Moneyball Page #5

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Caught in the middle

Life is a maze

And love is a riddle

I don't know where to go

Can't do it alone, I've tried

And I don't know why

I'm just a little girl

Lost in the moment

I'm so scared

But I don't show it

I can't figure it out

It's bringing me down

I know I've got to let it go

And just enjoy the show

ANNOUNCER 1:

Billy Beane was taken in the

first round of the amateur draft.

ANNOUNCER 2:

I think this is a steal,

to get Billy Beane.

He's young, he's talented.

A true five-tool player with speed.

This guy is a can't-miss prospect.

This is a great sign

for the New York Mets.

ANNOUNCER 1:

And it could be the turnaround

that they've been looking for.

UMPIRE:

Ball one.

ANNOUNCER 1:

I'll take Billy Beane

over Strawberry.

ANNOUNCER 2:

Billy Beane, an interesting pick,

turned down a scholarship.

He could've gone to Stanford.

Sometimes you don't find out

till you get to the big leagues...

UMPIRE:

Strike!

This guy has never failed

at anything. He's coming

out of high school.

Billy was gonna go to college.

He could've been a great

quarterback.

[]

UMPIRE:

Strike three.

ANNOUNCER 3:

There's not an organization

in baseball

who would not have taken

a chance on this young guy.

[BAT CRACKS]

He didn't pan out.

That happens every year.

Some do, some don't.

MOM:

I mean, if you're having

any doubt at all about this...

Having the scholarship...

MARTINEZ:

Your son was born

with a God-given ability.

ANNOUNCER 3:

Few scouts can go into

the mind of a young man

and determine whether

he's really confident

about what he can do.

MAN:

A very special player.

ANNOUNCER 3:

So you can sign him

based on his ability,

but then he's gotta be successful

to be confident.

And once he becomes confident,

that's when you've got something.

[UMPIRE SHOUTS

INDISTINCTLY]

You make a decision

on what you see.

And if things don't pan out,

you move on.

That's baseball.

Many are called, few are chosen.

PETER:

Billy, that is Kevin Youkilis.

That is the Greek God of Walks.

That's my hero.

That man gets walked

more than anybody in baseball

except for Barry Bonds.

I tried to convince Shapiro

to pick him up last June,

but he said he waddled

like a duck.

Yeah, Boston snagged him.

I think they wanna wait and see.

Are you okay, Billy?

GRADY:
Billy?

Can we talk?

Yeah. Yeah.

You're unhappy, Grady. Why?

[CHUCKLES]

Wow.

May I speak candidly?

Sure, go ahead.

Major League Baseball and its fans,

they're gonna be more than happy

to throw you and Google Boy

under the bus

if you keep doing

what you're doing.

You don't put a team together

with a computer.

No?

No.

Baseball isn't just numbers.

It's not science.

If it was, anybody could do

what we're doing, but they can't.

They don't know what we know.

They don't have our experience

and our intuition.

Okay.

You got a kid in there that's got

a degree in economics from Yale.

You got a scout here with

You're listening to the wrong one.

Now, there are intangibles that

only baseball people understand.

You're discounting what scouts

have done for 150 years?

Even yourself?

Adapt or die.

This is about you

and your sh*t, isn't it?

Twenty years ago,

some scout got it wrong.

Whoa. Okay. Okay.

Now you declare war on the system.

Okay, okay, my turn.

You don't have a crystal ball.

You can't look at a kid and predict

his future any more than I can.

I've sat at those kitchen tables

with you

and listened to you tell parents,

"When I know, I know.

And when it comes

to your son, I know."

And you don't.

You don't.

Okay. I don't give a sh*t

about friendship,

this situation, or the past.

Major League Baseball

thinks the way I think.

You're not gonna win.

And I'll give you a nickel's worth

of free advice.

You're never gonna

get another job

after this catastrophic season

you're about to set us all up for.

You'll have to explain

to your kid

why you're working

at Dick's Sporting Goods.

I'm not gonna fire you, Grady.

F*** you, Billy.

Now I will.

Good luck, Art.

[GUNSHOTS ON VIDEO GAME]

Kubota.

You never played ball, right?

I played a little T-ball.

You're the new head scout.

Congratulations.

So Boston's gonna

wait and see?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's just you and me, Pete.

And we're all in.

[]

CALLER 1:

It sounds like you're apologizing

for what they're doing.

HOST:

I'm not. I just don't know

what you're gonna do

with the budget that the A's have.

Who are you gonna get?

CALLER 2:
I'm looking

at the spring-training roster.

You gotta be kidding me.

HOST:
How so?

CALLER 1:

He looked like a clown out there.

HOST:
Who?

CALLER 1:
Chad Bradford.

BILLY:

Tell me about Bradford.

MAN 1:

I like him a little bit,

but he's a specialist.

He's not a guy that you say,

"The eighth inning is yours,

lefties vs. righties."

In my opinion.

HOST:
I don't know what

Billy Beane and management

understands about him.

He only throws the ball

about 82, 83 miles an hour.

There must be something--

CALLER 1:

He is a freak, and not in a good way.

CALLER 3:

Let me ask you this.

MAN 2:
Talking about

trying to win a division.

We're counting on David

to be the guy he was.

I have my doubts. He's gotten old.

That's why he's not in New York

anymore, not in Cleveland anymore.

CALLER 3:
We paid him

the money we should've

been giving to Johnny Damon.

HOST:
Hey.

CALLER 4:
Jeremy Giambi.

That's the one to worry about.

He gets comps up and down Vegas

more than in Oakland.

That should tell you something

right there.

CALLER 5:

Isn't that the deal with these guys?

CALLER 6:

He has one good year.

And he gets a huge offer

and then he gets traded.

Bob. Harder.

BOB:
Hatteberg.

Good. Good.

Billy, we have to talk

about Hatteberg.

BILLY:
Go.

BOB:
There's just no feel for the spot.

I think it's a long shot that he can be

a big-league first baseman.

It's day one of the first week.

You can't judge this yet.

No, I think

we can judge it.

I mean, I like him, you know,

but I can judge him.

First base is

the moon to him.

It wasn't to Giambi.

Giambi's the worst

first baseman in baseball.

Gonna compare him to Giambi?

What are we talking about?

All right.

What do you think, Wash?

The nice way to say it

is he lacks confidence.

Well, give him some.

I'll do that, but we got Pena,

who can play first.

And he's looking

mighty good out there.

We wanna go with Hattie.

We got six weeks.

WASHINGTON:

Get down in it.

[MOUTHING]

There you go.

Scotty H.

That's what I'm talking about.

Picking machine.

WASHINGTON:

It's only baseball.

This better work.

I'm just kidding you.

[]

[JOURNEY'S

"DON'T STOP BELIEVIN"' PLAYS]

[OVER SPEAKERS]

Don't stop believin'

ALL [CHANTING]:

Let's go, Oakland!

Let's go, Oakland!

Streetlight

What is wrong with this thing?

It's a dollar, man.

What?

Welcome to Oakland, D.J.

Oh, you gotta be shitting me.

I think this year,

we're gonna show that

it takes a team to win,

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