A Legacy Everlasting in Moneyball
Hollywood’s reputation is known for their embellishment and exaggeration of reality. Every movie that is produced for Hollywood has its own spin of an inaccurate depiction. Although, this reputation does not mean that some of the movies produced are accurate with a few minor inaccurate traits. Moneyball is an example of an accurate movie based on the concepts of sabermetrics and statistical information on Major League Baseball batters and pitchers. This concept focuses on overlooked statistical information, including walks, on base percentage, and hit by pitches. Sabermetrics converted a dwindling and poor baseball team into one of the best major league teams in baseball at the time. Hollywood accurately depicted
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the Oakland Athletics season in 2002, the statistical information of sabermetrics, the players and staff of the Oakland Athletics, and the ending of their 2002 season. The Athletics had lost their three main players after the 2001 season was over, which is what sparked the need for a change in their franchise. The next preseason, they had to “figure out how to find replacements for the guys [they had] lost” (7:07-7:12). The recruiters for the team were hesitant and uncertain as to who would fill the spots and who they should recruit. Yet, they were also on a major budget, for the Athletics in 2002 were the second lowest paid roster in Major League Baseball. Compared to the New York Yankees who they lost to in the previous season, the money imbalance was “$114,457,768 vs. $39,722,689” (Dargis 1). It was not until Paul DePodesta, played as Peter Brand came in and introduced sabermetrics. This statistical information “looked at baseball statistics in a different light, less by breaking the numbers down in another way but by seeing that what appeared to be objective facts…These numbers didn't just describe baseball; they gave the game its language” (Dargis 1). This new method, at the time seemed to be ludicrous, but later would revolutionize the baseball world and was beautifully animated in the movie. Sabermetrics was the premise of the movie and was exceedingly accurate when describing the fundamentals and basics of the statistical data. Now that sabermetrics has been introduced to the Oakland Athletics, it was time for them to use it and pick out their new stars of the team.
When they started selecting players, they “ended up going after players that other managers considered too old, too injured or too mediocre” (“Fresh Air” 1). This is completely accurate, they went after men in their thirties and men people thought were not good enough. In reality, these men were “one of the most undervalued players in baseball” (50:34-50:38). Once they had selected their players, the world exploded with questions and concerns, thinking the Athletics were insane. Other teams had opposing views and they “tended to pick a strategy that is the least likely to fail, rather than to pick a strategy that is most efficient" (Lewis 129). Yet, that was the goal of the Oakland Athletics, to succeed and be the best team in baseball. Whether it was in the same style of the other teams or not, their usage of sabermetrics was there to help them find the top players in the world, with the money they had. Although it may have seemed as if they were a “couple of whack jobs in the front office, doing something totally crazy… [but instead it was] sort of this is creative destruction that is going to change the industry” (“Morning Edition” 1). These worldwide concerns were eloquently shown in the movie by having radio spokesmen, recruiters, and other general managers express their thoughts and ideas about what the Athletics were doing with …show more content…
sabermetrics. Outside forces were heavily expressed throughout, but the Athletics truly discerned themselves from the media and focused on their mission to success. Success was always the goal in the 2002 season, and once the players were selected and on the team, it was time to create the successful team. The players in the movie were shown in “scenes of men doing and being and sometimes failing” (Dargis 1). This realistic style in the movie truly helped sympathize and relate to them. This is accurate to real life because the Athletics struggled in the beginning of their season, unsure of where to put players on the field and in the lineup. In the American League, West Division, they had a “record of 20-26 and were 10 games back of first” (1:04:12-1:04:07). People presumed that their usage of sabermetrics and statistical data was a complete failure. Yet, the players and managers of the Athletics knew that “every form of strength is also a form of weakness” (Lewis 25). They were all going to endure the struggle to find the success. This is accurate to the Athletics 2002 season; they were truly going to struggle until they “understood their unique talents and know how to put them to use” (“Fresh Air” 1). This evaluation and playmaking is a job for the managers and coaches to come to a consensus on and support all the way through. Everyone had the same goal at the time, to succeed, but not everyone knew how to yet. Once the general manager, Art Howe accepts and commits to the lineup produced by the sabermetric techniques, that their successful season blossoms.
There will always be “rapid change in the business world and how there will always be people who resist change because it threatens them” (“Morning Edition” 1). This is extremely accurate to the integrity of not only the game, but also the business side of the Oakland Athletics program. Art Howe was an adequate example of the stereotypes and judgements that people had about sabermetrics; he was hesitant and did not trust the process they were trying to accomplish (57:33-58:28). It was not until he tested different athletes to “find ways to do things much better than they are currently done” (Lewis 71). Yet, he would have not tested new players if it was not for the results shown through sabermetrics, which demonstrated who should be on the field. This is accurate to the 2002 Athletics team because it demonstrates how not everyone was in agreeance with the statistical information. They were so successful “mostly by ignoring everything he'd been taught about the game” (Dargis 1). Having opposition was reasonable because the data tested boundaries and limits that had never been shown through recruitment of
players. The boundaries were certainly pushed when the Athletics surged to success and were on their way to the playoffs. They were striving to win and would have “changed the game, and that is what [he] wants, [he] wants it to mean something” (1:49:16-1:49:22). Not every ending is perfect though, for they lost in the final series. The ending was spot on to reality, they lost and were devastated. The only hope they had left was the legacy they would leave and the new era of baseball. Moneyball does not “center on a big game or a heroic performance. It's about an idea, a new way of using statistics in evaluating players” (“Morning Edition” 1). The Athletics 2002 season left an everlasting mark in the baseball world by bringing statistics and mathematics into sports. To prove the reality to the movie, baseball now has endless statistics about almost every aspect of batting. Moneyball is “not a story meant to describe a winning team's accomplishments” (“Morning Edition” 1). Their season was phenomenal and special in its own aspects, but the world sees their season as a landmark and invention into the baseball world. The movie ascends the legacy through a “story of underdogs and of value and people getting a chance who have been overlooked” (“Fresh Air” 1). They would have never gotten then chance if it were not for sabermetrics and a couch willing to give them a shot. The valves and innovations expressed throughout the Athletics season is remarkable and ended in an extremely heart wrenching finish. Hollywood only wishes they could have this accurate of movies displayed always. The story is informational and inspiring to athletes across the world. This movie digs deeper than a baseball season, it branches off into a legacy and historical accuracy of the events in 2002. Most managers in baseball know the movie and the legacy and still follow some of the lessons and techniques to this day. Moneyball displays perfect aptitude and accuracy to sabermetrics and the Oakland Athletics season in 2002, including the coaches and players.
To fully understand this book, people must go behind the book and find the true state of mind of the author. Unfortunately in this case, the author is the one and only Jose Canseco. Jose Canseco is what I like to call, “The black sheep in the family of baseball.” Canseco’s history can be related to such incidents of drug using, heavy drinking, numerous sexual encounters with hundreds of partners, and unreasonable acts of violence. This book goes into grave detail on how steroids have changed his life and how it is currently changing baseball.
...t pool is not adequate to call up enough players to fill two new expansion teams, while maintaining the same level of play in all facets of the game. “The influx of inferior talent filling those new roster spots fundamentally altered the competitive environment: it allowed elite players, especially hitters, to excel” (Bradbury). Up to this point in time, the major league of baseball continued to populate the league with better-quality baseball players through the exploitation of rapid population growth, and racial integration. However, this growth trend was reversed through the implementation of expansion in 1990s. By filling the expansion teams with subpar talent in juxtaposition to the major leagues’ talent level, the dilution of player quality was felt throughout the entire league and throughout all phases of the game including, pitching, hitting, and defense.
Major League Baseball (MLB) has widely been regarded as America’s pastime for the longest time, however it is now becoming known as the sport tainted by one thing, anabolic steroids. An anabolic steroid is related to the natural steroid, testosterone. They are able to stimulate growth in the muscle tissue. They usually increase muscle mass and strength. The MLB has created some of the most historic American icons, such as Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. Players like them showed us what it was like to play baseball the right way. They played with passion, heart, and above all they had fun playing. Players today in the MLB focus way too much on becoming the best player ever to play. They see what the greats did before them and they want to match them, so they turn to anabolic steroids. An example of this is Alex Rodriguez. In 2003 he tested positive for anabolic steroids because he was “naïve” and couldn’t take the pressure of his expectations of being called the best. He felt the pressure from the game and he turned to steroids. Anabolic steroids are ruining the game of baseball. They are tainting the records and the changing the game for the worse.
America’s pastime has been complicated in the last couple centuries, and integration has been a big key in the game of baseball. Like most of America in the 1940’s, baseball was segregated, with whites playing in the Major League system and African-Americans playing in the Negro Leagues. There were many factors that made whites and blacks come together, including World War II. Integration caused many downs in the time period, but as baseball grew and grew it was one of the greatest accomplishments in the history. It was hard to find the right black man to start this, they needed a man with baseball abilities and a man who didn’t need to fight back.
Baseball statistics are meant to be a representation of a player’s talent. Since baseball’s inception around the mid-19th century, statistics have been used to interpret the talent level of any given player, however, the statistics that have been traditionally used to define talent are often times misleading. At a fundamental level, baseball, like any game, is about winning. To win games, teams have to score runs; to score runs, players have to get on base any way they can. All the while, the pitcher and the defense are supposed to prevent runs from scoring. As simplistic as this view sounds, the statistics being used to evaluate individual players were extremely flawed. In an attempt to develop more specific, objective forms of statistical analysis, the idea of Sabermetrics was born. Bill James, a man who never played or coached professional baseball, is often credited as a pioneer in the field and for coining the name as homage to the Society of American Baseball Research, or SABR. Eventually, the use of Sabermetrics became widespread in the Major Leagues, the first team being the Oakland Athletics, as depicted in Moneyball. Bill James and other baseball statisticians have developed various methods of evaluating a player performance that allow for a more objective view of the game, broadly defined as Sabermetrics.
1910 to 1920 was the one of the greatest decades for Major League Baseball. Many amazing events occurred during this decade; although, some devastating and extremely sad events also occurred. Half of these years were taken up by war, even many Hall of Fame players served. This decade still ended up being a great one for Major League Baseball. From Hall of Fame greats to Negro League pitchers, this decade produced greats. The 1910’s also set up the 1920’s for amazing players too.
Baseball has always been known as “America’s Favorite Pastime”. Over the past decade, the game America knows and loves has been exposed as a game full of cheaters. Major League Baseball(MLB) has had over one hundred players test positive for performance-enhancing substances over the past fifteen years. Performance-enhancing substances increase a player’s ability to produce better stats to help his salary. The past fifteen years of baseball have contained dirty play by some of the best players to ever play the sport. Kids all over America look at these athletes as role models. The money hungry players proceed to send a terrible message to fans of the game by taking drugs to succeed. After commissioner Bud Selig cracked down on steroid use in 2005, several baseball player’s legacies have been ruined due to steroid allegations. Players are even being charged with perjury by lying to congress over steroid use to protect their reputation. Steroids in baseball need to stop immediately before the game is ruined. Steroids are not fair to the players who play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, without syringes. Steroids are ruining the fairness of the game of baseball and the credibility of the athletes participating. These days, if someone hits fifty home runs in a season, everyone thinks they are on the “juice”. “The Steroid Era” and Bud Selig have ruined baseball’s image as a clean and fair game.
...ercent grantees that the best teams will face off in the World Series. Baseball has been a game of adaptation, with the end of the dead ball era by putting cork in the ball, the games populatirty grew because the chance of home runs and harder hit balls made the game more entertaining and interactive. By adding steroid testing, the playing field has been leveled so that no one person has a distinct advantage over another. Both are examples of how the game has developed to benefit both the fans and to the players. The whole world is evolving into a time of equality and fairness and baseball is the last of the major sports in America to adapt this rule of reviewing plays that are controversial.
Performance enhancing drugs have been a longstanding problem in sports. It not only deteriorates the honesty of the game, but also can have broader social affects that one may not even realize. The use of performance enhancing drugs is especially apparent in Major League Baseball. This problem can be traced back to the 1980’s when baseball was facing one of its first “dark periods”. During the 1980’s Major League Baseball was experiencing a home run drought. Home run totals were down as far as they had been since Babe Ruth, and fans were seemingly becoming bored with the sport. The lack of home runs was a growing concern for players whose salary relied on home run totals. Players needed to find a quick way to boost their power and performance in order to keep the sport alive and to keep bringing in their paychecks. This desire for fame and fortune introduced steroids into Major League Baseball in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Home run totals jumped tremendously during these decades and players were willing to risk being caught using illegal substances in order to shine above the rest. New idols and role models started to sprout up from these outstanding home run statistics and young children started to take notice. This all came tumbling down when these new idols and role models who were making the big bucks and hitting the ball out of the park tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Here lie the affects of a growing social problem in sports. These famed athletes become walking advertisements and promotions for the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports. The influence professional athletes have over aspiring young athletes is very powerful and these roles models make it seem acceptable to use performance ...
All groups noted above didn’t have a place in this era of baseball; they were on the other side of the race barrier. With the growing of the sport arose a lack of a cheap talent pool. Segregation hindered the ability to introduce cheap talent from other races. The management of teams was looking for a solution in order to widen the talent pool for their respective leagues. People began to notice talent in the “American colonies” like Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines; it seemed as if everywhere there was an American presence there were talented ball players. Even before America was involved in these nations, America had begun to envision the game as intercultural exchange that would build relations. The decision to include Latinos into the leagues allowed an expansion of the talent pool while still barring African Americans from participating in organized baseball. A racial structure established during Jim Crow upholds the notion of a color line as an exclusionary measure to prevent the influence of blacks into the game that represents American
Babe Ruth is still a very well-known person in history today, even almost one-hundred years later. He did not only change the way people viewed negro baseball leagues, but he also gained a large reputation for his ability to play baseball, obviously due to his amazing abilities. Ruth’s ability to play was almost impossibly good, in fact, he was even titled “athlete of the century” for his ability. With that ability and power that he had once he won, he would become a
‘Field of Dreams’ is a diversified script that constantly evolves, but mainly revolves around the game of baseball, ‘the greatest game ever invented’. The game that according to some avid spectators, completely and thoroughly transcends and binds the country to past, present, and future--generation to generation. In this movie this national pastime represents an avenue that finds the connection to the soul of a great audience; somehow insinuating that baseball acts as a means of fulfilling individual spiritual needs. These needs are that of a ‘sense of belonging’, a need to participate in sport, either vicariously as a spectator or directly as a participant. Moreover the desire to engage in distraction and play may be intrinsic to the human psyche. The theme throughout the movie was based on the legendary story of the Chicago White Sox of 1919, where the question was raised on the issue of the team’s “sportsmanship” and the ethical behavior of several teammates during the World Series. This left the image of America’s most idolized team tarnished and lead up to a ban of eight players from the sport; for an ‘unsportsmanlike’ like conduct in the series. The public view of the game up until then was that of perfection, it was clean and straight; but afterwards, the lack of fair play especially coming from such highly ranked players, ended up affecting fans’ enthusiasm for the entire sport. As the movie nears its ending, Robinson evolved on the concept of having utterly devoted fans and as if in a mystified manner drew them in to this already mystical place, just to have them see the most idolized team of ‘the golden age’ play once again.
Ever since the introduction of steroids to professional sports in the 1970s (Assael), they have greatly undermined the core American beliefs that sports held dear for so long. Values like honesty, hard work, and dedication h...
Bill James has been credited as the founder of the sabermetrics movement. James is a baseball writer, historian and statistician. James defined sabermetrics as "the search for objective knowledge about baseball." Thus, sabermetrics attempts to answer objective questions about baseball, such as "which player on the Red Sox contributed the most to the team's offense?" or "How many home runs will Ken Griffey hit next year?" It cannot deal with the subjective judgments which are also important to the game, such as "Who is your favorite player?" or "That was a great game."
This game of a stick and ball has captivated the United States during good and bad times. In either time most of us today can remember stories of players from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. These are legendary figures in the sport of baseball that have are celebrated as hero’s and in scandal, i...