While Chappy and I have spent the majority of the 2011 season calling for Bob Geren’s head and preaching conspiracy theories about ownership sabotaging the team, Moneyball the movie has begun to emerge and take us back to the good ol’ days. The movie has been in the works for years now, but it looks like it’ll finally come out this September. It’d be really nice if the A’s were still playing when it comes out, but I’m not holding on to much hope for that. Hopefully it’ll force fans outside of Oakland to wonder, “what the hell happened to the A’s?” A star-studded cast gives the movie credibility, and the presence of Brad Pitt as A’s GM, Billy Beane, will help a lot of guys convince their wives and girlfriends to go with them to see it. Aside from Pitt, I’m interested in seeing Jonah Hill in a serious role, as the fictional Peter Brand, who is actually based on Paul DePodesta. I’m also excited for Andy from Parks & Rec to play Scott Hatteberg. The cast is so stacked that Phillip Seymour Hoffman doesn’t even have any lines in the trailer, and Robin Wright is nowhere to be seen, from what I can tell. The best part about all this for me is that I noticed former Royals pitcher, Jason Grimley, appears on the list of characters. That can only mean one thing – that the incredible 20 game win streak of 2002 is going to be recreated. In fact, I can tell just from the swing that Hatteberg’s walkoff homer from that game is in the trailer. Having been in attendance that night, I already have goosebumps just thinking about that moment being in the film. The downside is the list of filming locations includes Fenway Park, which was the site of games 3 and 4 of the ALDS that year, when the A’s squandered a 2-0 series lead and lost to the Boston Red Sox. That’s going to be a harsh reminder of walking out of the Coliseum after Game 2, thinking the series was in the bag. Nonetheless, you can bet that I’ll be hitting the theater to catch this one when it comes out….
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
June 18th, 2011 at 8:39 am
I had pretty low expectations when I heard they were making the movie, but the trailer looks pretty good! I was kinda thinking the same thing, in that it might raise some awareness about the A’s again. Seems like they get overlooked quite a bit!
June 18th, 2011 at 10:15 am
I agree. I kind of wondered how they were going to make it into a movie at all but I heard (Mizzou boy) Brad Pitt was going to be in it and figured it had a chance. I’ll be going to see it for sure.
Have you guys read the book?
June 20th, 2011 at 9:38 am
I read it a long time ago. I hate how people still say all we care about is ops because of the book. That was what they were looking for back in 2000, but probably not their main focus for eternity. The movie already looks a lot different than the book in that short trailer…
June 20th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Yeah, I read it a long time ago as well. Jen just picked it up and started reading it the other day so hopefully she’ll be able to fill me in on the parts I don’t remember. I hated that they made scouts just look like bumbling morons and Billy Beane look like a God. Mark Bowman wrote a book a few years later that basically said dismissing scouts is ridiculous. It was a good read. Called Scout’s Honor, I think.
June 21st, 2011 at 9:43 am
I’ll have to check that book out. Is it the one about the Braves? I remember hearing about it, but I guess I forgot about it!
June 21st, 2011 at 7:10 pm
Yeah, that’s the one. It was pretty good.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:13 pm
[…] blaming Billy Beane for the A’s lack of success on the field. Maybe it’s because the movie Moneyball is coming out, and people want to knock him off the proverbial pedestal, but it’s got to be tough to build […]