53 Moneyball Quotes About The Beauty Of Baseball
Are you a fan of Moneyball? Well, then you’ve come to the right place, because in this article we’re covering some of the best Moneyball quotes from this legendary baseball movie.
Moneyball is a movie about the groundbreaking approach to baseball success that challenged conventional baseball wisdom with data and statistics. It didn’t just change the game, it rewrote the entire rulebook.
Moneyball focuses on the 2002 Oakland Athletics, who prior to the start of the 2002 season, lose their three best players in free agency.
Billy Beane, the general manager of the team, finds himself with his back against the wall and very little money to spend. As a result, he decides to re-build his team with an audacious strategy — he builds a roster strictly based on advanced analytics, which was unheard of in baseball at the time.
When people finally realized what Beane was doing, no one believed that his approach would be successful. However, the 2002 Oakland A’s defied all of the doubters, winning 102 games and achieving one of the longest winning streaks in baseball history.
And although they didn’t end up with a World Series trophy that year, that team changed the game of baseball forever.
So whether you’re a die-hard baseball fan, or just someone who loves a good underdog story, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy these quotes from Moneyball.
Let’s dive in!
Best Moneyball Quotes
- “But if we win, on our budget, with this team… we’ll have changed the game. And that’s what I want.” ~ Billy Beane
- “There is an epidemic failure within the game to understand what is really happening, and this leads people who run major league baseball teams to misjudge their players and mismanage their teams.” ~ Peter Brandt
- “Jeremy’s about to realize that the ball went 60 feet over the fence. He hit a home run and didn’t even realize it.” ~ Peter Brand
- “This guy’s got an attitude, and we need that. He’s the kind of guy who walks into a room and has already been there for two minutes.” ~ A’s scout
- “I made one decision in my life based on money. And I swore I would never do it again.” ~ Billy Beane
- “I did 47 player evaluations…actually I did 51. I don’t know why I lied just now.” ~ Peter Brandt
- “The 1906 White Sox! The 1947 New York Yankees have company! 19 in a row…they’re going for the all-time American League record.” ~ Announcer
- “It’s about getting things down to one number. Using stats the way we read them, we can find value in players that nobody else can see.” ~ Peter Brandt
- “In order to make the postseason, we need to win at least 99 games. We need to score at least 814 runs in order to win those games, and we need to allow no more than 645 runs.” ~ Peter Brandt
- “Billy, this is Chad Bradford. He’s a relief pitcher and one of most undervalued players in baseball. His defect is that he throws funny. This guy could be not just the best pitcher in our bullpen, but one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball.” ~ Peter Brandt
- “The first guy through the wall always gets bloody.” ~ John Henry
- “You won the exact same number of games that the Yankees won, but the Yankees spent $1.4 million per win, and you paid $260,000.” ~ John Henry
- “Baseball thinking is medieval. They are asking all the wrong questions, and if I say it to anybody I’m ostracized.” ~ Peter Brandt
- “Your goal shouldn’t be to buy players. Your goal should be to buy wins, and in order to buy wins, you need to buy runs.” ~ Peter Brand
- “Most people see Johnny Damon and they see a star who’s worth $7.5 million a year. When I see Johnny Damon, what I see is an imperfect understanding of where runs come from.” ~ Peter Brandt
- “It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball.” ~ Billy Beane
- “For $41 million, you built a playoff team. You lost Damon, Giambi, Isringhausen, Pena…and you won more games without them than you did with them.” ~ John Henry
Billy Beane Quotes From Moneyball
Enjoying this list of quotes so far? Then you’ll probably also enjoy these Yogi Berra quotes or this list of Derek Jeter quotes.
If you’d just prefer to keep reading, then here’s some more of the best Moneyball quotes from Billy Beane.
- “If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we will lose to the Yankees out there.” ~ Billy Beane
- “He gets on base a lot Rocco, do you think I care if it’s a walk or a hit?” ~ Billy Beane
- “It’s an unfair game. You know what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies!” ~ Billy Beane
- “You don’t have a crystal ball. You can’t look at a kid and predict his future anymore than I can.” ~ Billy Beane
- “Pack your bags Pete! I just bought you from the Cleveland Indians.” ~ Billy Beane
- “You’re right…I may lose my job because of this. In which case I’m a 44 year old guy with a high school diploma and a daughter I’d like to be able to send to college.” ~ Billy Beane
- “Everyone wants to attack, stop trying to attack. Let the game come to you. There’s no clock on this thing, this is a war of attrition.” ~ Billy Beane
- “I can’t stand losing. I hate losing. I hate losing even more than I wanna win, and there’s a difference.” ~ Billy Beane
- “Guys you’re just talking, going on and on like this is business as usual, but it’s not.” ~ Billy Beane
- “They’re professional ball players, just be straight with them. Would you rather get a bullet to the head, or five to the chest and bleed out?” ~ Billy Beane
- “We are card counters at the blackjack table, and we’re gonna turn the odds on the casino.” ~ Billy Beane
- “I wasn’t gonna fire you Art, but now I will.” ~ Billy Beane
- “It’s a problem that you think we need to explain ourselves…don’t, to anyone. I’m gonna see this thing through for better or worse.” ~ Billy Beane
- “If you don’t win the last game of the season, nobody cares.” ~ Billy Beane
- “I’ve been in this game for a long time. I’m not in it for the record; I’ll tell you that.” ~ Billy Beane
- “No, I pay you to get on first base, not to get thrown out at second.” ~ Billy Beane
- “Exactly, he sounds like an Oakland A already.” ~ Billy Beane
- “I really wanted to win here. I really did.” ~ Billy Beane
- “His on base percentage is all we’re looking at now, and Jeremy gets on base quite a lot for a guy who only costs $285,000.” ~ Billy Beane
- “There are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then, there’s 50 feet of crap…and then there’s us.” ~ Billy Beane
Motivational Moneyball Quotes
Let’s wrap up this list with some motivational quotes from Moneyball that will inspire you to crush your goals.
- “It’s a process, it’s a process, it’s a process.” ~ Billy Beane
- “Anybody who’s not rebuilding their team using your model is a dinosaur. They’ll be sitting on their couch in October, watching the Boston Red Sox win the World Series.” ~ John Henry
- “One of the greatest things about money is that it buys a lot of things. One of which is the luxury to disregard what baseball likes and doesn’t like.” ~ John Henry
- “Adapt or die.” ~ Billy Beane
- “I don’t think we’re asking the right question here. I think the question we should be asking is…do we believe in this thing or not?” ~ Billy Beane
- “When your enemy is making mistakes, don’t interrupt them.” ~ Billy Beane
- “You won the same number of games as the New York Yankees, but the Yankees spent $1.4 million per win, and you paid $260,000.” ~ John Henry
- “We’re all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children’s game, we just don’t know when that’s gonna be. Some of us are told at 18, some of us are told at 40, but we’re all told.” ~ Scout
- “People are overlooked for a variety of reasons and perceived flaws, but Bill James and mathematics cut straight through that.” ~ Peter Brandt
- “You’re not doing it for the money, you’re doing it for what the money says. And it says what it says to any player that makes big money — that they’re worth it.” ~ Peter Brandt
- “To have a winning streak this long you’ve gotta be good, but there’s an element of randomness to it.” ~ Bob Costas
- “And the Oakland A’s are gonna win 16 consecutive games! This is the longest win streak in baseball in 25 years!” ~ Broadcaster
- “This team was completely written off, how do you explain this? How do you explain some of the victories that they’ve come up with?” ~ Espn broadcaster
- “Of the 20,000 players for us to consider, I believe there is a championship team of 25 people that we can afford, because everyone else in baseball undervalues them.” ~ Peter Brandt
Final Thoughts
Well there you have it, we’ve come to the end of these inspirational Moneyball quotes! I hope you’ve enjoyed these lines from one of the best sports movies of all-time.
Moneyball isn’t just a movie about baseball, it’s an incredibly uplifting movie that’s packed with powerful life lessons.
If you have big dreams for your life, then there will always be moments of self-doubt and struggle. However, the magic of the 2002 Oakland A’s should remind you that even if the odds are stacked against you, you can still prove everyone wrong.
So use these quotes from Moneyball as fuel to step up to the plate and swing for the fences.
You only get one chance at life, so what’s the alternative?
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