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In 2002, after a spectacular season, the Oakland A’s lose in the playoffs to a team with a far worse record, the Minnesota Twins. The A’s loss in the playoffs is a symbol of the randomness and unpredictability of the game of baseball. Billy Beane and Paul DePodesta try to minimize the role of luck in their sport, but they can’t get rid of it altogether.
The 2002 Playoffs Quotes in Moneyball
The Moneyball quotes below all refer to the symbol of The 2002 Playoffs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12
Quotes
"I made one decision based on money in my life—when I signed with the Mets rather than go to Stanford—and I promised I'd never do it again." After that, Billy confined himself to the usual blather about personal reasons. None of what he said was terribly rational or "objective"—but then, neither was he. Within a week, he was back to scheming how to get the Oakland A’s back to the playoffs, and Paul DePodesta was back to being on his side.
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Moneyball LitChart as a printable PDF.
The 2002 Playoffs Symbol Timeline in Moneyball
The timeline below shows where the symbol The 2002 Playoffs appears in Moneyball. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 12: The Speed of an Idea
The Oakland A’s approach the 2002 playoffs. In their penultimate game of the regular season, they face the Texas Rangers. Billy Beane...
(full context)
The regular season ends and the A’s have own their division and made the playoffs. Two important things happen. First, Art Howe holds a meeting with the press in which...
(full context)
Billy said, “My shit doesn’t work in the playoffs. My job is to get us to the playoffs. What happens after that is fucking...
(full context)
