What's It About: Based on the bestselling book by Michael Lewis, "Moneyball" tells the true story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Pitt), who goes against conventional baseball scouting wisdom by using a controversial method known as Sab

Hey Orioles fans, you'll never guess who comes in last. It’s easy to assess players: either their statistics are good or they’re bad. For prospects, a combination of Sabermetrics and scouting reports are used to grade the quality of the player. Executive

Have you seen the website http://steroids-and-baseball.com/? The author challenges the conventional wisdom about steroids. He disputes that there was a huge steroid-fueled increase in homeruns (he claims that changes in the manufacturing and composition

Brad Pitt's critically-acclaimed Moneyball scooped a well-deserved 'Best Picture' Oscar nomination last month, putting it alongside box office hit The Help and hotly-tipped black and white comedy The Artist in the race for Hollywood's most coveted golden

Brad Pitt as Oakland As general manager Billy Beane in Moneyball, one of two Best Picture nominees in which he stars. Synopsis: Frustrated by losing games and talent to richer teams, Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is convinced there

With Spring Training 2012 in its infancy, a surprising story is developing. The Oakland A’s are actually a team to pay attention to. After Billy Beane and company cleaned house by shipping out Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey for two fistful

MESA, Ariz. But the Cubs' new president of baseball operations hasn't

There are American classics and there are American myths. “Moneyball,” the book, and now particularly the movie, fits nicely into each category. Classic because the book, written by Michael Lewis about Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, was a runaw

Every actor yearns to win at least one golden statuette in his lifetime, but actor Brad Pitt, 48, has bigger things on his mind than taking home an Oscar. Currently busy bagging accolades for his role in the multiple Oscar-nominated biographical sports d

A phone conversation with Trevor Cahill can be a bit, well, brief. He is a quiet guy not prone to bravado, a scholar who almost went Ivy League until the lure of a diamond-shaped office pulled him away. It doesn't make his story less interesting. The lat

Ever leave a movie swooning over the set dressing while your popcorn-scented pal drones on about the acting? Your friend is praising Brad Pitt’s nuanced turn as tobacco-chewing baseball manager Billy Beane in Moneyball , while all you’re thinking is: of

All signals point toward the Oakland Athletics signing free-agent designated hitter Manny Ramirez soon.Ramirez, who must serve a 50-game suspension before he can play for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy, has attracted interest not only from

"Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It's no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out." -Ty Cobb "Ask GiantPain about my penis" - Billy Beane Proud parent of SD-born Shane Loux. If Cain is with us, who can be against us?

Whether or not Brad Pitt wins Best Actor later this month for his sublimely subtle portrayal of Billy Beane in Moneyball, the man who transformed baseball from a game of hunches to a business of stat-driven decision-making should be a source of inspirati

ESPN.com IllustrationOakland A's GM Billy Beane used "unorthodox" statistical analysis in order to compete with big-market teams. With "Moneyball" nominated for several Oscars and baseball season just around the corner, everybody's talking stats and sabe

Billy Beane is a genius. Or he’s a madman. I’m just not sure which one. Every single day, the Oakland Athletics’ general manager continues to defy all logic. In their most recent mind-boggling move, the A’s signed Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes to a four

Helene Wong doesn't know much about baseball, but Moneyball, opening today, is the sports movie of the year. I don’t pretend to know much about Major League baseball, and after seeing Moneyball I still don’t know how the competition works. But I don’t ca

MOVIES This week two more big-hitting Best Picture Oscar contenders appear on NZ screens. True story baseball strategy movie Moneyball stars Brad Pitt as baseball manager Billy Beane who is determined to overcome a long losing streak using new analytical

There's been lots of chatter about Billy Beane lately, and not necessarily because of baseball, but because of Brad Pitt. The actor, who portrayed the Oakland Athletics' general manager in Moneyball, has drawn critical acclaim for his performance, which