Billy Beane
Billy Beane
William Lamar "Billy" Beane IIIis an American former professional baseball player and current front office executive. He is the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. Prior to his front office career, he played in MLB as an outfielder between 1984 and 1989 for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and Oakland Athletics. He joined the Athletics front office as a scout in 1990. He was named general...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth29 March 1962
CityOrlando, FL
CountryUnited States of America
Ken did a great job for us. We've always said that. He was a good enough manager for us to want him back before, and he's still a good enough manager to come back.
It all started with that call. I think it took a lot for him to pick up that phone. It was probably not an easy call for him to make.
He's happy to be here. And he's quick to smile.
Paul has seen the ups and down of developing young players and trusting the three, four years they've had in the minor leagues and discounting their first few months in the majors. Developing young players can be a lot of fun, but you've got to have the discipline to live with their mistakes and understand their trend line isn't always going to go straight up.
For us, it was an opportunity to add a player without subtracting a player. Our history here, usually we're trading a player to acquire a player.
He is one of the greatest offensive players of his generation. He is nirvana for us as far as what we look for in an offensive player.
If there is any player who you couldn't be happier for signing a guaranteed multiyear contract, it's Mark Ellis, particularly because of what he went through.
Serendipity. Danny just does everything well. Over time, he's going to impress you.
I hope not. There will be very few winters we say, 'We're set.' There's always decisions to make. That said, it probably won't be as dramatic as last off-season.
I'm collecting them all. But obviously, Danny's smarter than I am because he decided to go to Stanford. He's a great player, but he's also a great kid. He's the kind of guy you'd like to have as your son, just a really impressive young man.
It was Ken, ... He called. I think it was probably not an easy phone call for him to make.
There was a real sense of determination in talking to him. You could get carried away with superlatives with Frank Thomas. Arguably, he is one of the greatest offensive players of his generation.
It's not always possible in our situation to get your perfect guy. As always we're going to make any improvements we can, whatever it is. If Sandy Koufax wanted to come to pitch for us, I don't think I'd say, 'No Sandy, we need a right-handed bat, you'll have to come back later.' It's just the nature of our situation.
I had a nice little conversation with him. He seems happy to be here, quick to smile.