Batter up! This movie is a hit!

Some true stories are truer than others.

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Some “true” stories are truer than others.

Moneyball is loosely based on the true story of the 2002 Oakland A’s series. It shows Billy Beaner (Brad Pitt), the general manager trying to reinvent the A’s because they aren’t making enough as the other baseballs teams in the league. It’s rated PG-13 and is directed by Bennett Miller.

At the beginning, about half of Billy’s players were being approached by baseball teams with offers of higher pay. This encouraged him to approach things differently so he could maintain his talent and make his team more successful. He recruited Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), an economist from Yale who had never played baseball but knew how to make a winning team. Brand believed that a winning team isn’t made up by the best players; it’s made up by individual stars with certain talents even though other teams might see as “untalented.” He bought different players and pitched the ideas to other scouts and coaches to see how they felt about what he was trying to accomplish.

The film was good even though I’m not a sports fan. It was interesting to learn about the hardships of running a major league team. I recommend this movie if you like dramas about sports. Empire.com said, “You don’t need to understand anything of baseball to get behind this, a chest-swelling story about second chances.”