Why the Bay Area Is the Sports Capital of the World

The Real Life Moneyball

September 21, 2011; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane at a press conference before the game against the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports

If you had written a script of the sequel of Moneyball, it would not have been better than the A’s 2011-2012 season.

First of all, how many teams can have a movie filmed about them, with their GM played by some actor named Brad Pitt?

Not very many, and that attests to the fabulous job that the small market and undervalued A’s have done to stay competitive amidst all the spending happening around them.

The A’s roster is literally a revolving door, and it is truly a vicious cycle. Once a player gets good enough to test free agency, the A’s most definitely do not have the cash to re-sign him, and they have to put their heads together and replace him (case and point, as shown in Moneyball, Jason Giambi. In fact, one memorable quote from the movie was, “We are a farm system for the Yankees and Red Sox.”)

Yet somehow, the A’s are a solid team more often than not, despite the constant banding together of misfits and veterans way past their prime.

The Angels overpaid a ton for Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols? Well, the A’s spent absolutely nothing to call up Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson, yet somehow they won the AL West last season and are on pace to have a much better record than the Halos in 2013.

The biggest attribution to this is the pure brainpower and genius of GM Billy Beane. While the team across the Bay is racking up championships and playing in a world-class stadium, the A’s are stuck playing a bunch of career minor leaguers and washed up veterans in the garbage dump that is the O.Co Coliseum.

For some reason, however, they’re succeeding. And that is deserving of a ton of more attention and credit than they receive.