“Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game” is one of my all time favorite books.  Written in 1993 by Michael Lewis, the book follows Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s, as he uses intensive statistical analysis to identify and obtain “undervalued” baseball players for his low-payroll by usually competitive baseball team.  There are many reasons I like the book: Lewis’s writing is always amusing and interesting; books that like this that look at the inner workings of pro sports are (almost) always enjoyable to read; one of the “stars” of the book was a then unknown former Lowell Spinner named Kevin Youkilis; and, even though the book was about baseball, it demonstrated how valuable statistics and data are in the decision making process. 

Because the book was so good, I was somewhat excited to discover a while ago that a movie version of the book starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane was in the works.  Today, however, we learn that just before filming was to begin, Sony Pictures abandoned the project with no public explanation.  Speculation is that Sony had doubts about the potential box office appeal of the film and didn’t want to risk a substantial chunk of money on a risky project in this tough economy. 

Maybe if Sony’s decision makers were better informed of the city of Lowell’s demonstrated photogenic-ness and got a look at LeLacheur Field during a Spinners game, they might revive the project.