There are quite a few baseball classics in cinema history, such as “Field of Dreams,” “A League of their own” and “Bull Durham.” Baseball fan or not, you can go ahead and throw “Moneyball” on this list.
After losing to the New York Yankees in game 5 of the 2001 ALDS, Oakland Athletics General Manager, Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), is faced with the harsh reality that the team cannot afford to keep three of its most productive players. On a trip to Cleveland, Beane seemingly has a trade in place with the Indians GM, until a young employee, Peter Brand (played by Jonah Hill), advises the GM not to.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Beane goes up to Brand after the meeting and asks, “Who are you?” Beane discovers that Pete uses an unconventional method for scouting and evaluating players, which would become known as moneyball. Essentially, this system uses a series of formulas and statistical analysis to determine the value of players. Billy was so impressed with Pete that he bought him from the Indians and made him Assistant GM.
The team signed players nobody else wanted, and the whole moneyball system wasn’t exactly embraced by baseball traditionalists. After a rocky start, Beane’s job is in jeopardy, and whether or not he even has a future in baseball is a question. What happens next? Well, you’re going to have to see the movie to find out.
If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to be a GM of a professional sports team, you’ll no longer wonder after watching “Moneyball.” The movie does a tremendous job of showing the life of a GM. Whether it’s listening to radio hosts rip every move you make, talking on the phone to two different GM’s trying to negotiate a trade, or asking your owner for more funds, we get a pretty clear picture of the challenges a General Manager faces today.
As far as acting is concerned, Brad Pitt is awesome as always. Although, my favorite character of his is still Aldo the Apache, from “Inglourious Basterds.” Jonah Hill was a great compliment to Pitt and played the sidekick role brilliantly. I also love how the movie incorporates actual footage from the season, and the flashback scenes were excellent.
There are many lessons to be learned from watching this film. It’s time for you to get “on-base” and watch this movie. Whether you “hit” a ride or “walk” to the theater, you really should put it on your must-see list. Like the great Brad Pitt said in the film, “Now how can you not be romantic about baseball?”
