The 2002 Oakland Athletics popularized the “Moneyball” philosophy that has shaped the current landscape of Major League Baseball today, but there are still some detractors who wonder why that team is so celebrated despite no championship to show for it?
A’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Billy Beane, who was GM of the 2002 A’s, joined Audacy’s Jon Heyman on the “Big Time Baseball” podcast and explained how some have missed the point of “Moneyball.”
“We didn’t win the World Series. In fact, we didn’t get past the first round,” Beane said. “When people are looking at the team, they’re sort of missing what Michael [Lewis] was writing about. He wasn’t writing about, ‘Hey let’s glorify this team.’ He was looking at approaching problems and solving them in a different way. … It was a great team, but that wasn’t the point of the book.”
Lewis’ book paved the way for the hit film of the same title, “Moneyball,” which starred Brad Pitt in the role of Beane.
The film and book analyzed Beane’s methods of implementing a new-age approach, using advanced analytics and data, to evaluate players and determine their value, thus building a team on a cash-strapped budget while other bigger markets found success in paying for the most talented players in free agency.
The A’s famously went on a 20-game winning streak that season en route to an unlikely AL West title, but ultimately fell short of a World Series.
But Beane reiterated the story of “Moneyball” is not one of a great team is more about the process of finding success in new ways in an environment that puts teams like the A’s at a disadvantage.
“To me, the point of the book wasn’t like, ‘hey let’s look at this team. This is a great baseball team and write about them,’” he said. “Michael saw it as us and the organization trying to solve what seemed like an unsolvable problem in a very competitive business.”
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