[Entering the office; to his secretary]
Suzanne, get me Ed Wade on the phone.
Suzanne Okay.
Suzanne Yes.
Suzanne Good morning, Billy.
[Billy knocks on Perter's office door and Peter meets Billy in Billy's office] [Sits down at Billy's desk]
What's up?
Suzanne Wade's on 2.
[Answers the call on speakerphone]
Ed?
Look, I need a little help on defense.
I'm willing to trade Jeremy Giambi for it.
EW Ed Wade
[Intrigued]
Really?
EW Ed Wade
Well, let me think.
[Mutes speakerphone; to Peter]
Cleaning house.
[Unmutes speakerphone]
Maybe what?
Hold on. [Mutes speakerphone, looks at Peter]
Because you can't trade Jeremy Giambi.
[Unmutes speakerphone]
He'll be fine, Ed.
EW Ed Wade
Why do I get the feeling you're picking my pocket?
I'm not picking your pocket, you're picking mine. Giambi's name alone is worth more.
EW Ed Wade
What's wrong with him, Billy?
There's nothing wrong with him. Now can we say it's done in theory and start drawing up the paperwork?
EW Ed Wade
Okay, but you're gonna have--
I think he was gonna say something else.
When you get the answer you're looking for, hang up. Suzanne?
Suzanne Yes?
Suzanne Okay.
I don't think you should do that. I really don't think you should do that.
I want Hatteberg in the lineup tonight.
Billy, I think you need to take a minute. I think you seriously need to just think about what you're doing. Because you're upset.
These are hard moves to explain to people.
Why is that a problem, Pete?
Don't make an emotional decision, Billy.
Suzanne David Dombrowski's on 3.
Look, we're gonna shake things up. [Picks up the phone] Dave, Peña's going on the block, you're my first call. Because he's making the rest of the team look bad. He's gonna be a Rookie of the Year.
He's an All-Star, Dave. No. I want a reliever and cash. Okay. You got five minutes, Dave. I'm not waiting.
Billy, Peña is an an All-Star, okay? And if you dump him and this Hatteberg thing doesn't work out the way that we want it to, you know this is the kind of decision that gets you fired. It is.
Yes, you're right. I may lose my job. In which case I'm a 44-year-old guy with a high school diploma and a daughter I'd like to be able to send to college. You're 25 years old, with a degree from Yale and a pretty impressive apprenticeship. I don't think we're asking the right question. I think the question we should be asking is, do you believe in this thing or not?
It's a problem you think we need to explain ourselves. Don't. To anyone.
Now, I'm gonna see this thing through, for better or worse. Just tell me, do you project we'll win more with Hatteberg or Peña at first?
It's close. But theoretically, Hatteberg.
BB Billy Benae
What are we talking about then?
Suzanne Dombrowski's on again, on 3.
[Picks up the phone]
Yeah? Ok, that'll work. Great, I need one more thing: soda. Yeah I don't want my guys paying for soda. I want you to stock my machine for three years. I'm serious. Great, it's a deal. [To Peter after hanging up] Go tell Peña he's gotta pack.
You want me to tell Peña?
Part of the job. [Stuffs a Twinkie in his mouth]
What about Giambi? You want me to tell him too?
[Mouth full]
I'll tell him.
Guys, you're still trying to replace Giambi. I told you we can't do it, and we can't do it. Now, what we might be able to do is re-create him. Re-create him in the aggregate.
Giambi's on-base percentage was .477. Damon's on-base, .324. And Olmedo's was .291. Add that up, and you get... [snapping his fingers and pointing at Pete]
When I point at you, yeah.
[snapping]
Divided by three.
That's what we're looking for. Three ballplayers... three ballplayers whose average OBP is... [snapping]
So why did you return my call?
Because it's the Red Sox. Because I believe science might offer an answer to the Curse of the Bambino. [Henry laughs] Because I hear you hired Bill James.
Yup. You know, why someone took so long to hire that guy is beyond me.
Well, baseball hates him.
Well, baseball can hate him, you know. One of the great things about money is that it buys a lot of things, one of which is the luxury to disregard what baseball likes, doesn't likes, what baseball thinks, doesn't think.
[Laughing]
Sounds nice. Well, I was grateful for the call.
For $41 million, you built a playoff team. You lost Damon, Giambi, Isringhausen, Peña, and you won more games without them than you did with them. You won the exact same number of games that the Yankees won, but the Yankees spent $1.4 million per win, and you paid $260,000. I know you are taking it in the teeth, but the first guy through the wall... he always gets bloody, always. This is threatening not just a way of doing business... but in their minds, it's threatening the game. Really what it's threatening is their livelihood, their jobs. It's threatening the way they do things... and every time that happens, whether it's the government, a way of doing business, whatever, the people who are holding the reins - they have their hands on the switch - they go batshit crazy. I mean, anybody who's not tearing their team down right now and rebuilding it using your model, they're dinosaurs. They'll be sitting their ass on the sofa in October watching the Boston Red Sox win the World Series. [Slips Beane a piece of paper]
I want you to be my general manager. That's my offer.
[Pointing to numbers on a white board]
Using this equation in the upper left... I'm projecting that we need to win at least 99 games... in order to make it to the postseason. We need to score at least 814 runs in order to win those games... and allow no more than 645 runs. [Pulls out code from a computer]
This is a code that I've written for our year-to-year projections. This is building in the intelligence that we have to project players.
It's about getting things down to one number. Using the stats the way we read them... we'll find value in players that nobody else can see. People are overlooked... for a variety of biased reasons and perceived flaws. Age, appearance, personality. Bill James and mathematics cut straight through that. Billy, of the 20,000 notable players for us to consider, I believe that there is a championship team... of 25 people that we can afford, because everyone else in baseball undervalues them. Like.... an island of misfit toys. [Pulls up a player's statistics] Billy, this is Chad Bradford. He's a relief pitcher. He is one of the most undervalued players in baseball. His defect is that he throws funny. Nobody in the big leagues cares about him because he looks funny. This guy could be not just the best pitcher in our pen... but one of the most effective relief pitchers in all baseball. This guy should cost $3 million a year. We can get him for $237,000.
RD Radio DJ #1
Alright we got Grady Fuson on the line, former head of scouting with the Oakland Athletics. And, Grady, can you interpret for us what's going on?
RD Radio DJ #1
Moneyball?
Yes, and it was a nice theory, and now it's just not working out.
RD Radio DJ #2
Billy Beane has built this team on the ideas of a guy, Bill James who wrote an interesting book on baseball statistics. The problem is that Bill James never played, never managed. He was in fact a security guard at a pork-and-beans company.
RD Radio DJ #1
Do you see this as a decimation of the organization?
I think that he bought a ticket on the Titanic.
RD Radio DJ #2
He's tried to come up with a new approach. My hat's off to him. It won't work.
[Beane calls Brand in the middle of the night]
What...what time is it?
I don't know. Pete, would you have taken me in the first round?
After we talked, you looked me up. Would you have taken me in the first round?
Yeah, I looked you up. You...you were pretty good.
Cut the crap, Pete. Would you have taken me in the first round?
...I would've taken you in the ninth round. No signing bonus. I think that would've convinced you to take that scholarship.
[brief pause]
Pack your bags, Pete. I just bought you from the Cleveland Indians.
Art Howe Yeah. Take a seat.
You can't start Peña at first tonight. You'll have to start Hatteberg.
Art Howe Yeah, I don't want to go fifteen rounds, Billy. The lineup card is mine, and that's all.
That lineup card is definitely yours. I'm just saying you can't start Peña at first.
Art Howe Well, I am starting him at first.
I don't think so. He plays for Detroit now.
Art Howe You traded Peña?
Yeah. And Menechino, Hiljus, Tam are all being sent down.
Art Howe You are outside your mind.
JG Jeremy Giambi
[knocking on door]
You wanted to see me?
Yeah, Jeremy, grab a seat.
[Jeremy sits down]
Jeremy, you've been traded to the Phillies. This is Ed Wade's number. He's a good guy, he's the GM. He's expecting your call. Buddy will help you with the plane flight. You're a good ballplayer, Jeremy, and we wish you the best.
[Jeremy sighs, and exits]
Jeremy's gone, too.
Art Howe [shaking his head in disbelief]
You're killing this team.
Guys, you're just talking. Talking, "la-la-la-la", like this is business as usual. It's not.
We're trying to solve the problem here, Billy.
Not like this you're not. You're not even looking at the problem.
We're very aware of the problem. I mean...
Okay, good. What's the problem?
Look, Billy, we all understand what the problem is. We have to...
Okay, good. What's the problem?
The problem is we have to replace three key players in our lineup.
Nope. What's the problem?
Pittaro Same as it's ever been. We've gotta replace these guys with what we have existing.
Nope. What's the problem, Barry?
B Barry
We need 38 home runs, 120 RBIs and 47 doubles to replace.
Ehh! [imitates buzzer] The problem we're trying to solve is that there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there's fifty feet of crap, and then there's us. It's an unfair game. And now we've been gutted. We're like organ donors for the rich. Boston's taken our kidneys, Yankees have taken our heart. And you guys just sit around talking the same old "good body" nonsense like we're selling jeans. Like we're looking for Fabio. We've got to think differently. We are the last dog at the bowl. You see what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies.
I want Dye in right, Justice DH'ing, Peña on the bench, Hatteberg at first, and anyone but Mags first out of the pen.
Art Howe You want Peña on the bench?
That's right. So you can play Hatty.
Art Howe Peña is not only the best first baseman on the roster, he's the only first baseman on the roster.
Listen to me, Hatty gets on base more than Peña. In fact, twenty percent more.
Art Howe And his fielding?
His fielding does not matter.
Art Howe I've heard enough of this.
Art Howe And I, uh... I disagree with you, plain and simple. And moreover, I'm playing my team in a way that I can explain in job interviews next winter.
It's hard not to be romantic about baseball. This kind of thing, it's fun for the fans. It sells tickets and hot dogs. Doesn't mean anything.
Billy, we just won twenty games in a row.
Man, I've been doing this for... listen, man. I've been in this game a long time. I'm not in it for a record, I'll tell you that. I'm not in it for a ring. That's when people get hurt. If we don't win the last game of the Series, they'll dismiss us.
I know these guys. I know the way they think, and they will erase us. And everything we've done here, none of it'll matter. Any other team wins the World Series, good for them. They're drinking champagne, they get a ring. But if we win, on our budget, with this team... we'll have changed the game. And that's what I want. I want it to mean something.
