 hour ago)

lil b is in this?

I thought it was "on"

I hope no one's told you that at the end Billy Beane kills Hitler in a movie theater.

Morbsies, did you like The Blind Side?

(if so, gfy)

oh hell, I don't see movies that have amything to do with football (or, hardly ever, Sandra Bullock). They sent me a disc and I've still never watched it.

It was pretty bad.

so I assumed from the Oscar and the fortune it made

look at all the sneering that stuff like The Fighter got for being a pretty trad sports flick

see above! (2 Oscars)

It was regular bad, not Oscar bad.

Brandon McCarthy
My tweets during the Moneyball premiere tonight will be brought to you by my crippling social awkwardness, and a need to be on my phone.

well, I have to write this up, but there are vocal performances by Bob Costas and Tim McCarver!

And Pitt never says "My shit doesn't work in the playoffs."

like or no like?

wait for it

http://0.media.sportspickle.cvcdn.com/22/95/d95516f8957255fe96cead3c5384ad78.jpg

moneyball 2: the jack cust years

If this movie is a big hit, look for Ryan Gosling as Bill James in The Pork-and-Beans Genius.

If a medium hit, Zach Galafinakis.

(btw the scouts and Art Howe get off lighter in the book than here, quite predictably)

http://0.media.sportspickle.cvcdn.com/67/65/80b52b542773108c21528098493f2d43.jpg

too bad you guys weren't cast as scouts, eh? whose trolly site is generating these?

yeah i liked that one better too

sportspickle?

http://9.media.sportspickle.cvcdn.com/72/15/95e674e72648226fc43e6826bc2dcec5.jpg

"Joe Morgan Strikes Back", would be best imho.

There's a brief audio clip of Morgan in the film too, and a very Morganesque speech castigating moneyball that's v/o'd by a Joe soundalike.

I always find it disorienting when Morgan is tagged as the anti-Sabermetrician (I mean, I understand why)--as a player, he was probably the first guy that James swooned over as the perfect sabermetric player.

to use a metaphor I just read, the chef doesn't nec know how to run the restaurant

skipped the best one:

http://4.media.sportspickle.cvcdn.com/61/50/dd0d448499e6ef71e40a07c843c9545d.jpg

so many Yankee fans

That part about the Carlos Pena trade is pathetic.

What, that they reduced it from a 3-team trade to make the scene simpler? Movies do that shit all the time (no one cares), and that's the least of this one's problems.

seeing this for review next Tuesday. (They like to give the online writers a good 24-36 hours to crank something out.)

― incredibly middlebrow (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, September 13, 2011 10:16 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark

The Fog of WAR by Dr Morbius

Keep in mind that this was written for civilian readers. But I did work in E.M. Forster.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/moneyball/5768

^^Nice review. I saw this last night, with a director talk afterward. I thought it was entertaining, at times meandering, and at times needlessly cheesy. I don't know enough about the book or baseball to be particularly offended by any of it. The best part was probabaly the Sorkin dialogue stuff, along with Brad Pitt's mugging for the camera. A few dudes in the audience were in full A's regalia.

great review morbs

I rather hate Sorkin. The John Henry-Beane scene in Fenway is an example of what he can do quite well. The quasi-screwball banter (Hatteberg and Justice on H's graeatest fear, the Hill/Pitt comedy act) I have little use for.

As a Mets fan, of course, I'm fine with Art Howe being portrayed as a mulish boob.

nice, thanks for posting

Good review. Also: 133 minutes?!