I darn well figure many of us will be hitting the theaters this week (if not already) to see Moneyball.  There's an expiring thread on this here Right Rail, about a little SSS outing to the film yesterday.  I gather that LockportSox, larry, Chiburb, and DrEmilioLizardo met in the deep suburbs for some early boozing and baseball movie-watching, like good old people do on Sunday afternoons.  I know, I know... larry isn't an old people.  But he does like the smell of death.

2000 miles westward, I saw Moneyball yesterday too.  I'm not going to write any grand review here because I know people are sensitive to spoilers or whatever.  Not that I feel there is anything to spoil.  Especially not if you've read the book, which I assume most of us have.  

Suffice to say it's well-acted and the tale is well-unfurled.  For a story that's been a long time coming to the big screen, I've had a long time to contemplate how they'd turn it into a 2-hour film.  I was pleased with the result.  Without going too far into Billy Beane's personal life (preferred), there was still plenty of emotional investment in not necessarily so much the character; but this referenced "romance of baseball".   I recommend the film to any lover of baseball.  Especially the ones that will still argue a player's worth, without even mentioning OBP.  

So let the discussion continue here for those who saw it and want to share their thoughts.  
Just for reference though, please read the following service announcement from larry, pasted from a recent Fanshot brought to you by longtime poster and OPOS darling, the one, the only, winningugly:

oh. wonderful. another article that parrots the Hirsch brothers' book's silly conclusions.

since we’ll probably be hearing this a few times in the following weeks, let’s go over a few things:

1) the reason no one asks why, if sabermetrics are so effective, beane’s draft picks didn’t work out is because that’s the wrong question. beane’s particular approach to the draft in 2002 was not effective. that does not mean that his particular approach to major league talent acquisition was not effective. or that sabermetrics is not effective.

2) noting that OBP has dropped in recent years and then leaping to the conclusion that OBP is not important is dumbfuckery of the highest grade. offense is down overall. er-fucking-go, all offensive numbers will also be down.

3) the book is about, to a large degree, OBP because that was the inefficiency they saw then and sought to exploit. market inefficiences are not going to last a decade, particularly after a best-selling book and movie is made about it.

4) and if moneyball “didn’t change the game very much”, why do the new york yankees now employ more than 20 people working on analytics? information is king and, if moneyball showed anything, it was that an organization needs that information to be competitive. and perhaps again this is framing the issue incorrectly. maybe moneyball merely accelerated the widespread adoption of something (increased use of analytics and technology) that nearly every other sophisticated business (including the ones that major league owners often run/own) had been doing for years already. moneyball was essentially a glimpse of trend in its nascent stage.

by larry on Sep 22, 2011 11:42 AM PDT reply actions   6 recs

Rumpus on, everyone.