The premiere of the film Moneyball has been a big boost this week for Oakland, particularly with Brad Pitt showing up Monday night at the Paramount Theatre. But there’s also a compelling case being made that the bestselling book on which the film was based helped prompt the downfall of Oakland’s beloved baseball team.
Veteran sportswriter Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated points out that other Major League Baseball teams took note when Michael Lewis’s book on A’s General Manager Billy Beane hit the New York Times bestseller list. The book, Moneyball, revealed Beane’s secrets for creating a winning team on shoestring budget (Beane relies heavily on baseball stats to judge players’ abilities).
