"Moneyball": 11 Things Baseball Fans Can't Wait to Find out About Billy Beane

By now baseball fans are well aware that Michael Lewis' best selling book "Moneyball" will be brought to life on the big screen in September 2011.

The trailer for the film shows glimpses of what went on with Beane and the A's. It's not clear how close the movie is to the book, but like most books the adaptation to a movie could have some things added or  deleted to make the movie better.

As a lot of A's fans have probably read the book, I understand that the general baseball fan may not have.

One thing the book does for sure is give us a full on view of Billy Beane and what he is all about.

I won't divulge too much information but if you have not read the book I guess this is somewhat of a spoiler alert.

Following is a list of 11 things that I think fans can't wait to know about the charismatic General Manager of the Oakland A's.

The list consists of things mostly from the book that jumped out at me as must know material.

Beane Could Have Been the Next John Elway

Well, he could have been his replacement anyway. 

When Beane played baseball in San Diego California he was one of the most highly sought after prospects in the nation.

As the MLB Draft was drawing near Beane started to make it clear that he wanted to go to college. 

His college of choice was Stanford University.

There was one scout, Roger Jongeward from the New York Mets that wouldn't accept the fact that Beane would not enter the draft.

When faced with the decision to play pro ball or go to Stanford, where the Football coach said Billy was good enough to take over for John Elway, Beane had a tough decision to make.

Billy Has a Charming Way About Him

This one may not be a surprise, Billy is well known for his charm and charisma,below is a quote from "Moneyball" that might add some perspective on Billy and his charm.

Billy is calling then Met's GM Steve Phillips to inquire about a trade, Billy was in trade mode, or what I would call shark mode. When the secretary answers, this is what happened, "Denise," says Billy, "Billy Beane,  Vice President and General Manager of the Oakland Athletics.  Denise who is the best looking GM in the game?"

This is a guy who knows how to pick his spots. Sure, this is a guy who will knock a desk over in a fit of rage, but when it is time to turn on the charm he seems to be able to flip the switch in the blink of an eye.

Lenny Dykstra Thought Beane Should Have Been a Star

When Lenny was called up to the big club and stayed, Dykstra would later say in his book that Beane should have been the one who stayed.

Beane and Dykstra were good friends and roommates during their time together with the Mets.

"A Walk Is as Good as a Hit"

The trailer for "Moneyball" gives you a view into the relationship with Beane and A's first baseman Scott Hatteberg.

Billy took a special liking to Scott's approach to hitting which involved patience and a knack for getting on base.

As you already may or may not know, Billy Beane does not like hackers at the plate.  Beane is a strong believer in on base percentage, so yes in Billy's mind a walk is as good as a hit.

You Don't Need the "Face"

Not to pick on Jeremy Giambi here, but what I'm getting at is that BIlly and his crew didn't care if you had the "face" or what you looked like for that matter.

If you possessed what Billy was looking for, he didn't care if you were skinny, fat, short or whatever.

By the way when Beane was being scouted he was considered to have the 'face.'

Does Beane Watch the Games?

Billy does not watch the games.

The movie looks as though it portrays this aspect as Beane getting the play-by-play via text from the Peter Brand character.

The truth is that Beane carried, ( maybe he still does), a little white box that gave him satellite feeds of MLB scores.

Beane didn't just sit and stare at the box the entire game though, he had a few different things he would occupy his time with.  The movie looks as though it will touch on this, as well as the reasons he didn't watch the games.

I have to leave something for the imagination.

How Much Say Do Managers Have Under Beane?

Former Oakland A's General Manager Sandy Alderson was always perplexed by the fact that baseball was run by middle management.  He seemed to think the managers had too much power.

Tony Larussa was the manager under Alderson though, and he usually let him do his thing.

When Beane took over for Alderson this would not be the case in Oakland anymore.

For more details, read the book or you can wait for the movie.

Like I said I can't give everything away.

Is Billy as Cool and Calm as He Seems?

Along with Beane's charm came a temper as well.

Without getting into to much detail, I will say this, Billy can be a hot head. The trailer shows this, so this is no big secret.

According to the book when he was in the minors, guys would come down from the bullpen to see what Billy would do if he struck out.

Beane is very competitive and his temper comes with the territory.

Did Billy Enjoy Shooting Old Yeller?

What in the world does this mean? Hold on let me explain. The answer is no, but he did reap the benefits and the credit.

When Beane decided it was time to let Jeremy Giambi go, according to the book "Moneyball" he would say it was "like shooting Old Yeller."

The A's traded him to the  Philadelphia Phillies for John Mabry.  The book indicated that Billy really didn't know who he was.

When the A's traded Giambi their record was 20-25, the two months following the trade the club stood at 60-46, making Beane look like the hero when in fact he just let Giambi go for a player he had no idea about.

Why Did We See Art Howe Standing on the Top Steps of the Dugot Most of the Time?

Because he was told to do so by Beane.

The author of "Moneyball" Michael Lewis makes reference to this in the book saying,"Billy had told Art how and where to stand during a game so that the players would be forced to look up at him."

In my opinion Billy thinks of the manager of his team as a prop, if Billy could bare to watch the games I think he would probably do the job himself.