'Moneyball', the story of Billy Beane and his revolutionary approach to running the Oakland Athletics since the early-2000's, is scheduled to be released in theaters on September 23. As for the world premiere of the film, A's and movie fans everywhere can expected a big night at the Paramount Theater in Oakland on September 19.
What is 'Moneyball' exactly? As InsideBayArea.com explains:
Baseball scouts for years had relied on batting averages and a gut instinct. Beane, however, shook up conventional wisdom by picking players for their on-base percentages, which boils down to calculating how often batters get on base.
While scouts favored players straight out of high school, Beane preferred college players who had a statistical track record that he and his Harvard-pedigreed assistant Paul DePodesta could track on his laptop. DePodesta became the fictional character Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill in the movie.
What was so interesting about the book -- yes, the original 'Moneyball' was a book written by Michael Lewis in 2003 -- was it was written before the A's had any kind of success or failure with Beane's philosophy. Since implementing the strategy in the draft and with free agents, Oakland has had some success, including two playoff appearances in 2003 and 2006. The team never made the World Series, though they came up just short in '06 with an ALCS appearance.
Tickets for the premiere will be difficult to come by, but be on the lookout in the coming days for any potential promotions and giveaways. For more A's coverage, be sure to check out Athletics Nation.