I loved Michael Lewis’s Moneyball. In the book, Lewis profiled Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane who used player statistics to find undervalued players which he could acquire on a small budget (what, nobody else already did this?). From then on, whenever I imagined the grumbling of some little league parent over my son’s batting average I would think, “Yeah, but he takes a lot of walks, look at his on base percentage!” 

Today’s Shelf Awareness notes that Steven Soderbergh is directing an adaptation of Moneyball. Even with the participation of Brad Pitt, it’s hard for me to imagine an audience for this movie that will reach beyond the fantasy sports crowd (of which I am a proud member). And, given Soderbergh’s eclectic track record, that might be the only audience he is trying to reach.