Bring On the Myth of Billy Beane
Some have described my baseball fanaticism as sociopathic in that I find great delight in the destruction and demise of my rivals.
Yeah? So?
That’s why I’m super excited to hear the Cubs rumor-mill sound off on a possible Billy Beane signing as the next Northside GM. Like a sick unempathetic psychopath, I enjoy watching the Cubs die a long, painful death. So bring on the Beane!
The notion that Beane is this magical franchise-saving GM is nothing short of a mirage. If you pick through the mountains of excellent work at PoNY you will find plenty of detailed examples why. But for now, I will just focus on one: during his tenure in Oakland (1998 to present) he hasn’t won anything. And if you’ve paid attention to the Oakland A’s the last five years you’ve probably noticed that those teams have been ATROCIOUS.
Yes, going back some years the A’s captured the AL West Division title four times (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006). But since when does being the best out of four teams and nothing else get you all the accolades of a champion? The dude is a flop! His teams are flops! And his club has no fans! Wait til he has to deal with an angry mob of 40,000 Chicagoans in that dump of a stadium as it shakes back and forth, falling apart!
So, you know what to do, Ricketts… bring on the BEANE! We Cardinal fans are lickin’ our chops!
Don’t hate me ‘cuz I’m right.
Peace,
Jeff
Red State Blue State 
He he. Why do have this mental image of you monotoning “…and the lamentations of the Cubbies.”?
Apparently Ricketts went to an advance screening of “Billy Beane the Greatest GM Ever to Grace the Game with His Presence!!!”…er…I mean Moneyball…which is not to say I won’t be rushing out to see it opening weekend myself. 😉
— Kristen
I’ll take Beane for the Cubs. At least he would bring an analytic slant to the GM position. For to long the Cubs have relied only on the “my eyes tell all” type of player evaluation.
I agree 100 per cent about Beane. This is something I’ve campaigned for years. ‘Moneyball’ itself is a myth. The A’s didn’t win by finding some magic formula that had been over looked. They drafted three work horse starters (something teams have been doing for years) in Zito, Mulder and Hudson. They also played in the easiest division in baseball.
http://bluejaysnest.mlblogs.com/
Kristen — Ricketts hasn’t seemed too bright thus far… I wouldn’t put it past him.
Wrigley Regular — Hendry at least got them to win the division. Don’t all the GMs use analytics in building their clubs? Beane’s nothing special, but bring him on!
Blue Jays Nest — Yes. Always had great pitching. Doesn’t take any math to figure that out. The problem is in having no offense.
–Jeff
One of my recent posts is about this subject, check it out: http://yossif.mlblogs.com/2011/08/23/will-he-stay-or-will-he-go-now/
did you take the picture?