MONEYBALL

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MoneyBall is a true story of the 2002 season of the Oakland Athletic, written by Michael Lewis. Its about the unreal season that no one saw coming except the General Manager Billy Beane. The film based on this true story that started Brad Pitt was released in 2011, and was up for 2 Oscars including best supporting actor (Jonah Hill).

Author Michael Lewis is a finical journalist born in 1960 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from Princeton with a BA in Art History, and in 1985 received his master's degree from the London School of Economics. He has books include The Big Shot and The New New Thing. He wrote the book MoneyBall in 2004 and when published it became a New York Times best seller. (google images)

Plot GM Billy Beanie is on the edge of being fired, and pulls one of the most ridiculous moves in MLB history getting rid of the two best players in baseball. The A's have the lowest cap in baseball and he pulls a miracle with a team with a bunch of scrubs making the playoffs and having a better record than the previous team last year. Billy Beane then gets a offer from the Boston Redsox to be the highest paid GM in baseball. He then turns down the offer because he doesn't care for the money or the historical baseball teams, he cares about the game and a city that comes together as a team.

Setting

The Setting takes place in Oakland California in the 2001-2002 MLB season. (Google Images)

Genre Drama, Sports, Biographical

Theme

The theme of MoneyBall is that you have to work very hard to achieve your goal even if you have to make sacrifices.

Favorite Quote "Managers tend to pick a strategy that is the least likely to fail, rather then to pick a strategy that is most efficient". I chose this quote because it is important in sports to succeed and rise to the top.

"I pay you to get on first, not get thrown out at second". This quote stuck with me because it shows the strategies of the game.

Literary Terms -The Conflict in the story is that Billy Beane has his back to the wall, could be fired in a heart beat, and dosent have the resources and money to make a good baseball team. In the first 30 games of the season the A's have the worst record in the MLB and Billy, steps up to the plate by working with the players on the team and trading for valuable assets for the team. -Some Symbols in the book money ball is his rookie baseball card because, he looks at it to see what he could have been, and he also uses it as motivation to become the best GM in the MLB.

Connections to Book The Book //MoneyBall// can be connected to everyday life as a baseball owner and GM. It shows how the stress of running a ball club can ruin your life with the media and sports critics always mocking your way of running a team. It also can be connected to the common American working man who tries to get the best for the least amount of money like Billy Beane had to do in order to win.

Characters
 * Billy Beane - GM
 * Paul DePodesta – Assistant GM
 * Grady Fuson - Head of scouting
 * Ron "Hoppy" Hopkins - National cross-checker scout
 * Chris Pittaro - scout
 * J. P. Ricciardi – worked under Beane and DePodesta as Director of Player Personnel
 * Sandy Alderson - Beane's predecessor and mentor with the Athletics
 * Peter Gammons – Sportswriter
 * Art Howe – Oakland manager
 * Ron Washington - Athletics coach
 * Bill James - baseball writer and statistician whose Baseball Abstract books greatly influenced Beane
 * Chad Bradford- Pitcher
 * Scott Hatteberg- First Basemen.

Questions 1. What kept Billy Beane from being a baseball superstar? 2. Why did the Oakland A's 2002 season change the game and spending in baseball? 3. Who was the man who inspired Billy Beane into his way of beging a GM? 4. Why was going on a 21 game winning streak not important to Billy?
 * His own mind and his demeanor of the game, because he had a bad past with the game.
 * Because they showed the world of baseball that you dont need to spend 100 million dollars on one player but getting the right players for a reasonable price.
 * Bill James a baseball writer who created the theory that you could win the game of baseball by examine stats
 * Because if they didnt win the World Seris, they would'nt be remembered for the greatest team in baseball.