http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playo..._jim&id=2619191


OAKLAND, Calif. -- Genius has a short shelf life in baseball.

Theo Epstein, who could have routed Ken Jennings, Stephen Hawking and
Wikipedia in "Jeopardy" just two years ago, can no longer tie his own
shoes. Ozzie Guillen, who could have brokered peace in the Middle East
last fall, now can't even get his own dog to obey him. And Joe Torre,
who once could have lowered taxes, balanced New York's budget and still
solved the city's crime and homeless problems, can no longer read a
subway map.

But amid our "You're Exactly as Smart as This Year's Winning
Percentage" sports culture, here's a general manager who annually --
and deservedly so -- sits atop baseball's Mensa list: Oakland's Billy
Beane.

It isn't easy fielding a team when you can only offer free agents food
stamps, postdated checks and IOUs, but Beane manages somehow. Because
of Oakland's financial situation, the Athletics have lost All-Star
starters Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson, MVPs Miguel Tejada and Jason
Giambi, plus All-Stars Jermaine Dye, Johnny Damon and Keith Foulke.
Yet, they've remained competitive, reaching the postseason five times
in the past seven years and finishing in second place the other two
seasons. They won the American League West title for the fourth time in
the past seven seasons and open the ALCS on Tuesday night against the
Detroit Tigers.

Asked how much of Oakland's success is due to Beane, Oakland third
baseman Eric Chavez replied, "Everything."

"He always has young starting pitchers that stay healthy," Chavez said.
"He's always done a good job of bringing veteran guys in who fit well
in the clubhouse. And they have an eye for talent. The young guys they
bring up [come through]. A lot of organizations bring up guys and a
year or two later they're out of the ball game. The scouting people
here do a good job. And Billy ultimately [has] the final answer of who
he wants."

Beane was portrayed in Michael Lewis' controversial book, "Moneyball,"
as a baseball genius, a shrewd new-age general manager who saw ways to
exploit a system that often appeared to be built against him. People
may quibble with some of the book's specific arguments, but they can't
argue with Beane's perennial success. The hardest thing a general
manager can do is compete year after year with a limited budget, but
Beane has. Oakland's $62 million payroll not only is the lowest among
the eight postseason teams, it is closer to Pittsburgh's than
Detroit's.

Maybe Beane really is a genius.

"Billy knows baseball, and he's very smart," Tigers general manager
Dave Dombrowski said. "If you ran your organization by how it was
stated in 'Moneyball,' you'd have trouble. But Billy doesn't do that.
People forget. He was a baseball player. He was a tremendous prospect.
He played in the majors. He was a scout. He worked and learned under
Sandy Alderson. He knows baseball."

Dombrowski knows all too well the impermanence of the "genius" label.
When he won the World Series with the Marlins in 1997, he was so smart
he could have advised Alan Greenspan on interest rates. But he lost so
many brain cells by the time the Tigers lost an AL-record 119 games in
2003 that he needed help getting out of the elevator. Now that Detroit
is in the ALCS, his IQ has jumped so high he solves Sudoku while
learning Japanese on tape.

"You get to the point where I don't even pay attention to that stuff,"
Dombrowski said. "We're at a point nowadays where we get so much
coverage and so many articles, sports talk shows, the Internet ...
there are a lot of good baseball people, and sometimes they get branded
unfairly, sometimes they get branded fairly. Sometimes things work out,
and sometimes they don't work out. But if you're in this game for an
extended period of time, it normally means you're doing something
that's working out."

Obviously, Oakland's success goes well beyond Beane. Manager Ken Macha
and all the scouts, coaches and players throughout the club's system
have worked hard to improve. This season's team may not be as talented
as those in the past, but its fielding and fundamentals are better.

Most teams, however, have people at all levels working just as hard to
improve. And yet not many teams actually do improve. Especially not
when they're losing star players almost every season as Oakland has.

"You get used to it, but you don't have to like it," Chavez said. "It's
not fun. I've lost a lot of close friends. But the one thing that makes
you happy is that we've been competitive and keep winning."

Midway through the division series with Minnesota, Beane recalled an
ugly moment after the Athletics blew a 2-0 lead in the 2003 Division
Series with Boston. He was asked repeatedly what went wrong and how he
could guarantee Oakland would advance to the next round in future
years. Frustrated, he snapped back, "Give me a $200 million payroll,
and I'll guarantee it!"

Turns out he only needed $62 million. But if he can win consistently on
that and less, think what Beane could do with $200 million.

"He may not do anything," Chavez said. "It's like when David Ortiz said
he'd like to see what Derek Jeter could do in Boston's lineup. But you
can't do that. You can't improvise and play roles. All you can do is
judge people by what they've got. He may blow the money. He may have
$200 million and blow it."

There's always that chance, but somehow I doubt it.

Oakland could win its first world championship in 17 years this month.
Or it could win the ALCS against Detroit and lose the World Series. Or
the A's could get swept by Detroit and go home to play golf. But no
matter what happens, the next two weeks won't tell us nearly as much
about Beane's genius as a general manager as the past seven years
already have.

If he isn't a genius, he could at least give New England Patriots coach
Bill Belichick some pointers.

"Tonawanda Kardex" <tonawandakardex@gmail.com> wrote in message


Now that the A's have finally gotten past the first round in the playoffs,
he can at least give Steve Mariucci some pointers.

- Gary Rosen

"Gary Rosen" <garymrosen@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:IbydnYPIWpeVPbHYnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@comcast.com. ..

Better hold off on that, I just remembered Mariucci won a couple
of games.

- Gary Rosen

So they won the AL Worst and beat the Twins (who looked like shit).
I'll bet the Tigers sweep them.

"Gary Rosen" <garymrosen@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:bsSdneCWFarFPLHYnZ2dnUVZ_oudnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
coach
playoffs,

Yeah, what the hell were you thinking? Mariucci advanced past the 1st
round playoff 3 out of 4 times in his career, which is like the exact
opposite of the recent A's teams.

"Ah...I'm not really here" <Ah...imnotreally@asb.sfg> wrote in message
news:452d68ca_5@newsfeed.slurp.net...

Sorry, of course you're right. After Beane gets some pointers from
Mariucci, he can give them to Erickson or Shell.

- Gary Rosen