Moneyball Page #8

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SUZANNE:

Dombrowski's on again, on 3.

Yeah?

Okay, 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.

Go tell Pena he's gotta pack.

You want me to tell Pena?

Part of the job.

What about Giambi?

You want me to tell him too?

I'll tell him.

Excuse me, Carlos?

Yeah?

Can I speak with you a minute?

Yeah.

Carlos, you've been

traded to the Tigers.

This is Jay Palmer's number.

He's the traveling secretary

for the team.

He's expecting your call.

He'll take care of everything.

Is that it?

Yes.

Okay.

[SIGHS]

Okay.

Art, you got a minute?

Yeah. Take a seat.

You can't start Pena at first tonight.

You'll have to start Hatteberg.

I don't wanna go

The lineup card is mine,

and that's all.

BILLY:

That lineup card is definitely yours.

I'm just saying

you can't start Pena at first.

Well...

I am starting him at first.

BILLY:
I don't think so.

He plays for Detroit now.

You traded Pena?

Yeah.

And Menechino, Hiljus, Tam

are all being sent down.

You are outside your mind.

BILLY:
Yeah. Cuckoo.

You wanted to see me?

Yeah, Jeremy, grab a seat.

Jeremy, you've been

traded to the Phillies.

This is Ed Wade's number.

He's a good guy, 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]

Jeremy's gone too.

You're killing this team.

Art, I can do this all day long.

ART:

Hey.

You agree with this?

Hundred percent.

You want this door closed?

[]

[PLAYERS CHATTERING]

Scotty H.

Sir?

Go field some grounders.

Yes, sir.

Everybody, listen up.

You may not look

like a winning team...

but you are one.

So...

play like one tonight.

Oh, sh*t.

When you're getting your pitch,

you're hitting .625, massive.

You're crushing the ball.

But when you swing at things--

Your pitch is middle-in.

When you're

swinging low and away,

you're batting .158.

Every at bat's

like a hand of blackjack.

Every card that's dealt,

your odds change.

So every first-pitch strike,

your batting average goes

down about 75 points.

Seventy-five points.

He should throw 100

pitches before the fifth.

You wanna knock

that starter out.

I want you taking at bats off the 10th

and 11th pitcher by the end.

This is your basic breakdown

of the pitches,

where you should

be hitting them, why.

So you want us to walk more?

Good question. Yes.

Mr. Justice.

Had a few thoughts.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Gonna teach me some things?

Excuse me?

Never seen a GM

talk to players like that.

You never seen a GM

who was a player.

Huh.

[BAT CRACKS]

We got a problem, David?

No, it's okay.

I know your routine.

It's patter. It's for effect.

[BAT CRACKS]

But it's for them, all right?

That sh*t ain't for me.

Oh, you're special?

You're paying me 7 million bucks

a year, man, so, yeah,

maybe I am, a little bit.

No, man,

I ain't paying you 7.

Yankees are paying

half your salary.

That's what the New York Yankees

think of you.

They're paying you $3.5 million

to play against them.

Where you going with this, Billy?

David, you're 37.

How about you and I be honest about

what each of us want out of this?

I wanna milk the last ounce

of baseball you got in you.

And you wanna stay in the show.

Let's do that.

I'm not paying you

for the player you used to be.

I'm paying you for the player

you are right now.

You're smart. You get what

we're trying to do here.

Make an example

for the younger guys.

Be a leader.

Can you do that?

All right. I got you.

We're cool?

We're cool.

Scotty H.

Yo, what's up, D.J.?

Picking machine.

[CHUCKLES]

How you liking

first base, man?

It's coming along.

Picking it up.

You know, tough transition,

but I'm starting to feel better with it.

Yeah?

Yeah.

What's your biggest fear?

A baseball being hit

in my general direction.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

That's funny.

Seriously, what is it?

No, seriously, that is.

Well, hey, good luck with that.

Be social out there.

Social.

Social. Like a greeter at the Gap.

Guy steps into your office,

chat him up.

You're well-read.

You went to school.

Yeah.

Have some fun. Relax.

Everyone wants to attack.

Quit trying to attack.

Let the game come to you, man.

There's no clock on this thing.

This is a war of attrition.

If I take more, I could

even take a few strikes,

but I'll get walked more.

You get on base, we win.

You don't, we lose.

And I hate losing,

Chavvie. I hate it.

I hate losing more

than I even wanna win.

And there's

a difference.

No bunts.

Bunts is an out.

Even if the third baseman is back?

No bunting whatsoever.

If someone bunts on us,

throw it to first.

Don't be a hero

and go to second.

Let them make the mistakes.

When your enemy's

making mistakes,

don't interrupt them.

They're giving you an out.

Just giving it to you.

Take it.

Say thank you.

Another thing.

No more stealing.

That's what I do,

what you pay me to do.

I pay you to get on first,

not get thrown out at second.

This is a process.

It's a process,

it's a process. Okay?

[]

ANNOUNCER 1:

Jason takes it, goes to second for

the only out, and the A's get a run.

ANNOUNCER 2:

Jermaine Dye homers again,

his second in two games.

And the A's are still hanging in.

We'll get you scores here.

The A's pull within two of the

Angels for the wild-card chase.

ANNOUNCER 3:

The Reds have now dropped

five in a row

as Oakland beats them

in the beginning of this series 5 to 3.

ANNOUNCER 2:

Tejada walks.

Ball four.

ANNOUNCER 4:

Ball four and Hatteberg walks.

ANNOUNCER 5:

What is happening in Oakland?

The A's have won seven in a row.

A lot of excitement.

What a winning streak.

But how about the calming

influence of Art Howe?

When you say "your source,"

if it's not me or Peter,

they don't know.

ANNOUNCER 5 [ON TV]:

He's managing

an unorthodox team.

BILLY:
Right.

It's not a perfect roster.

But right now, Art Howe is

the reason this team is winning.

He deserves the credit.

Great, thanks. Bye.

Did you hear that?

I heard "seven in a row."

You get the Cleveland matchups?

Yeah, right here.

[]

Voos.

Billy.

That smell is getting worse.

I'm on it.

What are we doing?

Splitting it in half?

Both sides of the plate.

Got it.

Huddy. Mix it up.

Yes, sir.

Trust your slider, yeah?

Yes, sir.

You guys quit distracting him.

You couldn't hit that sh*t

last night with a paddle.

You gotta see more pitches.

All right, Billy.

Patience.

Hey, David.

Hey, Billy.

Great at bats.

Thank you.

Really quality.

Thank you.

ANNOUNCER 1 [ON TV]:

Base hit to right field.

Tejada scores.

Chavez coming in.

The ball gets past Guiel.

The A's, from 5-nothing down,

now lead 6 to 5.

ANNOUNCER 2:

The Oakland A's are completely

out of hand at the moment.

They are an AL-best 17 and 4

this month.

They also took back-to-back series

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