Among those at the “Moneyball” premiere last night at Oakland’s Paramount Theater was KQED’s Jon Brooks, who snapped the photo and blogs about the gala evening at KQED’s News Fix. An excerpt:
The lights went up to big applause. I turned around in my seat and who did I see just two rows behind me? Billy Beane. He had been introduced pre-movie as someone who "didn't want to be there." But honestly he looked like he was in all his glory. And who wouldn't be? I thought about pointing at him and shouting, "Hey Brad Pitt!" but I didn't feel like a punch in the nose with a BART ride still ahead of me.
Plus I really like Billy Beane. Moneyball is a little counter-intuitive from a narrative standpoint - a story where the beancounters are the heroes and the intuitionists are the dumbbells. One might say that Billy Beane and his ilk are the people that brought you the romance of the spreadsheet -- the base-on-balls as a majestic act of rationality, and not a missed opportunity to hit one 600 feet.
Some may never forgive him for that. But he got big applause last night in Oakland, on-screen and off.
