Comments on: The 1993 Phillies were the inspiration for “Moneyball?” Really?

By: bdawk20

bdawk20 — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:06:42 +0000

Well this just helps the anti-sabremetrics folks, such as myself. The ’93 Phillies were the epitome of the steroid era in MLB. Sure they walked and took pitches, but when they hit and benefited from those walks and pitches, it was a juiced up Lenny Dykstra or Pete Incaviglia or Wes Chamberlain driving them in!

By: love4cle

love4cle — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:24:57 +0000

Am I the only one who thinks Billy Bob should have played Billy Beane in Moneyball??

By: Walk

Walk — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:12:44 +0000

That phillies team was one of my favorite all time teams. I should note that this is coming from a braves fan too. As a man of mediocre looks my self esteem was raised just seeing those guys deplane in town, and im kidding, well a little bit any way. I did love to watch that team. Eisenreich, kruk, incaviglia, daulton, kinda forgot 3b name holland or something, but those guys had great swings. I truly loved to watch them hit and run the bases. I think kruks famous slide may have happened that season too, one where he used his jaw to steam shovel his way into third. And to cap it off the world series they lost but i consider one of best i have ever watched.

By: patg1041

patg1041 — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:30:07 +0000

I have to be honest, I really haven’t been impressed with Billy Beane in a while. It’s almost like he took Moneyball in too extreme of a direction. For all of the emphasis on OBP and workIng the count, they haven’t developed hitters in a long time. Walking is great, but this isn’t little league. Major League pitchers aren’t going to walk in runs. At some point you need hitters to drive the base runners in. I’d give him more credit for the influence of saber metrics throughout baseball, but he didn’t even start that movement in Oakland. Sandy Alderson did. So basically, Beane is a more or less average GM who to some extent was lucky in the early 2000′s that other organizations were really just starting to understand sabermetrics. Since that time, it really just kind of feels like he hasn’t been able to adjust and adapt to the rest of the league.

By: crankyfrankie

crankyfrankie — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:58:42 +0000

I heard Beane was scouting stadium locations to bring the A’s back to Philadelphia and build a new Connie Mack Stadium.

By: JBerardi

JBerardi — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:46:20 +0000

So you’d rather have Brian Sabean running your team, then?

World Series titles aren’t the be all and end of of GM performance.

By: The Baseball Idiot

The Baseball Idiot — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:41:14 +0000

I’ve always thought we Royals fans to be completely happy people who never let the small things in life bother us.

By: cktai

cktai — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:14:12 +0000

“Which should be awesome because some of the most ardent anti-sabermetrics dudes on this blog are Phillies fans.”

Some of the most ardent pro-sabermetrics dudes on this blog are Phillies fans too. And everybody loves Chase Utley. Especially fWAR.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:10:13 +0000

When the Troggs sang “Wild Thing! I think I love you.” they were anticipating Joe Carters homer.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:59:53 +0000

For fun, I’m just going to go ahead and say Moneyball was inspired by Mitch Williams.

By: phillyphever

phillyphever — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:42:53 +0000

If the Rays can make it to the WS with their limited funds, the A’s should have at least once made it to the WS. Face it, Beane cannot build a winner. Hell, IDK why he still has a job.

By: chiadam

chiadam — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:36:21 +0000

Moneyball is the best!! It totally deserves the naueseating level of attention it gets! Just look at all the rings Beane has! Oh, wait….

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:26:50 +0000

That Royals fact just blows my mind. Wow. No wonder the fans are, uhhh, less than happy.

By: bloodysock

bloodysock — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:53:36 +0000

Who would have thought the Reds would have had a higher payroll than the Yankees in 1993.

And the Royals actually had a higher payroll in 1993 ($40.1 million) than in 2011 ($36.1 million).

By: oikosjeremy

oikosjeremy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:49:43 +0000

Are the thumbs down from people who were hoping Craig would be in Florida that week?

By: paperlions

paperlions — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:26:08 +0000

Damn, Jonny. I got to “you guys can shut up any…” and spit soda on my screen.

By: dw3dw

dw3dw — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:22:18 +0000

Which decade? Since Beane took over in 1997, only six teams in MLB have won more games: the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, Cardinals, Angels and Giants. Too bad they haven’t sunk a little lower–drafting higher would help them stockpile more talent.

By: fuggles7

fuggles7 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:20:42 +0000

Probably Lenny was actually picking up the tab for the hoes at that time instead of stiffing them.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:16:37 +0000

You are absolutely correct Jonny.

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:15:32 +0000

Wait! Are you saying the Blue Jays BOUGHT a Championship!? [GASP!] (j/k)

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:14:59 +0000

Sounds like a fun event. Note he wasn’t doing this in the Bay Area.

Let’s start a rumor:

- Billy Beane is job hunting!
- “The owner signed Cespedes. I was in Philadelphia”
- The A’s are scouting relocation possibilities!

You choose which one, or all, to believe.

By: badmamainphilliesjamas

badmamainphilliesjamas — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:54:55 +0000

Beane also recalled his days rooming with Lenny Dykstra . . .

“And believe it or not,” Beane said, shattering a popular stereotype of Dykstra, “he was the neatest roommate I ever had.”

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:51:59 +0000

Yeah, back then the Jays had the largest payroll of any team (46M), And the Phills were paying out like 45% less. The Rockies payroll was almost 9 million in 1993.

Wow, have times changed….

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:47:48 +0000

You guys can just shut up about that anytime. Now would be cool. j/k I still have issues with Mitch Williams over that.

By: phisticuffs

phisticuffs — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:42:49 +0000

The best part of the Villanova Moneyball panel was the fact that Omar Minaya was a featured speaker. Nothing says Moneyball like throwing tons of cash at aging, declining players!

By: randygnyc

randygnyc — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:40:58 +0000

MITCHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

By: cur68

cur68 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:37:27 +0000

“I also have fond memories of the 1993 Phillies team”
Me too, PC, me too. Great days, summed up and capped off by the ultimate home run ever hit an ballgame ever.

By: mdpickles

mdpickles — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:20:19 +0000

For one whole year, and at no other time in his career, Lenny Dykstra was the ultimate leadoff batter. Took a ton of pitches and fouled off a ton more. By the time Kruk and Incaviglia came to bat, the pitcher was in a full sweat, 25 pitches deep and 6 throws over 1b to keep Lenny close. If Lenny got on second, he did what he could to steal signs. Now THAT is Moneyball!

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:19:30 +0000

I will be in Arizona from March 6-12th.

By: phillyphever

phillyphever — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:15:46 +0000

So the 1993 Phillies were one of the reasons why Oakland has become the laughing stock of the decade? Sorry A’s fans.

And Craig, any chance you head to ST sites for NBCSports Network?