Daily Dialogue — August 8, 2019

Billy Beane: It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball. This kind of thing, it’s fun for the fans. It sells tickets and hot dogs. Doesn’t mean anything.
Peter Brand: Billy, we just won twenty games in a row.
Billy Beane: And what’s the point?
Peter Brand: We just got the record.
Billy Beane: Man, I’ve been doing this for… listen, man. I’ve been in this game a long time. I’m not in it for a record, I’ll tell you that. I’m not in it for a ring. That’s when people get hurt. If we don’t win the last game of the Series, they’ll dismiss us.
Peter Brand: Billy…
Billy Beane: I know these guys. I know the way they think, and they will erase us. And everything we’ve done here, none of it’ll matter. Any other team wins the World Series, good for them. They’re drinking champagne, they get a ring. But if we win, on our budget, with this team… we’ll have changed the game. And that’s what I want. I want it to mean something.

— Moneyball (2011), screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin, book by Michael Lewis

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Baseball. Today’s suggestion by @KaliVaak, @pauldecesare41.

Trivia: When Aaron Sorkin agreed to rewrite the screenplay, he stated as a condition that Steven Zaillian name would not be removed from the credits, because his draft was great and Sorkin didn’t really feel he could improve it much.

Dialogue On Dialogue: This movie is a classic underdog story about a guy who fails as a baseball player, but succeeds as a baseball executive.