Athletics Nation

So, in case you didn't hear, Moneyball received six Oscar nominations yesterday; Best Picture, Lead Actor, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing and Sound Mixing. From Moneyball's Facebook Page:

Brad Pitt on his Best Actor Oscar nomination for Moneyball: "This one was a little more special because of the uphill battle to get [Moneyball] made. In the past people would have run for the hills when things went wrong but (Sony Pictures chief) Amy Pascal really doubled down and made sure this film happened. So I think this nomination for me carries a little more [significance] than previous ones."

Think it'll win any?

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. The MLB Network has no idea I'm writing about their new show, but I hope they know it's really fun. Set as a tournament-style competition, the show pits representatives from all 30 teams (plus an MLB representative and a Hall of Fame representative) against their division rivals; winner advances on to the next round. According to the official description, "Participants include front office personnel, equipment managers, scoreboard operators and museum curators."

The first of two episodes last night saw the Mets' Statistical Analyst beat the Phillies' Informational Analyst. The second episode showed the Rays' Assistant, Research and Development topping the Orioles' Coordinator, Baseball Information. I'd like to point out that I was watching the show with oaktownpower, who I would send out against anyone in the tournament; just ask The Schwab.

So the show is set up into 9 categories (innings). Contestants are given a category (such as: Teams Who Have 3+ World Series Titles In Franchise History), and the contestants then take turns naming a team until one person misses an answer. By the way, Baltimore? Who knew?

oaktownpower knew all but one or two of the teams/players in each category. I would chime in occasionally. Players with the most doubles since 2005? Matt Holliday. Got it. The A's have won more than 3 World Series Titles. Got that. Since 1956, there have been 14 pitchers who have pitched perfect games. Hey, Dallas Braden! I know that one too! I'm awesome at baseball trivia.

So, you would think the Moneyball team would throw out a stat guy, right? Nope. The A's are sending someone that a lot of AN knows; David Nosti, one of their Account Managers. How will he do? Find out on February 7th, when Dave is pitted against the Mariners' Special Assistant to the GM. The show will run two episodes a night on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays until the conclusion of the tournament.

One interesting thing that I noticed, which is particularly relevant if you subscribe to the idea of the East Coast bias in baseball, is the trouble that the Mets' and the Phillies' representatives had with what I thought was a simple question: Name the 20 players who appeared in the most games for the San Francisco Giants. I could name probably 10 off the top of my head. They got three between them. Granted, we probably know more than most about the San Francisco Giants with the team right across the Bay, but still. These were NL guys!

So how would you do on the show? Can you name the eight managers that Manny Ramirez played for? Or the teams who have 3+ World Series titles in franchise history? The players with the most doubles since 2005?

Best named category? "Guys Who Gave Jeter a Ride Home"

Hardest category? It was a tie between "Most Wins By Foreign-Born Pitchers" and "Most Home Runs Hit In Career Without Ever Leading the League in a Single Season". Neither oaktownpower nor myself, could get ONE answer, and there were three players on that list that played for the A's. In case you want to take a stab at it, there are 14 of them.

Did anyone else catch the show?