Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane in "Moneyball" (Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures)

If you’ve read Michael Lewis’ best-selling book, Moneyball, you were probably a little intrigued when Hollywood announced that Brad Pitt would be starring in a film-adapted version of the best-seller.

The book, considered to be among one of the most influential and ground-breaking sports books ever written, focused on the 2002 Oakland Athletics and their highly modernized, analytical approach to assembling a competitive team.

The movie version, which was written by Oscar winners Aaron Sorkin (“The Social Network) and Steven Zaillian (“Schindler’s List), effectively utilizes most of the book’s main ideas and concepts while telling the story of the 2002 Oakland A’s and their resilient GM Billy Beane.

Beane, portrayed by Brad Pitt, is put under a microscope in the film-version, as director Bennett Miller (“Capote”) orchestrates a very deep character study of Beane. (more…)

Since the A’s won’t be making any playoff push this month, A’s fans can turn their undivided attention to the release of Brad Pitt’s movie adaptation of the critically acclaimed Michael Lewis book, Moneyball. Pitt, who portrays A’s GM Billy Beane, remained attached to the movie project for what seems like forever, and despite some early up’s and down’s, the movie is finally a reality.

Moneyball follows the cash-strapped Athletics as they try to find a way to win despite having one of baseball’s lowest payrolls. It’s a story that many baseball fans have learned to love, and I’m pretty sure it’s a story that’s had a profound impact on the game of baseball. The book itself dealt a lot with economics, statistics (sabermetrics), and other elements that may not appeal to the general public, or non-baseball fan.

The movie version, however, does not deal with those aspects of the story as closely, but instead turns its focus onto Billy Beane himself. Beane gets a lot of credit for putting together perennial playoff contenders during the early 2000′s despite having a very limited budget. He used sabermetric principles to run his team in a very cost-effecitve manner, and really had a profound effect on the game. (more…)

Could even Dr. House (if he existed) solve the problems that surround the A's? (Photo Credit: FOX)

After getting slammed, and I mean literally slammed, by the New York Yankees on Thursday in the Bronx, the Oakland Athletics fell to 59-71 on the season and are still searching for meaning in this mostly meaningless season. The Athletics took two out of three from the Yankees, but that finale was so embarrassing I find it hard to believe that this squad of A’s actually took two of three from the Bronx Bombers. Perhaps luck was on their side during the first two games, I don’t know.

The A’s this season have been a mystery, much like the ones featured on FOX’s drama House, except there is no Gregory House in the real world to solve the many problems that currently stand in front of the Oakland A’s organization.

Obviously the biggest mystery is the one regarding the future of the A’s stadium situation. The A’s currently reside in O.co Coliseum, which they share with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. O.co Coliseum, formerly known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, is an outdated stadium unfit for any major league franchise. Hell, it’s probably unfit for any high school baseball team. (more…)