Billy Beane and Alfred E. Newman

We rented the movie POWERBALL with Brad Pitt.  It was not bad, educational, and interesting on how professional baseball players are selected.  I thought it was fast pace or rapid type of decisions made like literally snapping your fingers kind of movie.

The movie is based on true facts of Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletes managing career and his sudden shift to look at players’ statistics and even computerizing the statistics that accurately predicting what any player will likely to do next.

Thus, he had to face-off with his scouts and mangers the gut-feeling  of the old and the new scientific statistical base method.  His job was on the line and  he won.  His team broke winning records.

This movie reminded me of story in MAD Magazine issue #25, that was published in 1955.  It is strange that MAD was writing about it in 1955 and the movie took place in 2002, forty-seven years later and both similar.    Al Jaffee got credit for writing the story and Jack Davis drew it.

 (psstt!  click on each image below to read it.)